Dixon Era Begins Friday Night
11/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TCU vs. Saint Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Date | Time | Friday, Nov. 11 | 6:00 p.m. CT |
| Location | Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena |
| Television | FOX Sports Southwest Plus |
| Television Talent | Brian Estridge (Play-By-Play); John Denton (Color) |
| Radio Listing | KTCU, 570 AM KLIF, FrogVision, TuneIn |
| Listen Online | Listen Live |
| Radio Talent | Jeff Williams (Play-By-Play); Collin Bodicker (Color) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | TCU Game Notes |
Fans not able to attend the non-conference tilt against the Celts can follow it live on FOX Sports Southwest Plus with Brian Estridge (Play-By-Play) and John Denton (Color) calling the action live. The game can also be heard on KTCU, 570 AM KLIF, FrogVision or via TuneIn Radio.
The Opponent
Saint Thomas and second-year head coach Anthony Medina come into Friday night's match-up with an 0-3 record after falling to Arlington Baptist in its last outing, 77-70. The Celts, an NAIA program out of Houston, is averaging 75.3 points per game, while shooting 38 percent from the field.
Individually, St. Thomas has been carried by Jason Brancato and Paris Marquez, who are both averaging 14.7 points per game, respectively. Brancato is also tallying 8.7 rebounds in three games and is shooting 48.4 percent from the field.
The Series
TCU and St. Thomas will battle for only the second time in program history Friday night. The Horned Frogs lead the all-time series at 1-0. The last time the two teams met was during the 1984 campaign when head coach Jamie Dixon was a sophomore in Fort Worth. TCU defeated the Celts inside Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, 100-41.
A Closer Look
In the last meeting against St. Thomas in 1984, head coach Jamie Dixon came off the bench to score six points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out an assist in 20 minutes of action.
Season Openers
TCU is 68-37 all-time in season-openers and has won 14 of its last 16, including nine out of its last 10 heading into Friday night. The Frogs dropped Southeastern Louisiana in last season's opener, 90-77. Now junior Vladimir Brodziansky had 19 points and 10 boards. TCU head coach Jamie Dixon is 13-0 in season-openers after defeating St. Joseph's, 84-43, a year ago.
Home Openers
The Purple and White are 54-13 at home in season-openers. The last time the Frogs lost a season-opener at home came in a 68-59 setback to Tarleton State in 2005.
Excitement Is Upon Us
Going into the 2016-17 campaign, TCU has sold a school record 4,400 season tickets. In comparison, the Frogs sold a total of 3,704 season tickets a year ago.
Ranked Teams Staggering
TCU will play a total of six teams either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason Associate Press poll, including four ranked in the top-25 in Kansas (3), West Virginia (20), Texas (21) and Iowa State (24). Other teams receiving votes include Oklahoma and Washington.
That number only increases in the USA Today Coaches poll as the Frogs will face off against eight teams either ranked or receiving votes in Kansas, West Virginia, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas State and SMU. Jamie Dixon is 45-59 all-time against ranked opponents.
Dixon Era Begins
Jamie Dixon, a 2007 TCU Hall of Fame Inductee, became the 22nd head coach in the history of the Horned Frogs men's basketball program last March. He returns to his alma mater after serving 13 seasons as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. Dixon enjoyed a successful four-year career at TCU where he played for Jim Killingsworth and led the Horned Frogs to two Southwest Conference titles as a junior and senior.
He earned All-SWC honors in 1987 and was an All-SWC Academic performer. Additionally, he led the SWC in assists as a senior, earned the Henry Iba Award as MVP of the All-College Tournament and was voted TCU's Senior Male Scholar-Athlete Award recipient.
Leaving The Lone Star State
TCU will leave the state of Texas only once during non-conference play when it travels to Las Vegas for the Global Sports Classic on Nov. 25-26. The Frogs won't leave the Lone Star state following Thanksgiving break until a Saturday, Jan. 7 conference tilt at West Virginia in Morgantown.
What Returns
Heading into this season, Brandon Parrish, Karviar Shepherd and Chris Washburn have combined for 214 starts as Horned Frogs. Only five out of the remaining 13 student-athletes in Vladimir Brodziansky, JD Miller, Malique Trent, Kenrich Williams and Michael Williams, have started at least one game at TCU prior to the season opener.
In all, the Frogs return four out of their five starters from a year ago and six out of their top-7 scorers. TCU has a total of seven newcomers who could potentially see their first action this season in a Horned Frog uniform.
TCU Notes
• TCU is 54-13 in home openers in program history.
• TCU is 68-37 all-time in season-openers.
• Jamie Dixon is 13-0 in season-openers as a head coach.
• TCU is 1-0 all-time against Saint Thomas.
• Dixon was a sophomore at TCU the last time the Frogs played the Celts.
• Brandon Parrish was the lone Frog to start every game for TCU in 2015-16.
• Parrish needs to play in only 22 more games to move into the top-10 all-time in games played in school history.
• With nine more starts, Parrish will rank No. 9 in games started at TCU all-time.
• Parrish needs only 284 points to reach 1,000 points for his career.
• Karviar Shepherd needs only three more starts to move into No. 9 all-time in games started in program history.
• Shepherd currently ranks No. 5 in blocked shots for a career with 97 going into this season.
• Shepherd has tallied 543 career rebounds and needs only 157 to become only the 10th player all-time to capture 700 boards.
• Malique Trent ranked No. 19 in the NCAA in steals per game in 2015-16 with an average of 2.1.
• Trent ranked first in steals in the Big 12 Conference during league play and overall in 2015-16.
• Trent recorded the fourth-best mark in school history in steals per game a year ago.
