West Virginia pushes TCU men aside in Big 12 opener

This is what TCU coach Trent Johnson wanted to see — his team pushed out of its comfort zone.

But he didn’t like the reaction in a 78-67 loss to No. 17 West Virginia.

“When they hit us in the face once, twice, three times in the second half, we lost our poise and started to get testy with one another, and we forgot about playing basketball and making plays,” he said.

The Horned Frogs committed 10 turnovers after halftime and were outrebounded 20-13 in the second half, losing their grip on the Big 12 conference opener.

A 37-30 TCU lead on Brandon Parrish’s 3-pointer and Chris Washburn’s jumper in the opening minute of the second half eventually evaporated against the rebounding of West Virginia’s Devin Williams and Brandon Watkins, and the shooting of guard Gary Browne.

Williams and Watkins combined for seven offensive rebounds (six in the second half), and Browne had all 16 of his points after halftime, as West Virginia spread the floor to create space for jumpers and drives. Guard Juwan Staten, the Mountaineers’ leading scorer, sat out because of illness.

“The game was decided on their physicality and the way they play,” Johnson said. “I love it. I love the way they play. And we didn’t respond.”

TCU (13-1, 0-1) had gotten off to its best start ever — the 10th best in Big 12 history — by outrebounding all but one opponent, averaging more than six blocks per game and a 1.3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

And the Frogs twice built nine-point leads in the first half with that same formula.

But by game’s end, against a full-game, full-court press from West Virginia (13-1, 1-0), they had lost their legs and wound up being outrebounded 43-33, with eight assists to 18 turnovers and just five blocks.

“They kind of out-toughed us, and we didn’t respond,” said TCU guard Trey Zeigler, who had a season-high 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. “First half, we came out with a lot of energy like we should have. Second half, they came back with a lot of energy.”

But Zeigler said the Frogs are not discouraged. It was a two-point game with 7:58 left when Parrish (11 points) hit a jumper to cut the lead to 56-54.

But Browne made a shot, TCU missed a 3-pointer, and after Browne made 1 of 2 at the foul line, Williams’ offensive rebound and three-point play made it 62-54. Another Browne bucket made it 64-54 with 6:03 to go, and the Frogs couldn’t catch up.

“It just showed me we can compete,” Zeigler said. “I think a lot of people were doubting us our first 13 games because of the competition we played. I think we were right there, right where we need to be. A couple possessions go differently, and we win this game.”

The Frogs play at Kansas State on Wednesday, and Johnson will again be watching. He will look for their response when they are pushed out of their comfort zone.

“My whole thing is playing out of your comfort zone,” he said. “To start this thing, they were going to attack us with pressure, and we attacked them.

“But then when the thing got close and they made their run, we didn’t respond like we responded in the first half.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 9:15 PM with the headline "West Virginia pushes TCU men aside in Big 12 opener."