NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - TCU VS DUKE

March 21, 2026

Jamie Dixon

Jayden Pierre

Brock Harding

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

TCU Horned Frogs

Media Conference

Duke - 81, TCU - 58

JAMIE DIXON: Certainly proud of our team, proud of how we handled it, proud of how we handled some adversity today and still had the lead with 16 minutes left. Proud of how we responded coming out of halftime, had certainly a lot of adversity early on in the game and into the second half.

Just proud of how they battled and proud of them all year long, how they prepared, how they got better, how they improved, how they took up challenges and faced all kinds of adversity.

These two guys were the vocal leaders. Just so proud of them.

Had the lead, got away from us. We certainly had some challenges with it, but I'm proud of our guys.

Q. Question for Jayden, I know this your only season at Fort Worth, but what will you remember about this group here at TCU?

JAYDEN PIERRE: Our resilience. Our ability to never stop. We never gave in. Whether we were down in a game, we always found a way to come together and fight towards the end. I also remember how close we were together as a team. That allowed us in the second half of the season to make the run we made and win a game in the Tournament and get to where we are today.

Just everyone in the program. I remember how they treated me and how they really embraced me as a family.

Q. Brock, where and how did the game kind of change for you guys?

BROCK HARDING: We went into halftime down four. We knew that we were right there in the game. Just had to come out, make some adjustments, be physical on defense. Then we got the lead there for a little bit in the second half. Then just kind of lost what we do, had some bad fouls, getting out of position, and putting the game out of our control.

We've just got to be better in those ends, and that's where we need to be better. Those are kind of the mistakes we made all year. We've got to lock in on those things and kind of let it get away from us.

Q. Brock, what can you say about the last stretch of the season, how you guys got yourself to March and obviously won that first one into this one?

BROCK HARDING: For sure, I mean, we knew we had it all year. We knew we had it in the summer. We knew we were putting together a really good team. We had a lot of different guys that could step up at any moment. Xavier Edmonds really made a big jump there once we got to conference play and that excelled the rest of the team.

Everybody bought in. Everybody really knew, if we came out not really caring what each other did, just caring about getting wins and locked in on defense. Coach said, if we locked in on defense, it was going to be real easy to win games, and that's what we focused on. Focused on getting stops down the stretch, and that's what led to a lot of our wins and got us to the NCAA Tournament.

Q. You guys held Boozer to 2 points at half, and then he came out and just exploded. Just talk to me how tough it is just guarding that load for a full 40 minutes.

JAYDEN PIERRE: He's a good player. They made adjustments, like you said. Teams usually do. We came out early, had a good game plan for him. Some of those other guys got going early, and he was able to find his a bit more. We had to help out on them. He's a good player, and he made some good shots in the end.

Q. Jamie, I think the game's tied at 44. Then they go on a 24-6, whatever the run was. From your mind, what kind of happened during that stretch?

JAMIE DIXON: Obviously we had some challenges, guys in foul trouble. Our rotation wasn't where we wanted it to be. I don't think our defense was where we wanted it to be. Had guys out there with four fouls, three fouls way too early. Struggled through it in the first half.

Then we got into it in the second half as well. But the rebounding thing sticks out. I think we were not physical enough to come up with the rebounds, and I think obviously having guys not available and for different reasons was a big factor.

Had the lead. Things didn't seem to go our way after that. But I'm proud of our guys, no excuses from our guys. Certainly there's plenty of opportunities to come up with excuses, but you haven't heard any from us.

Q. Just overall, what will you remember about this team from the way you guys started to how you finished?

JAMIE DIXON: Proud of how they grew and how they came together. Obviously finished way higher than everybody predicted us. I think there was a great confidence about them. We had a great summer of workouts. Lost our starting 5 man five minutes into the season, had some adversity. Then had adversity today in the first half and kept fighting, took the lead in the second half.

Coming out, made some adjustments and pressured the ball. We had quite a challenge today and kept stepping up for each one, each one, and each one. Then eventually there was just too many of them.

Q. Coach, talk about the first half and how you thought it went going into halftime.

JAMIE DIXON: They had made all their free throws, that stood out. We only got to the line -- we're a team that gets to the line a lot. We lead the league in free-throw attempts. Didn't happen today. They made their free throws. They beat us from the free-throw line, simply put. That's where there was scoring.

We forced the turnovers we wanted to force, but it just didn't -- it just seemed like things just weren't going our way. Even though we got the lead, I still felt things weren't going our way in some things that we had to overcome.

We battled and kept going, and then I think we just let it get away from us.

Q. You've often mentioned how young this team is. I know decisions have to be made across the board, but if you can retain much of this core, have you thought about what this group can be next year?

JAMIE DIXON: We're very excited about it. They've developed. They've gotten better. Our young guys that returned from last year have gotten better.

Certainly, I don't know if we're thinking about it right now at this point. I just really want them, protecting them, looking out for them, thanking them, and making sure they know how important they've been to me and to our program and to our school and to our university.

I think people, from what I understand, they saw how hard we played, and I think we got a lot of fans because of how we competed, how we -- and especially how we'll handle this loss because I think that's important how you handle a loss as well.

Q. Did you get an explanation on the non-goaltending. Is that kind of what set you off?

JAMIE DIXON: I didn't get set off. I had a conversation with them. There was no raising the voice. There was conversation, as he had asked for. What are you going to do? Obviously we know what it was. Everybody knows what it was.

You know, it's -- what can you say? What can you say? It's a big play, big play. Then you compound it. I didn't cuss. I didn't say anything bad. Had a conversation with him. It's a huge impact on the game.

Q. How much did the shot to David's face impact him missing a lot of point blank shots later in the game?

JAMIE DIXON: You'd have to ask him. It's clearly -- I saw it happen. The blood was coming out, I guess is why they checked. But he was having trouble. The blood was continuing to come. So he was having trouble breathing with the thing in his nose. So he didn't feel comfortable going in in that situation. I don't think he felt comfortable. It was still bleeding throughout.

It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. Saw it happen, knew he was in trouble. Play went on, but he was bleeding pretty good and kept bleeding, kept bleeding. I guess, if there wasn't blood, they wouldn't have checked it.

It was right in front of our bench. So we could see it. Generally, the ones that happen right in front of your bench, you have a good view, and I saw that one clear. It's hard to play with blood and the thing in your nose. So he tried to play, but it continued to bleed throughout.