TCU beat Houston 59-49 on Saturday. With the win, the Horned Frogs improved to 17-9 overall and 4-11 in Big 12 play. Center Sedona Prince returned to the lineup and led TCU with 15 points.
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00:00 All right, well, thanks everyone.
00:05 We have TC head coach Mark Campbell following tonight's 59th and
00:09 49 victory over Houston.
00:10 We'll take an opening statement from coach and have questions in the room.
00:13 >> Well, just really, really proud of this team.
00:17 When Madison and Sedona were out with their injuries,
00:23 our group worked really hard at trying to get better defensively.
00:27 So that when Madison and Sedona rejoined our team,
00:32 that we had a chance to be an elite defensive team.
00:36 And so tonight was evidence of that.
00:41 This is as good a defensive effort as we've played for 40 minutes and
00:46 could not be proud.
00:47 It was a physical game, a tough game, they get after you.
00:51 Felt like first team to 50 was gonna win there for a while.
00:55 But it's something this last seven weeks,
00:58 that's been our emphasis is growing defensively.
01:02 And so I'm pumped that we did that.
01:05 We gotta continue to do a better job taking care of the ball.
01:09 But you guys, this is three straight big 12 wins for us.
01:11 And for our program, this hasn't been accomplished in a while.
01:15 And we got another great opportunity against Texas Tech on Wednesday.
01:21 But this group, we survived those injuries and
01:25 now hopefully down the stretch we can thrive.
01:28 >> You mentioned being on this three game win streak,
01:30 two of them were on the road, one at home.
01:32 I mean, just how good does that feel for
01:34 you guys knowing everything that came before it?
01:37 >> What's unfolded this season, I haven't been through anything like this season.
01:41 We start out 14-0 with the greatest start in program history.
01:44 And then in a two week window, you lose 70% of your offense.
01:48 There's only one duo in college basketball that was averaging 20 plus points a game,
01:53 and that was Sedona Madison.
01:54 And your point, you're a top five in the country assistant, they're all gone.
01:57 And so the resiliency of the kids that stepped up and
02:03 blossomed and grew during that stretch, you're getting to see it now.
02:08 And obviously Sedona hasn't played in seven weeks, you guys, and
02:10 she comes out here and has 15 and 6.
02:15 But that doesn't tell the story.
02:16 She changes every shot around the basket.
02:19 And so it alters teams game plans.
02:22 And so she impacts the game at a high level.
02:25 And so Sedona Madison, the truth is they're still shaking off the rust.
02:29 You don't sit out that long and just pick up where you left off.
02:32 And so really proud, great effort by our team.
02:36 >> You mentioned Sedona coming back in,
02:39 it looked like the offensive backs were a little more pick and
02:41 roll and kind of a little bit of that.
02:43 Are you kind of mixing things up?
02:45 Are you trying to go back to what you did at the start of the season?
02:48 >> It's tricky.
02:49 We were a pick and roll based offense, then you become a five out offense.
02:55 We don't really have a center and that worked great.
02:57 Now you're trying to figure out, okay, do we stick with five out?
03:00 Do we go back to pick and roll?
03:01 Defensively, what are we doing?
03:03 We're front of the post because we had small ball, now Sedona's back, so
03:06 you play behind the post.
03:07 So you don't see totally all the layers that go into
03:12 figuring out what gives this group the best chance to win.
03:15 And so today, offensively, we did a little more pick and roll stuff.
03:20 With Sedona back, it's still trying to manage her minutes and Madison's minutes.
03:25 And so it's a big puzzle that we've been constantly reshuffling.
03:29 You guys, these kids, it's unbelievable.
03:33 Then you guys, Agnes tonight, Blair scored,
03:38 I think it was her career high last time we played, had 33 on us.
03:41 It is a tremendous basketball player.
03:43 And Agnes guarded her every second she was on the court while having 13 points,
03:48 12 rebounds.
03:49 I mean, Agnes is just an absolute warrior.
03:51 And I know I say that all the time, but she truly is.
03:55 >> Well, and with those 12 rebounds,
03:57 gives you guys that huge advantage on the glass.
04:00 And I know that's something that had not been there the last couple games between
04:05 her and Sedona.
04:06 Just how much did it help to have that rebounding strength there again?
04:08 >> Now you go from being small to now you're big and strong.
04:12 You got Agnes, Aaliyah, Sedona at the three, four, and five.
04:16 They're as good a defensive rebounding group as there is in the league.
04:20 And so we've had to scrap with the small ball.
04:23 Now we get to have a lineup that's big and strong.
04:25 So we're gonna use both.
