Malique Trent’s return provides boost for TCU

Malique Trent played better than expected by TCU coach Trent Johnson after sitting out 10 days.

“I thought he did a good job defensively with some energy,” Johnson said. “Quite frankly, I was surprised that he was able, from a conditioning standpoint, to play as well as he did.”

The sophomore guard missed games against Baylor, Kansas and Texas Tech. He returned against Iowa State on Saturday with seven points, four assists, five steals and a block. He had three turnovers and made only one of four free throws, so he wasn’t completely sharp. But his presence provided a boost.

“It was a positive aspect,” forward Vladimir Brodziansky said. “We have one more guy for our rotation. He didn’t play his best; it was just his first game after he was out. He’s going to be back at his averages. We’re glad to have him back.”

Trent was the second-leading scorer at 11.7 points per game when he began a three-game absence for violating team rules. He moved up to the top spot statistically after TCU (9-10, 1-6 Big 12) played two games without him. Going into Tuesday’s game at Texas (12-7, 4-3), he is back at No. 2, averaging 11.4 points.

Trent’s five steals against Iowa State were the most for a TCU player since 2012, Johnson’s first year in Fort Worth. Trent ranks third in the Big 12 in steals.

“He’s a guy that tried to do too much at times because he wants to win so bad, and he’s got some pretty good instincts,” Johnson said. “He did a decent job defensively — any time you get five steals. I think he’s going to help us moving forward.”

Shepherd, Parrish scoreless

Karviar Shepherd and Brandon Parrish went scoreless against Iowa State. It was the first time this year they were scoreless in the same game. It happened once last season, March 4 at Oklahoma State.

“They missed open shots,” Johnson said, explaining Shepherd’s 0-for-7 and Parrish’s 0-for-4. “Obviously, both kids aren’t trying to miss them. Iowa State did a very, very good job of, especially with Brandon, getting to him on closeouts. Karviar, obviously he’s just got to make open shots. Bottom line, all we can do and will continue to do as a head coach and staff is put them in situations where hopefully they can score and gain some confidence and shoot the ball.”

Parrish leads TCU in 3-point percentage (49.1). Shepherd is No. 3 in field-goal percentage (38.9).

Defense evaluation

Johnson said TCU played good defense against Iowa State, which entered averaging 85 points per game.

“Overall, as a group, defensively, when you have a team that explosive and hold them under their average, I thought defensively we were decent,” Johnson said. “They turned it over 23 times. I thought defensively, for the most part, we were as good as we can be.”

Iowa State’s 23 turnovers were the most by a TCU opponent since Oklahoma State had 24 in January 2013.

Briefly

▪ Sophomore guard Chauncey Collins is averaging 14.0 points and shooting 44 percent on 3-pointers in his last four games against ranked opponents.

▪ Junior guard Michael Williams has only four turnovers in the past four games and ranks second in Big 12 games in assist-to-turnover ratio.

▪ Shepherd passed 500 rebounds for his career last week. With 508 rebounds, he needs 154 to tie Bingo Merriex for No. 10 all-time at TCU.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Malique Trent’s return provides boost for TCU."