TCU Faces Cougars Saturday in Houston
11/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2011
GAME #6 - TCU (3-2) at HOUSTON (3-1)
TCU GAME NOTES 
// HOUSTON NOTES // LIVE AUDIO 
// 
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 // 7 p.m. CST // Houston, Texas // Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479)
Series Record: Houston leads, 47-24 // Last Meeting: Nov. 27, 2010 in Fort Worth (W, 79-63)
TCU Head Coach: Jim Christian (Rhode Island, '88)
Record at TCU: 41-60 (.406) in 4th season // Overall: 179-118 (.603) in10th season
UH Head Coach: James Dickey (Central Arkansas, '76)
Record at UH: 15-19 (.441) in 2nd season // Overall: 179-142 (.558) in 12th season
Television: None
Radio: 1460 AM (KCLE), 88.7 FM (KTCU) // Talent: Brian Estridge (pxp), John Denton (analyst)
Internet: GoFrogs.com (radio, live stats)
FORT WORTH--TCU looks to return to its winning ways Saturday when the squad travels to Houston, Texas, for a 7 p.m. matchup against the in-state rival Houston Cougars at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Horned Frogs aim to rebound from two straight losses suffered in the final two games of last week's appearance at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. Following a big win over Virginia, the Frogs dropped a 66-43 decision to Norfolk State followed by an 80-69 setback to Ole Miss.
TCU and UH, former conference rivals in both the Southwest Conference (1976-96) and Conference USA (2002-05), will be meeting for the third straight season and the 72nd time overall. The Frogs won last year's contest in Fort Worth, 79-63, and have taken four of the last six matchups since the 2003-04 season.
TCU's matchup against the Cougars can be heard live on the radio throughout the Metroplex on both 1460 AM KCLE and 88.7 FM KTCU with Brian Estridge (play-by-play) and John Denton (analyst) serving as the play-by-play team. Link to both the live radio Internet feed and GameTracker will be available via TCU's official athletics website, GoFrogs.com.
FROG QUICK NOTES
* TCU is 12-3 against teams from the state of Texas under head coach Jim Christian, including 7-1 in its last eight games.
* TCU is forcing an average of 25.0 turnovers per game, five more than any other team in the Mountain West this season.
* The squad's average turnover margin of +6.80 ranks second among all MW teams.
* J.R. Cadot is third in the MW in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and field-goal shooting (61.3%) and 15th in scoring (11.2 ppg). He is second in offensive rebounding (4.0 orpg) and seventh in defensive boards (4.0 drpg).
* Ten of Cadot's 15 career double-figure scoring outputs have come in the last 13 games dating back to last season.
* Cadot has pulled down at least five total rebounds and no fewer than two offensive boards in each game this season.
* Hank Thorns, who has played only 37 games as a Frog, is just 72 assists shy of entering the team's career top-10 list (321).
* Thorns is sixth in the MW in assists (4.80 apg); seventh in steals (2.20 spg) and minutes played (31.20 mpg); 10th in assist-turnover ratio (1.50) and free-throw shooting (76.5%); and 12th in scoring (11.8 ppg).
* Thorns, a Preseason All-MW selection, is No. 3 among the nation's top returning assist men (7.0 apg) from a year ago and No. 9 among the leaders in assist/turnover ratio (2.71)
* TCU's returning players accounted for 55.8% of scoring, 54.3% of rebounds, 67.5% of assists, 54.3% of steals and 64.9% of blocked shots last season.
* Garlon Green leads TCU in career games played (69), starts (39), points (550) and rebounds (234) as a Frog.
* Eight Frog letterwinners, including three starters, return from last season's squad. TCU is one of four teams in the Mountain West to return at least three starters.
SCOUTING THE HOUSTON COUGARS
Houston, led by second-year head coach James Dickey, owns a 3-1 record this season after suffering a 76-74 home setback to Oakland in its latest outing on Tuesday. The squad opened the year with wins at home over Grambling State (88-42), Utah Valley (84-71) and on the road at Arkansas (87-78).
The Cougars return four letterwinners and three starters from last season's squad that went 12-18 overall and finished 11th in Conference USA with a 4-12 league mark.
Sophomore forward Alandise Harris, who is the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, leads the Cougars in scoring at 18.3 ppg, while junior forward Kirk Van Slyke has been scoring at a 17.8 ppg clip while coming off the bench. Redshirt freshman guard Joseph Young (11.0 ppg) and junior guard Jonathan Simmons (10.3 ppg) also average double figures. Van Slyke shares the team lead in rebounding (7.5 rpg) with senior guard Darian Thibodeaux, who also leads the team in blocked shots (2.0 bpg).
As a team, UH is outscoring opponents by 16.5 ppg while averaging scoring 83.2 ppg. The squad has averaged 6.0 blocks so far this season.
INSIDE THE SERIES: TCU-HOUSTON
Houston owns a 47-24 edge in the all-time series with TCU. The former conference rivals will play for the third time following TCU's move from C-USA to the Mountain West prior to the 2005-06 campaign. The Cougars own a 26-6 advantage over TCU in games played in Houston, including wins in the last two meetings.
TCU vs. HOUSTON - LAST 15 MEETINGS
Date W/L Score Site
Jan. 14, 1995 W 106-92 Fort Worth
Feb. 11, 1995 W 106-95 Houston
March 9, 1995 L 77-80 Dallas
Jan. 17, 1996 L 86-90 Houston
Feb. 14, 1996 L 82-86 Fort Worth
Jan. 15, 2002 L 71-82 (OT) Houston
Feb. 9, 2002 W 87-69 Fort Worth
Feb. 1, 2003 L 56-61 Fort Worth
March 1, 2003 L 57-75 Houston
Jan. 13, 2004 W 55-54 Houston
Feb. 28, 2004 W 71-65 Fort Worth
Jan. 19, 2005 W 58-51 Fort Worth
Feb. 19, 2005 L 57-69 Houston
Dec. 23, 2009 L 81-105 Houston
Nov. 27, 2010 W 79-63 Fort Worth
LAST TIME WE MET: TCU 79, HOUSTON 63
Three Frogs scored in double figures, and TCU earned its first victory over Houston since 2005 during a 79-63 victory over the Cougars on Nov. 27, 2010 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The Frogs snapped a two-game skid against the Cougars in grand style, recording their second-largest margin of victory ever against UH. TCU led by five points at intermission before putting the game out of reach early in the second half. The Frogs led by as many as 22 points late in the contest.
Ronnie Moss scored a game-high 17 points to lead TCU. Garlon Green had an efficient day from the field, making 7-of-11 field-goal attempts, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while scoring 16 points. J.R. Cadot fell just shy of a double-double with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
TCU put the game away in the second half with a 12-2 run that pushed the lead to 16 points with just over 10 minutes remaining. The spurt featured a trio of Frog 3-pointers, one each from outside by Green and Moss and another inside with a foul on Sammy Yeager. Yeager's play was typical of TCU's attacking style of offense in the second half. The Frogs, who shot a season-high 26 free throws overall in the contest, went to the line 19 times following intermission.