04:26 There's gonna be times we still need to use a small ball, Aaliyah at the five, and
04:30 we're comfortable with that.
04:32 But now we have a lineup that can rebound with anybody.
04:36 >> On offense, you went through spurts at the end of the first quarter and
04:39 the beginning of the second quarter where you, I think that was like a 19 or
04:42 one, but then there were stretches where the offense just kinda sold out.
04:46 And at Houston, I scored you guys in the second half.
04:48 Was it just getting used to having Sedona back or
04:50 was there some other just shot selection when you felt like-
04:53 >> No, huge credit to Houston.
04:55 They pressure you.
04:56 They're in every passing lane.
04:58 They make you really uncomfortable.
04:59 We had 21 turnovers.
05:02 Usually you have 21 turnovers, it's hard to win the ball game.
05:05 And to have 21 but we won by double digits is because of our defense.
05:10 But Houston, that's what they do.
05:12 They press, they're in passing lanes, they make the game physical,
05:17 and they do a heck of a job.
05:18 And so we've come a long ways.
05:20 Last time we played these guys, it wasn't close down there.
05:23 And they did this and we turned the ball over and weren't comfortable.
05:27 And so this seven week period, we're ready for them this time.
05:31 >> And talk about Nona and her play the entire game.
05:34 Never came off the court.
05:36 >> Yeah, we had played 40 minutes, had six assists, one turnover.
05:41 And ran the show for us against a team that just absolutely hounded her.
05:47 Nona's just a fighter, man.
05:51 She really truly is.
05:53 She's not the fastest kid out there.
05:54 But man, we're relying on her heavily and she delivered tonight.
05:59 And she's just a steady force for us.
06:03 She loves the game of basketball.
06:05 She watches film after every game with our staff.
06:08 Like Una, Una wants to be great.
06:10 She works at it really hard.
06:12 She lives in the gym.
06:14 And we're counting on her to play a really big role down the stretch.
06:17 >> And the trends in the last three games, obviously you talked about resiliency and
06:21 all those things and believing and getting Sedona back.
06:25 What was the actual trends to get you guys in this three game winning streak?
06:30 >> Yeah, no question.
06:31 Well, winning on the road's really hard.
06:33 You have to put together 40 minutes to win on the road.
06:36 And we played 80 minutes of really good basketball against Cincinnati and
06:41 BYU.
06:42 We truly did, which is what you have to do.
06:44 And today, we didn't play 40 minutes of great basketball, but you're at home.
06:48 It's the advantage of playing at home and having a crowd and the energy and
06:51 momentum and you're more comfortable.
06:53 And so our focus for those two road wins was elite.
06:57 We're still in that NCAA tournament hunt.
07:01 I know our nets hovered right around 40.
07:03 You got two more games in league.
07:06 And then you got the Big 12 tournament.
07:08 And so this group, we survived all those injuries.
07:13 And I told them now it's time to thrive.
07:15 We got our group back and we're healthy.
07:18 And so let's make a late season push.
07:20 >> So you talked about road warriors when you're on the road.
07:23 What did you tell them tonight after the game?
07:26 >> Take care of home.
07:27 Flat out take care of home.
07:30 This is our turf.
07:31 And so that's, but here's the deal.
07:33 Human nature when you're home, you take your foot off the gas.
07:36 That's everybody and you got to battle against that.
07:39 And so when you're on the road, it's your little group.
07:42 And you have no momentum, no crowd, no nothing.
07:45 And so it's almost easier to lock in on the road cuz it's just you.
07:48 And when you come home, you're comfortable.
07:50 And so we have to maintain that edge.
07:53 And we did, we fought today.
07:55 That was a physical game and our kids showed up and fought.
08:01 >> Kind of going off of that, there's two games left before conference tournament.
08:05 What's the message for this team?
08:08 >> Spread through the finish line.
08:10 We've been going since we got hired in the in spring.
08:13 And we've been full tilt, trying to get a program up and running and
08:17 dig out of a hole.
08:19 And so this has been eight months of just these kids grinding.
08:23 And the finish line is right here.
08:25 And don't walk across that finish line, sprint across that thing.
08:29 And so the kids are locked in and they know what's at stake.
08:32 We have a small margin of error to finish this thing out and
08:35 try to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
08:37 You gotta take care of these games.
08:40 And so we got Texas Tech at home, senior night, it's a huge game for us.
08:44 And if you can get that done, you go and
08:48 play at West Virginia, who's competing for a league title right now.
08:53 So one game at a time.
08:55 >> Anything else?
08:57 All right, thanks everyone.
08:59 >> Thank you guys.
09:01 >> Thanks, Coach.
09:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]