TCU numbed into defeat by record low in Oklahoma

By Stefan Stevenson

sstevenson@star-telegram.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- If it had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped early.

TCU's shooting woes, which have dogged the Horned Frogs all season, hit a new low Monday night against Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center.

An all-time low.

The Frogs, playing their third game in six days, were held to a school-record-low 11 points in the first half as the Sooners built an insurmountable lead and cruised to a 75-48 win in front of an estimated 4,372 in attendance.

"You can cut it any way you want," TCU coach Trent Johnson said matter-of-factly. "They just gave us a good, old-fashioned whipping. That's what that is."

Johnson dismissed fatigue as a factor for TCU's poor shooting, and he had a point.

The Frogs (10-14, 1-10 Big 12) have been a notoriously poor-shooting team all season. They didn't look particularly tired, even as the Sooners (16-7, 7-4) to a man, looked faster to every loose ball and rebound.

OU's defense certainly deserves some of the credit, but much of TCU's 0-for-14 start from the floor was more Frog futility than Sooner smothering.

TCU's 17 percent shooting in the first half allowed OU to pull away with leads of 8-0, 15-1 and 30-10 before taking a 36-11 lead into halftime.

The Frogs didn't score for the first 8:08 of the game. The 11 points in a half breaks TCU's low-water mark of 12 in the second half against Oklahoma in December 2006. TCU scored 12 points in the first half against Texas in 1978.

"Obviously, we didn't give them any type of fight," Johnson said. "We got off to a horrible start. They defended us as well as anybody has. And then we had some guys sort of trying to play for themselves. Once we got that addressed and cleaned up at the half, I think we made them sweat just a little bit."

Not really.

TCU's shooting improved in the second half (41.4 percent) to finish the game at 30.2 percent, tied for its second-worst shooting night of the season.

Devonta Abron led TCU with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, and nine rebounds. Kyan Anderson had 11 points, but struggled from the floor, making 4 of 19 shots, including 2 of 11 in the first half. Anderson was forced into shooting when others, such as Garlon Green, passed on looks early.

"We go through Garlon a lot and I thought he deferred," Johnson said. "Whether he was intimidated, or for whatever reason, he wasn't very aggressive."

OU led by as much as 36 in the second half and kept TCU at a comfortable distance behind leading scorers Amath M'Baye (12 points) and Romero Osby (11 points). OU shot 50 percent in both halves. Five other Sooners scored at least eight points, including Buddy Hield, who left the game in the second half with a foot injury. OU coach Lon Kruger said the freshman guard could miss 4-5 weeks.

"I thought our guys really came out pretty sharp and pretty focused; good effort," Kruger said. "We had a lot of different guys making plays for each other."

Johnson noted the Sooners' unselfish play.

"They've got a real good team," he said. "I've had some teams like that. I can't remember it's been such a long time. It's nice to see how unselfish they are, how they play for each other. That's impressive."

Stefan Stevenson

817-390-7760

Twitter: @FollowtheFrogs

Looking for comments?