TCU men fall to Texas Tech despite two big performances
Monday night’s game against Texas Tech turned out to be a loss for TCU, unraveling in the final minutes.
But maybe it was the start of something for Chauncey Collins and Vladimir Brodziansky. The sophomore guard and forward combined for 37 points and powered the Horned Frogs down the stretch before Tech held off the comeback attempt for a 76-69 victory at Schollmaier Arena.
We’re getting there. I feel like we’ve got a big up. Our up — nobody expects it.
Chauncey Collins of TCU
Collins made one of his five 3-pointers to help lift TCU out of a 10-point hole, and Brodziansky scored eight points in a 2 1/2 -minute stretch. He made six consecutive free throws to cut the Tech lead to 71-69 with 1:11 left before missing.
That opened the door to an escape for Tech (12-5, 2-4 Big 12) and left TCU (9-9, 1-5) thinking about what could have been.
“We’re getting there,” Collins said. “I feel like we’ve got a big up. Our up — nobody expects it. We just got to keep buying into Coach, what he has to say, because everything he says works. We just have to buy in, stay confident in our ability to fight back and in our ability to stay in control.”
Coach always wants me to play hard — don’t be scared, take responsibility.
Vladimir Brodziansky of TCU
Brodziansky, coming off a 12-rebound performance at Kansas, had 18 points and six rebounds. He scored eight points in the final five minutes. His three foul shots with 3:02 left gave TCU a 68-67 lead and completed a comeback from a 63-52 deficit for the Horned Frogs.
“Coach always wants me to play hard — don’t be scared, take responsibility,” Brodziansky, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Slovakia, said, when asked about how he was calling for the ball down the stretch. “I just started playing harder. I was trying to help my team to get back and win this game. We just came up short.”
Collins made 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range. His final attempt went in and out with 37 seconds left, and Tech’s Aaron Ross made free throws on the other end for a 75-69 lead with 29 seconds left.
Painful lessons learned. We were our own Achilles’ heel, obviously, in the first half.
TCU coach Trent Johnson
JD Miller’s inbound pass went out of bounds, giving Tech the ball again, and Toddrick Gotcher added a free throw for the final margin.
“Painful lessons learned,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. “We were our own Achilles’ heel, obviously, in the first half. We didn’t finish the half very well. ... We only had seven turnovers, but we had two before the half and we had one in a late-game situation where our guys just don’t get lined up.”
Ross scored 16 points for Texas Tech, going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers. His triple answered Brodziansky’s three free throws and gave the lead back to the Red Raiders at 70-68 with 2:47 left.
Justin Gray added 14 points for Tech, going 2-for-3 on 3-pointers. The Red Raiders were 9-for-15 on 3-pointers, the best performance against TCU this season.
Combined with TCU’s 17-for-28 showing at the foul line, it was enough to leave the Horned Frogs short again.
“I guess we’re so used to coming so close, we don’t believe it ourselves,” Collins said. “I believe we’re real close to surprising a lot of people.”
Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez
TEXAS TECH (12-5): Smith 2-3 2-2 6, Odiase 4-6 0-0 8, Williams 2-6 0-0 5, Evans 2-5 2-2 6, Gotcher 1-4 2-4 5, Thomas 2-2 0-1 5, Williamson 1-2 0-0 3, Gray 5-7 2-2 14, Ross 4-4 5-6 16, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Temple 3-8 2-4 8. Totals 26-47 15-21 76.
TCU (9-9): Shepherd 3-9 3-4 9, Washburn 1-8 1-3 3, Collins 7-15 0-0 19, M. Williams 1-5 0-0 3, Parrish 3-7 2-5 8, Brodziansky 5-9 8-12 18, Miller 3-8 3-4 9, Abron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 17-28 69.
Halftime—Texas Tech 42-35. 3-Point Goals—Texas Tech 9-15 (Ross 3-3, Gray 2-3, Thomas 1-1, Williamson 1-2, Gotcher 1-3, Williams 1-3), TCU 6-18 (Collins 5-10, M. Williams 1-3, Brodziansky 0-1, Washburn 0-1, Shepherd 0-1, Parrish 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Texas Tech 33 (Smith 9), TCU 36 (Brodziansky, M. Williams 6). Assists—Texas Tech 21 (Smith 5), TCU 11 (M. Williams 6). Total Fouls—Texas Tech 23, TCU 18. A—5,905.
This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 10:17 PM with the headline "TCU men fall to Texas Tech despite two big performances."