Long Beach Resurgence Hits Another Snag: TCU

It has been a season that began with so much promise for Cal State Long Beach basketball Coach Ron Palmer. An impressive showing in the Chaminade tournament and consecutive wins against Bradley, Houston and Pepperdine had finally given the 49er faithful something to look forward to.

But after Tuesday night’s 88-72 loss to visiting Texas Christian University, Palmer may have to go back to the drawing board.

Sure, the 49ers were missing starting guard Morlon Wiley, out with a sprained ankle. And, oh yes, in raising its record to 7-3, TCU displayed the flashes that have many people saying it will win the Southwest Conference title. Still, the 49ers have to consider regrouping, despite the faded yellow lapel displayed on Palmer’s blazer that reads “The Beach Is Back.”

“We still have a long way to go based on tonight’s performance,” said the third-year coach, who has been saddled with rebuilding a program that has not had a winning program since 1980-81, when it was 15-13. By recent standards, Palmer has Long Beach, at least, keeping its head above water. The loss leveled the 49ers’ season record to 5-5. In his first two years, Palmer was 11-45.

But all the early excitement has been lost for the moment.

With 26 points from senior guard Carl Lott, TCU led by as many as 23 points. Four Horned Frogs scored in double figures, and TCU outrebounded the 49ers, 40-35.

“Carl is a great player,” TCU Coach Jim Killingsworth said. “We have a veteran club. We don’t look special, but we play smart and don’t beat ourselves.”

It was the play of 6-foot 4-inch senior guard James Dixon that sparked the Horned Frogs to a 39-29 halftime lead. Dixon, who prepped at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, came off the bench with TCU trailing, 10-8, with six minutes gone in the game. At the time, TCU had hit just 4 of 11 field goal attempts.

But Dixon created a turnover that led to an 18-foot basket by Carven Holcombe to tie the score at the 13:11 mark. He then fed Lott 40 seconds later for a score after another Holcombe basket, then added a 10-foot jumper with 11:35 to go in the half that gave TCU a 16-11 edge.

Dixon had five of his game-high eight assists in the first half.

“Dixon is no surprise,” Killingsworth said. “I feel like we have more control with him in there. I always bring him off the bench, and we’re normally a better ball club than without him.”

Long Beach opened the second half by hitting just 3 of its first 10 field goal attempts. That allowed TCU to control the tempo, and the Horned Frogs drove on a 10-4 spurt that saw its lead increase to 51-38 with 13 minutes remaining.

For Palmer, it was not an artful performance, despite 14 points from sophomore forward John Hatton and 15 points from former Manual Arts star M.L. Fleming, who was making his first appearance in a 49er uniform after sitting out a year. Cal State Long Beach committed 24 turnovers and shot 43.1% from the floor and only 64% from the line.