0-1
TCU
1-0
TCU Rallies to Top Cal Poly Men's Basketball Team in 2012-13 Opener
11/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
JOE CALLERO POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE (video)
FORT WORTH, Texas – Freshman forward Brian Bennett produced a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double during his first outing as a Cal Poly men's basketball player, but the Mustangs were held to just a pair of three-pointers during the final five minutes of play and dropped a 53-46 decision on Friday evening against TCU inside Daniel-Meyer Coliseum during the 2012-13 season opener for both programs.
Senior guard Chris O'Brien (right) and junior forward Chris Eversley added eight points apiece for Cal Poly (0-1), which trailed TCU (1-0), 44-43, with two-and-a-half minutes to play. After Horned Frogs junior forward Amric Field hit a jumper to increase TCU's lead to three points, O'Brien missed a three-pointer and Eversley fell short with a jumper. TCU senior guard Nate Butler Lind grabbed the rebound and, second later, sophomore guard Kyan Anderson knocked down a three-pointer to provide the hosts a 49-43 lead with one minute, 22 seconds remaining and effectively put the game out of reach.
Cal Poly, which dropped a season opener for the first time in three years, held the Horned Frogs without a basket during their first five possessions and to just one field goal during the opening nine minutes. And while the TCU sunk just one of its opening 10 field goal attempts, the Mustangs themselves mustered just a 7-3 lead with nine-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening half.
Neither side led by more than five points during any stretch in the first half and the Horned Frogs stayed close with Fields scoring 10 of his game-high 16 points during the opening 20 minutes. TCU eventually grabbed its first lead of the night 27 seconds before the break following a jumper from senior forward Garlon Green, but a finger-rolled layup by Mustang senior guard Drake U'u on the buzz of the halftime horn provided Cal Poly a 21-20 advantage at the break.
The lead switched hands three times to open the second half before the Horned Frogs went ahead for certain at 24-23 following a Green jumper with 18 minutes remaining. The Horned Frogs then limited Cal Poly to just three field goals during the ensuing nine minutes to further their lead to 38-30.
Cal Poly, however, received a jumper from Eversley and two buckets from freshman forward Zach Gordon – his first as a Mustang – during a two-minute span to pull to within two points of TCU's lead. Horned Frogs freshman guard Clyde Smith III answered with a three-pointer, but Cal Poly countered with a third bucket from Gordon and a layup from Eversley to trim the deficit to 41-40 with five minutes to play.
The Mustangs, who outrebounded TCU, 34-31, return to the central coast to open a two-game homestand against Northern Colorado on Thursday, Nov. 15 and Fresno State on Monday, Nov. 19. Both games tip at 7 p.m. inside Mott Gym.
