Three takeaways from TCU men’s basketball game at Oklahoma State
TCU men’s basketball bolstered its NCAA Tournament resume with a 95-92 overtime win over Oklahoma State on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs (16-9, 6-6) completed the season sweep of the Cowboys (16-9, 4-8) after defeating Oklahoma State 68-65 on Jan. 20, and TCU added a Quad 1 victory to its NCAA Tournament resume days after upsetting No. 5 Iowa State on Tuesday.
The Horned Frogs thought they had secured a massive road win in regulation after Jayden Pierre knocked down a 3 that made it 82-78 with 32 seconds remaining.
But the Horned Frogs missed two of their final four free throws in regulation, including Liutaurus Lelevicius splitting at the line with 6.5 seconds remaining as TCU only led 84-82. The Cowboys were able to send the game into overtime on a putback by Parsa Fallah right before the buzzer.
The Horned Frogs once again led late in overtime after two free throws by Brock Harding put TCU ahead 93-87 with 1:35 remaining. The Cowboys would answer with a 3-pointer by Christian Coleman to make it a one-possession game.
Coleman made two more free throws to cut it to 93-92 with 27.8 seconds remaining. TCU was successful in breaking the full court press, which led to an easy layup for Micah Robinson with 16 seconds remaining.
The Horned Frogs got the stop they needed in the final seconds as Oklahoma State missed the game-tying shot with a second remaining.
TCU has now won three straight games and continues to trend in the right direction for the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs will travel to face Central Florida at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Here are three more takeaways from the win:
Punch takes over
After a quiet game against Iowa State, sophomore forward David Punch got off to another slow start in the first half against the Cowboys. Punch was held to just two points and missed eight of his first nine attempts, but TCU was still able to lead at halftime despite its best player struggling.
The second half was a much different story as Punch maintained his confidence and aggression. Punch scored eight of TCU’s first 10 points to help the Horned Frogs build a 49-45 lead. Later Punch showcased his growing offensive arsenal as he knocked down a 3-pointer, then added another basket inside to grow the lead to 60-51.
Punch finished with 17 of his 19 points after halftime while adding three steals and two blocks. The Horned Frogs wouldn’t have been able to close out the game without Punch showing up in the second half.
Fallah bounces back
Fallah has been one of the more productive centers in the Big 12 all season, but the Horned Frogs managed to hold him to just two points in their first matchup. That’s well below his season average of 13.2 points, but Fallah was much better in the rematch.
The 6-foot-10 senior made an intentional effort to be more aggressive in the first half as he scored 11 points to help Oklahoma State keep pace with the Horned Frogs. The second half was no different as Fallah scored eight straight points at one point. The big man also knocked down a crucial 3-pointer to cut TCU’s lead to 66-60 with 9:35 remaining.
Fallah would go nearly eight minutes without a field goal, but he hit multiple clutch shots in the final two minutes to send the game to overtime. Fallah finished with a game-high 27 points and six rebounds as he nearly led the Cowboys to the win.
The 3-point battle
TCU’s offense didn’t play well early as the Horned Frogs only shot 35% in the first half, but TCU was still able to take a 39-34 lead into the half. The key stat was the seven 3-pointers made as the Horned Frogs shot 54% from behind the arc in the first.
The Horned Frogs haven’t been known for their 3-point shot making, entering Saturday ranked 12th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage. The lack of spacing wasn’t an issue against the Cowboys early, as five different Horned Frogs knocked down 3s in the first half.
There was a fun sequence where the teams exchanged blows behind the arc as Tanner Toolson made a 3, only for Oklahoma State’s Anthony Roy to answer back with a 3. However, TCU would come out on top during the exchange as Pierre made two straight 3s to put TCU ahead 21-13 with 13:13 remaining before halftime.
The second half 3-point shooting was more even as TCU added five more while the Cowboys hit five, including two timely makes by Roy, who finished with 16 points. The Horned Frogs finished the day shooting 48% from 3, making Saturday one of their best shooting performances of the season.
Pierre hit four to finish with 16 while Harding made 3 and finished with 15 points.
