Three takeaways from TCU men’s basketball game vs. Oklahoma State
TCU men’s basketball snapped its four-game losing streak with a come-from-behind 68-65 win over Oklahoma State Tuesday night at Schollmaier Arena.
“Great win against a very good team,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “The league is unbelievable as you saw again tonight. We responded, we got the stops. Down the stretch we made the right plays and the offensive execution was tremendous.”
The Horned Frogs (12-7, 2-4 in the Big 12) trailed 65-58 with 4 minutes, 13 seconds remaining and seemed destined to drop what would be its fifth straight game.
The offense was sluggish in the second half and once again struggled to hit shots from 3-point range, while the defense allowed the Cowboys (14-5, 3-3) to hover around 50% shooting most of the night.
But when it mattered most, down the stretch, TCU played its best basketball: The Horned Frogs used a 10-0 run to stun the Cowboys late. Xavier Edmonds started the run with two tough baskets that cut the deficit to 65-62. Then Liutaurus Lelevicius hit a corner 3-pointer that tied the game 65-65 with 1:10 remaining.
After getting a stop, David Punch hit the game-winning basket as he drove hard to rim and hit a floater with 9.3 seconds left to put TCU ahead.
“I just saw an opening and I took it, it was simple as that,” Punch said. “The play was actually for (Lelevicius), but he gave it to me and I saw an opening and I just took it.”
It had to feel like deja vu for the Cowboys, who had a similar collapse the last time they played in Schollmaier Arena last February when Vasean Allette hit a buzzer-eater 3 to lead TCU to a comeback 73-72 win.
“That’s two years in a row we’re going to leave Fort Worth with an unbelievably sick feeling in our stomachs,” Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz said.
The Horned Frogs will travel to Waco to face Baylor at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Punch powers offense
Punch was one of the few bright spots for TCU on offense. Punch, a sophomore forward, had another strong game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Punch’s best stretch came near the end of the first half. On two straight possessions he had his man sealed, but his teammates were unable to get him the ball.
After briefly showing some frustration, Punch took matters into his own hands with six straight points. Punch knocked down a jumper from just inside the 3-point line and threw down two dunks to tie the game at 37-37 with 1:48 remaining in the first half.
Punch finished with 14 points in the first half, but it was a struggle to get him touches in the second half until the final five minutes. Once the offense began to run back through Punch, TCU began to get more open looks, and the Horned Frogs capitalized off of the attention Punch drew from the Oklahoma State defense. With another double-double Punch continues to play at an All-Big 12 level.
Edmonds also added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
TCU overcomes talented backcourt
Guard play often decides conference games, and for most of the night TCU guards Brock Harding and Jayden Pierre were on their heels against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys leaned on Jaylen Curry, Anthony Roy, Isaiah Coleman and Kanye Clary to maintain their lead most of the second half until the final five minutes.
The four guards took their respective turns providing a spark to the Oklahoma State offense. Clary was the steady floor general that dished out six assists, while Coleman stepped up in the second half as the tough shot maker. Coleman came alive with 10 points in the final 20 minutes. Curry and Roy combined to make four 3-pointers.
While Harding and Pierre struggled offensively, going a combined 4 of 15 from the field, they got multiple important stops down the stretch as the Cowboys were held scoreless in the final 4:13.
“Our defense has been our best (attribute) this season,” Punch said. “I feel like as we continue to work on it throughout the season it gets better. Coach really emphasized the details, I feel like we really paid attention to detail down the stretch and that won us the game.”
Slow start defensively
The Horned Frogs entered Big 12 play with a top-25 defense, but the step up in competition has seen the defense’s effectiveness wane during the four-game skid. That continued in the first half against the Cowboys as Oklahoma State shot 58.1% to take a 41-37 lead at halftime.
It was a surprising result at the break considering how fast TCU started. The Horned Frogs surged to a 9-0 lead and led 13-4 at one point behind six points from Edmonds. That’s when things began to change as Oklahoma State guards began to take over.
The undersized backcourt upped the tempo and allowed Oklahoma State to play in transition. What they lacked in size, they made up for with quickness as the Cowboys were successful in exploiting TCU’s half-court traps. Oklahoma State consistently created good looks off of their ball movement and penetration: The Cowboys knocked down five 3-pointers in the period.
TCU rebounded in the second half holding Oklahoma State to just 29% in the second half. The Cowboys made just one 3-pointer in the final 20 minutes.
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 9:27 PM.
