Texas Basketball: LOOK, Horns face TCU in front of empty Erwin Center

The Frank Erwin Center was barren on Feb. 19 as the Texas basketball program took on the TCU Horned Frogs to try and get their 15th win of the season.

It seems like the Texas basketball program hit an all-time low when they took on the Big 12 foe TCU Horned Frogs in front of an empty home venue on Feb. 19. Texas faced the Horned Frogs on Wednesday night with an empty Frank Erwin Center is it appeared roughly 10 minutes ahead of tip-off.

The Texas Longhorns basketball program went into this game against TCU with a record of 14-11 (4-8 Big 12). They were coming off of a really bad loss on the road at the hands of the 11-14 Iowa State Cyclones by the final score of 81-52.

Since that loss to Iowa State occurred last weekend, the Longhorns saw constant discussions around the job security of their head coach Shaka Smart. If the Longhorns could find a good head coach option alternative to Smart, it seemed like the fan base was entirely ready to let him see the door off the Forty Acres.

This response from Longhorn basketball fans isn’t all that surprising now since Smart is charting a course to miss the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years. Texas missed the NCAA Tournament that amount of times total roughly over the last two-and-a-half decades prior to Smart taking over for former head coach Rick Barnes.

The lack of results on the hardwood showed in the turnout by Longhorns fans against TCU on Feb. 19. Texas did have a poor show out prior to tip-off and at halftime in taking on the Horned Frogs. They did have a two-point deficit heading into the locker room at halftime too against the struggling Horned Frogs.

Here’s some looks at the crowd at the Erwin Center from various people on social media on Wednesday night.

Texas did take the lead about 10 minutes into the third quarter over TCU. That’s good because Smart will need all the help he can get to maybe make a push for Texas to get into the NCAA Tournament this year. Missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and in three of the last four would surely seal the fate of Smart on the Forty Acres.

What makes matters worse is the players that are currently missing in action for Texas. Junior center Jericho Sims is out indefinitely with a back injury he suffered last week and junior guard Matt Coleman is out tonight against TCU with a heel issue.