TCU turning the page to No. 9 Oklahoma after heartbreaking Kansas loss
TCU is turning the page after the controversial finish against No. 2 Kansas on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs were 60 seconds away from upsetting the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse for a second straight year, but a flagrant foul on Ernest Udeh flipped the tenor of the 83-81 loss.
It would be easy to sulk, but the Horned Frogs have already moved on to the next challenge, No. 9 Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Wednesday. There’s no time to lament over questionable calls when you have a top-10 opponent rolling into town.
Coach Jamie Dixon said after the Kansas loss that he was confident his team would respond positively to the adversit. On Tuesday, he said he’s been encouraged by what he’s seen the last few days as TCU prepares for the Sooners.
“I know there was all this discussion about the game, our focus was the rebounding,” Dixon said. “That was the best way I thought we could handle it, focus on the things we can control and we simply didn’t get it done.”
The message has been well received by the Horned Frogs, who understand if they executed better in a few phases then they wouldn’t be in a position where a questionable whistle mattered.
“It was a tough pill we had to swallow, it was a questionable call that happened,” guard Avery Anderson said. “We had a lot of mistakes we had during the game that we can’t blame on one play. Coach was telling us we got out-rebounded, they out-toughed us. We can’t do that on the road.”
TCU won’t be able to do that Wednesday either as rebounding will be pivotal against Oklahoma, which has become one of the biggest surprises of the college basketball season. The Sooners were picked to finish No. 12 in the preseason media poll, but Oklahoma has easily exceeded preseason expectations.
One reason is how the Sooners attack the glass with over 38 rebounds per game. TCU is slightly better with 39.3 rebounds a night, which is top-75 nationally. Returning wing Otega Oweh has taken a leap and has gone from averaging 4.8 points a night to 14.9 to lead Oklahoma.
But the biggest reason Oklahoma has been able to defeat teams like North Carolina and Providence is the arrival of Siena transfer guard Javian McCollum. McCollum averages 14.7 points, 3.9 assists and is hitting 38 percent of his 3-point attempts.
“They hold onto some guys from the previous year and then added some impactful transfers,” Dixon said. “Welcome to college basketball and they went and got them. They did a good job of putting them all together.”
Oklahoma also added Jalon Moore (9.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) from Georgia Tech and John Hugley IV (9.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg) from Pittsburgh. McCollum is the catalyst and has played his best against the premiere teams on Oklahoma’s schedule.
He scored 14 against North Carolina, 20 against Arkansas, 19 against Providence and 18 against USC potential lottery pick Isaiah Collier.
“They’ve got a good guard that’s ball dominant and makes smart plays,” Anderson said. “I just got to lock in on my matchup.”
Anderson was one of the key pickups for TCU in the transfer portal after being a multi-year starter with Oklahoma State. Anderson came off the bench for the first 11 games of the season, but has started the last three and had six steals against the Jayhawks.
Adjusting to the new role has come naturally for the experienced lead guard.
“I’m just trying to be that guy that whatever the team needs, I’m going to do,” Anderson said. “If that’s making plays for my teammates, I’m going to make plays. If that’s scoring, then score the ball. Just being the guy that plays defense on the best player, just doing whatever the team needs.”
TCU will need Anderson to replicate the success he’s had against the Sooners during his career. Anderson is 6-2 in his career against the Sooners and averages double figures when facing Oklahoma.
Anderson knows he could be an X-factor on Wednesday.
“It was a big rivalry game coming from Oklahoma State, it was a huge game,” Anderson said. “I was going in with the mindset of doing anything on the floor to get the W, I guess that’s why my record is so good against them. I’m with TCU now, so I just want to bring that winning mentality here and come out with the W.”
If the Horned Frogs are able execute in the half court like they did against Kansas then TCU has a good shot of landing its first signature win of the season and finally start putting together its NCAA Tournament resume.
