Johnson, TCU can see what went right in upset of Oklahoma State

Trent Johnson spent very little of Sunday enjoying his team’s upset of Oklahoma State. The TCU coach was off recruiting, so there wasn’t much time to even watch the tape of the 70-55 victory.

But he didn’t need to see it twice to evaluate what went right.

“Made some free throws, we executed, some guys stepped up and made some open shots,” he said. “They shot the ball with confidence. We were running the same stuff we’ve been running all year. It’s just that we shot the ball well.”

That may be an understatement. Senior guard Trey Zeigler was 5-for-5. Sophomore forwards Brandon Parrish and Chris Washburn were 3-for-3 and 3-for-5. Sophomore center Karviar Shepherd was 5-for-8.

Only Kyan Anderson, Amric Fields and Chauncey Collins shot less than 50 percent for the Frogs.

“We got in a good rhythm, and everybody was scoring,” Johnson said. “For us to beat anybody good, compete with anybody good — and there are a lot of good teams in this league — we have to play like that.”

No 3-pointers

TCU shot 52 percent against Oklahoma State, a season-best in conference, although without a 3-pointer. Anderson, Fields, Collins and Kenrich Williams were a combined 0-for-9, leaving the Horned Frogs scorless on 3-pointers for the first time in 79 games.

But on a day when they were shooting 63.4 percent on 2’s and 78.3 percent on free throws, the empty long-distance shooting did not hamper the Horned Fros.

“When you’re executing and you’re open and you shoot it with confidence, I can live with the misses,” Johnson said. “I really can. Chauncey shot it with rhythm. Kyan had one that was open on the baseline. He missed it. You can live with that. I don’t look at it like 0-for-9, I look at it, ‘We’re they good shots or were those bad shots?’ For the most part, with one exception, I thought those shots were good.”

Confidence game

Good shots and good results meant a difference in confidence for a team on a seven-game losing streak.

“Certain guys on this team, their confidence is what it is,” Johnson said. “Kyan is a guy that obviously, he can miss three or four in a row, but he has so much confidence in his ability, he’s going to shoot it. Other guys aren’t. Trey was getting the ball going through the rim — that’s what he does. Brandon shot a couple of mid-range jump shots — that’s what he does. Amric made a couple of shots, made some free throws. Whether that was contagious, I don’t know.”

Sometimes, Johnson seemed to be saying, the ball just bounces your way.

“We caught a team that had been playing extremely well and had a week off,” he said. “We scored the ball well, and they missed a couple of shots they normally make.”

What’s next

The Horned Frogs get a rematch against Kansas State, the team that beat them in the second game of the conference schedule. It was a 58-53 final, but the game was not quite that close. Marcus Foster, who hit a game-winner against Oklahoma on Saturday in his return from a suspension, scored 23 points for K-State in the Jan. 7 game against the Frogs.

Still, Wednesday night’s game will mark only the second chance the Horned Frogs have had this year to build off a win.

“Well, the last time we won a league game we didn’t do very well,” Johnson said. “It is what it is for the next game. Obviously, we’re going to have to do the things that we’re capable of doing well, play with a sense of urgency, knock down open shots, or we’re not going to be very good. They know that. But is there a message I say to them? No. We just go back to work.”

Briefly

▪ Anderson moved into No. 7 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,510 points, passing Lee Nailon and Ryan Caroll.

▪ TCU ended a four-game streak of being out-rebounded and a seven-game streak of being out-shot at the foul line.

This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Johnson, TCU can see what went right in upset of Oklahoma State."