TCU drops third straight in loss at Oklahoma State. ‘We’re just not getting it done’
TCU played itself firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble Monday.
Playing short-handed and without one of its best players, Kouat Noi, for a second consecutive game, the Frogs found themselves in an early hole and couldn’t get out of it despite a couple late rallies.
Oklahoma State prevailed with a 68-61 victory, snapping a five-game losing streak on Monday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. TCU has now dropped three straight.
“We’re just not getting it done,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We dug a hole for ourselves and couldn’t get it done. We’re obviously fighting numbers and foul trouble throughout.”
OSU is the second consecutive team to snap a five-game losing streak against TCU. Oklahoma did so on Saturday in Fort Worth.
TCU (17-9, 5-8 Big 12) is now 2-12 all-time in Stillwater, winning last season and in 1925. The Frogs are also now on the proverbial bubble as they likely need to go 3-2 their final five games to secure a berth into the Big Dance.
“We still have a lot of opportunities,” junior guard Desmond Bane said of the possible postseason implications of losing to a sub-.500 team.
“We have three home games, two on the road against teams we’ve beaten. There’s a lot of opportunity. We’ve got to come together and find ways to win down the stretch.”
Added Dixon: “Hey, we’ve got to go win some games. We’ve got to go win some games. Eight [Big 12 wins] made it last year. We’ve got five games left, so we’ve got to go win three.”
It appeared the night ended on an even worse note when TCU senior point guard Alex Robinson laid on the court for several minutes after the game. But the early indication is that Robinson simply battled cramps much of the night and should be good to go.
Depth is not a luxury TCU has right now. Or Oklahoma State (10-16, 3-10 Big 12).
Each team had just seven scholarship players available for the contest. In fact, 12 players (six on each team) played a combined 386 of 400 available minutes. Bane played a team-high 39 minutes, scoring 19 points, while Robinson finished with 19 points in 38 minutes.
“It’s tough,” Bane said of the team’s depth. “But they were in the same situation. It’s not like we’re the only team in the league. We’ve got to find ways to get it done.”
Oklahoma State started the game on fire from 3-point range, draining eight in the first half, and managed to stay in front the final 33:57. The Cowboys finished 11-for-25 from deep, the second-most 3-pointers a team has made against the Frogs. TCU entered the game with the second-best 3-point defense in the league.
With OSU knocking down 3s, TCU faced an uphill battle all night. The Cowboys had a 46-33 lead with 16:38 left in the game, but the Frogs got back in it with a 7-0 run.
After pulling to within 46-40, though, TCU had an offensive foul by Bane and turnovers by Bane and Robinson as OSU regained a double-digit lead 51-40.
But TCU had another rally in it and made it a one-possession game, 57-55, on a layup by Kendric Davis with 6:35 left to cap a 17-4 run. The Frogs just couldn’t pull in front.
OSU guard and Mansfield Timberview’s Isaac Likekele sealed the game for the Cowboys by making a putback layup with 29.8 seconds left to make it a 65-59 lead. Cowboys guard Thomas Dziagwa scored a game-high 23 points, including a season-high six 3-pointers.
“We had a chance,” Dixon said. “We did dig out of it, proud of our guys for doing it. We did fight back. I just thought we could’ve done better things. ... Our defense is not going to be as effective given our numbers and we got into foul trouble quick.”
Center Kevin Samuel had two fouls by the 10:11 mark in the first half, and guard R.J. Nembhard picked up his third with 4:12 left in the first half.
But the early story was OSU scoring its first 18 points on six 3-pointers, and then scored an old-fashioned three-point play to take a 21-12 lead with 10:08 left in the first half.
A few seconds later, the Cowboys made it 25-12 with a four-point play by Lindy Waters, who drained a 3-pointer while being fouled by Nembhard.
That capped a 16-0 run by the Cowboys and a 4:31 scoring drought for the Frogs. OSU had a 39-30 lead at halftime, which meant TCU would’ve had to match the biggest halftime deficit its overcome this season -- nine against CSU Bakersfield in the season opener.
It didn’t happen. Hello, bubble.
“We’ve got to find a way to win these games down the stretch,” Dixon said.
This story was originally published February 18, 2019 at 10:40 PM.
