TCU stuck with a different ending in rematch against Texas
Was it only 17 days ago that TCU beat Texas in Fort Worth?
Seems like a long time ago.
“Little different story this time around,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said after his team’s 71-54 loss to the Longhorns in the rematch of the Big 12 season series, staged Tuesday night at the Erwin Center in Austin.
Indeed it was a different story than the Horned Frogs’ 58-57 victory in Fort Worth on Jan. 9.
But for the past five games, it’s been the same story for the Frogs.
Little different story this time around.
TCU coach Trent Johnson
following the Horned Frogs’ split of the season series with TexasThey shot 33 percent Tuesday night, their fourth consecutive game under 40 percent. They committed 19 turnovers, after committing 18 against Iowa State last week. They went 3-for-13 on 3-pointers, after going 4-for-17 the game before. They trailed by 10 at halftime, after trailing by 9, 7, 9 and 10 at halftime of the previous four games.
And for the first time this year, no player finished in double-figure scoring.
“For us to be in games, have a chance to compete with the good teams in this league, and Texas is one of them, we’ve got to make shots,” Johnson said. “And we can’t have 19 turnovers. That’s the only way we’re going to have a chance to be successful, if we get that cleaned up.”
The Frogs (9-11, 1-7) hardly gave themselves a chance to be successful.
Their top two scorers were on the bench with foul trouble less than eight minutes in. Malique Trent picked up his first two fouls at 17:43 and 17:36 of the half. Vladimir Brodziansky was on the bench with his second at 12:53. Point guard Mike Williams was already there at 15:02.
That’s 41 percent of the Horned Frogs’ offense.
And with 1:27 left, Chris Washburn joined them on the bench with two fouls.
“We miss it, but we know we couldn’t hold our heads down on that,” TCU reserve center Devonta Abron, who had seven points and eight rebounds, said of the missing offense. “We had to move on from it.”
Kerwin Roach had 22 points off the bench for Texas, and center Prince Ibeh had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“I thought Ibeh was the best player on the floor,” Johnson said. “He’s always been a concern to me, ever since he’s been here. He’s strong, he’s long, he really catches it. And if you don’t have a body on him, he’s tough to defend in the post. That was a big concern going in.”
The Frogs made one push in the second half. Brandon Parrish’s layup, followed by a turnover by Texas guard Kendal Yancy, led to a layup from Trent that cut the lead to 40-34 at 17:42.
Vladimir Brodziansky blocked a shot at the other end, but he missed a 3-pointer, Abron missed following Trent’s offensive rebound, and at the other end, Javan Felix connected on a 3-pointer for Texas following two offensive rebounds.
It was 43-34, and TCU never got closer.
Washburn and Trent finished with nine points each. Karviar Shepherd, who came off the bench for the first time this year, had 8 points on 6-for-6 free throw shooting.
“Our effort was pretty good for the most part,” Johnson said. “We had some guys who were in situations where they had some open shots, the ball didn’t go down for us. And we had a bad sequence right before the half, which has been our Achilles’ heel all year long — we had a chance to be within 5, maybe 7, we went down 10. And so it was an uphill battle for us after that.”
Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez
TCU (9-11, 1-7 Big 12): Collins 1-5 4-4 7, M. Williams 0-2 0-1 0, Brodziansky 0-4 0-0 0, Parrish 3-9 0-0 7, Washburn 4-6 0-1 9, Shreiner 0-0 0-0 0, Trent 3-7 3-4 9, Miller 3-8 1-2 7, Abron 3-7 1-4 7, Shepherd 1-6 6-6 8. Totals 18-54 15-22 54.
TEXAS (13-7, 5-3): Taylor 2-8 2-2 6, Felix 2-9 2-2 8, Yancy 1-2 0-0 2, Lammert 1-3 0-0 3, Ibeh 6-11 5-6 17, Mack 1-2 0-3 2, Holland 0-2 2-4 2, Davis Jr. 1-5 2-2 4, Roach Jr. 6-9 10-15 22, Cleare 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 22-55 24-36 71.
Halftime—Texas 37-27. 3-Point Goals—TCU 3-13 (Washburn 1-1, Collins 1-3, Parrish 1-6, Brodziansky 0-1, Trent 0-2), Texas 3-15 (Felix 2-6, Lammert 1-2, Taylor 0-1, Holland 0-1, Roach Jr. 0-2, Davis Jr. 0-3). Fouled Out—Collins, M. Williams. Rebounds—TCU 34 (Abron 8), Texas 42 (Ibeh 10). Assists—TCU 5 (Parrish 3), Texas 13 (Taylor 7). Total Fouls—TCU 29, Texas 27. A—11,282.
This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 10:17 PM with the headline "TCU stuck with a different ending in rematch against Texas."