TCU Becomes First Basketball Team To Lose in Fort Worth's Dickies Arena

It’s always nice to be first, except when you lose.

After falling to Southern Cal, 70-68, on Friday, December 6, the TCU basketball team now has the dubious honor of being the first basketball team to lose in Fort Worth’s shiny new $540-million play toy, Dickies Arena, located within shouting distance of the historic Will Rogers Coliseum, within the city’s prized cultural district.

Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

Two days later, on Sunday, December 8, the University of Texas basketball team stole the spotlight from the hometown Frogs and christened the pristine arena with the first win by a Texas-based college basketball team. The Longhorns beat Texas A&M, 60-50, in what was billed as the “Lone Star Showdown.”

The game between UT and A&M was the first basketball game between the two schools since November 2015. Texas leads the series, 138-86.

The next basketball games scheduled to be played in Dickies Arena will be in conjunction with the American Athletic Conference’s men’s basketball tournament, which will be held March 12-15, 2020. The conference is scheduled to hold its men’s basketball tournament in the arena at least through 2022.

The Horned Frogs’ loss to Southern Cal, a team they beat last year, 96-61, in the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California, dropped their record to 6-2.

TCU has four nonconference games remaining before opening Big 12 Conference play against Iowa State on Saturday, January 4, at 5 pm Central, in Schollmaier Arena, on the TCU Campus. The game will be televised by either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

TCU head basketball coach Jamie Dixon became the first coach to lose a basketball game in Dickies Arena, despite him recently becoming the 11th college basketball coach to record 400 career wins, and with his courtship with UCLA during the off-season still fresh on the minds of TCU basketball fans.

UT head basketball coach Shaka Smart became the first coach to win a basketball game in Dickies Arena.

Dixon also became the first coach to complain about the refs after a loss. Dixon was not happy that the refs did not call goal-tending on the game-winning tip-in by the Trojans with less than a second remaining in the game.

Dixon evidently has taken after TCU football coach Gary Patterson, whining about game officials after an ugly coaching loss. 

“I’m disappointed in our loss and what we did for it, but I think it’s (the arena) unbelievable,” said Dixon. “It’s an honor to be here for the first game. It’s something that’s going to be great for Fort Worth and for our program, too, because we intend to play here and play better when we do come here going forward.”

Dixon and TCU have said that the Frogs would like to play at least one game a season, against a premier opponent, in Dickies Arena, of which TCU is a proud sponsor and well represented by graphics and a video in one of the lobbies.

TCU senior guard Desmond Bane became the first basketball player to foul out of a game. His absence was notable and detrimental in the closing minutes of the loss to Southern Cal.

Bane, who is the star of this year’s team, is on the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy. 

The award is given annually by the United States Basketball Writers Association to the most outstanding men's college basketball player. This year's award will be presented at the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta in April.

This is the fourth preseason honor for Bane, who also was named one of five on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, one of 20 players on the watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price became the first mayor to attend a basketball game in Dickies Arena.

USC forward Nick Rakocevic scored the first points in the arena. He also recorded the first foul.

TCU guard Jaire Grayer made the first three-point basket.

It indeed was an historic night at Dickies Arena for the TCU basketball team. No doubt, however, Dixon and the Frogs would like to be able to rewrite history.

In addition, Dixon may want to rewrite his 2018 recruiting season.

On the Monday after the loss to USC, backup center Russell Barlow, a sophomore, announced that he is entering the transfer portal. This means that TCU has lost its entire 2018 recruiting class to the NCAA transfer portal.

Barlow joins Kendric Davis, Angus McWilliam and Kaden Archie as early enrollees who transferred from the program. Another member of the 2018 class, JUCO center Yuat Alok, departed last season.

Davis landed at SMU. McWilliam is at UC Riverside. Archie is at UTEP. Alok is at Central Florida.

Just around the corner is the start of Big 12 play for the 2019-20 season.

In what way will that period of time become historic for this Horned Frogs basketball team?