With ‘no fight,’ ‘lack of energy,’ TCU falls flat at home against Kansas
It’s one thing to lose by 19 to one of college basketball’s best teams.
It’s another to get outrebounded by 21.
One stung a lot more than the other for TCU in its 75-56 loss to No. 7 Kansas on Saturday afternoon at Schollmaier Arena. Perry Ellis had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who finished with a 46-25 rebounding edge.
“They were right, and we had no fight,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. “They did whatever they wanted to. Forty-six to 25 on the glass speaks volumes to how competitive they were and how competitive we weren’t.”
Where was the fight?
“Some days we lack energy,” junior guard Brandon Parrish said. “We’re a team that we have a lot of youth. In some places, we have a lot of immaturity.”
Johnson shook his head. For him, that had nothing to do with it.
“That’s my point — that’s an excuse,” he said. “There are some upperclassmen that have been through it, and they hear it from me every day. You guys have heard me say this over and over again: You can make a lot of excuses for who’s not out there, you can make a lot of excuses for youth and inexperience. But if you can play and you are competitive, you’ll find a way.”
From the start, the Horned Frogs (10-13, 1-9) made themselves go a long way to find a way.
Kansas scored the first seven points, prompting a timeout from Johnson not two minutes into the game.
The Jayhawks had their lead at 11 on an Ellis layup 12 minutes in, then it went to 20 on his 3-point play with 3:37 left. His tip-in a minute later made it a 24-point lead, 38-14, and the story of the day was clear.
“This game was decided by their maximum effort and our lack of,” Johnson said.
Parrish and JD Miller each scored 13 points for TCU, Miller going 7-for-8 at the foul line and leading the Frogs with five rebounds.
This game was decided by their maximum effort and our lack of.
TCU coach Trent Johnson
Malique Trent missed five shots from the field and finished the game with a sprained wrist.
“Not good,” Johnson said about the injury to his team’s leading scorer, and then mentioned another health issue.
“Karviar Shepherd has had back problems for the last 2 1/2 weeks,” Johnson said. “It is what it is. That’s all part of it. Everybody’s bumped and bruised at this time.”
Then again, so is the Frogs’ pride.
“TCU has always given us a hard time on the glass, and I thought we rebounded the ball more like men today than we did in prior games,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Parrish said the Frogs disappointed themselves.
“For us to play at home and not compete to the level that we’re capable of, especially when we have a beautiful opportunity like this game against the Jayhawks, a team that’s dominated our league for the last 10 years or so, it’s a little disappointing,” he said. “We were really confident coming in. ... I think we bypassed a lot of the little aspects of the game, especially rebounding, where we got beat 46-25. I mean, that’s the game right there.”
Johnson could hardly agree more.
“All you got to do is look at the stat sheet from the rebound perspective,” he said. “That’s all you need to do and that’s all that happened in this game. First time in a long time, here at home, that that’s happened.”
Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez
KANSAS (19-4, 7-3 BIG 12) — Lucas 2-2 4-4 8, Ellis 11-14 1-1 23, Mason III 3-11 5-6 12, Selden Jr. 1-5 1-2 3, Graham 6-10 0-0 15, Vick 1-2 0-0 3, Mykhailiuk 1-5 0-0 3, Self 0-0 0-0 0, Diallo 1-1 0-0 2, Greene 0-0 0-0 0, Bragg Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Traylor 3-6 0-0 6, Mickelson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 11-13 75.
TCU (10-13, 1-9) — Abron 0-0 3-4 3, Washburn 1-5 3-6 5, Collins 2-6 4-5 10, Trent 0-5 1-2 1, Parrish 4-10 4-4 13, Shreiner 0-1 0-0 0, M. Williams 1-5 0-2 3, Brodziansky 2-4 0-0 5, Miller 3-9 7-8 13, Dry 0-0 0-0 0, Shepherd 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 14-49 23-33 56.
Halftime—Kansas 38, TCU 20. 3-Point Goals—Kansas 6-22 (Graham 3-6, Vick 1-1, Mykhailiuk 1-3, Mason III 1-5, Bragg Jr. 0-1, Ellis 0-2, Selden Jr. 0-4), TCU 5-18 (Collins 2-6, Brodziansky 1-1, M. Williams 1-2, Parrish 1-4, Shreiner 0-1, Trent 0-2, Miller 0-2). Fouled Out—Traylor. Rebounds—Kansas 46 (Ellis 10), TCU 25 (Miller 5). Assists—Kansas 18 (Mason III 6), TCU 9 (Trent 4). Total Fouls—Kansas 25, TCU 18. Technical—Kansas Bench. A—6,516.
This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "With ‘no fight,’ ‘lack of energy,’ TCU falls flat at home against Kansas."