MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Adrick McKinney tries to move the ball too fast in transition and loses a rebound. Kyan Anderson hits a teammate for a point-blank layup, but the shot rims out. Garlon Green skips a bounce pass too low in the paint and it goes out of bounds. Nate Butler-Lind, unguarded, dribbles the ball out of bounds.
These plays and many more like them had TCU coach Trent Johnson more disappointed than usual after the Horned Frogs' 71-50 loss to West Virginia on Wednesday night in front of 7,094 at West Virginia Coliseum.The Frogs (9-10, 0-6 Big 12), dropped below .500 for the first time this season. The Frogs are still looking for their first Big 12 win after opening league play winless in six games. The last time TCU opened a conference season 0-6 it was in C-USA in 2002. Two years ago the Frogs lost 13 consecutive Mountain West games to conclude the regular season."Our deficiencies as a basketball team reared their ugly ahead again," Johnson said. "[West Virginia's] physicality, especially on the half court, putting a lot of pressure on our primary ballhandlers, I thought was very, very good."The Mountaineers' pressure forced 17 turnovers, which led to 20 points. The intensity and TCU's failure to handle it was a major factor in the final five minutes of the first half. TCU trailed by only five before WVU (9-9, 2-3) went on a 12-4 run to take a 35-22 lead at the half.WVU coach Bob Huggins, who moved into a tie with Don Haskins for 19th all-time winningest NCAA Division I coach, wasn't too happy with the win, which prevented his first four-game losing streak since January 1985, when he was at Akron."I guess after all these years I've learned to not get mad when you win one, but I am not very happy," Huggins said. "In the second half we stopped guarding, which has been kind of what we do."That's probably because TCU shot 29 percent in the first half. TCU's free throw-shooting woes (13 of 23) continued, as well. Johnson also wasn't happy with the general sloppiness, especially at the end of the first half."It got sloppy because we didn't do the things we talked about doing going into the game," he said. "It sounds like a broken record, but that's mental toughness. Mental toughness is doing what you're supposed to do all the time. Not part of the day, all the time."Anderson led the Frogs with 19 points. Connell Crossland had 11 points and McKinney 10. Garlon Green struggled against the physical defense and finished with four points on 1-for-6 shooting and had six of the Frogs' turnovers.Eron Harris led WVU with 19 points. He made three free throws after the Frogs had pulled to within 11 with 8:05 remaining.WVU's size advantage, which included starting forwards of 6-foot-9 and 6-10, wasn't the only reason for its 42-30 rebound advantage, Johnson said."Lack of size can be an excuse," he said. "I thought there were some times where we didn't have guys making the conscious [decision to keep] mental toughness, physical toughness and effort to put a body on people."TCU hosts Baylor at 3 p.m. Saturday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The Bears beat the Frogs 51-40 in Waco on Jan. 12.Stefan Stevenson817-390-7760Twitter: @FollowtheFrogsHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
