TCU ‘hurting team’ after squandering big lead in loss to Texas Tech
TCU coach Trent Johnson’s first words in the interview room did not need interpretation.
“Sometimes it takes you a little longer to cool off,” he said.
That seemed easy to understand after his team’s 83-79 loss at Texas Tech on Tuesday night after shooting 55.6 percent in the first half, going up by 14 and leading by 12 at halftime.
“I got a hurting team in there,” he said.
Chauncey Collins scored a career-high 29 points, Brandon Parrish had 19, and Malique Trent 15 as the Horned Frogs put together a second consecutive strong offensive performance.
That’s one that’s going to be a tough one to swallow for a long time. We competed as hard as we could. We gave it our all. When we play together and play as one unit, the sky’s the limit.
TCU guard Brandon Parrish
But as good as they were in the first half, Texas Tech (18-9, 8-7 Big 12) was better in the second half. The Red Raiders opened with a 12-2 run after halftime, shot 58.3 percent in the second half and scored on their final 10 trips.
“That’s one that’s going to be a tough one to swallow for a long time,” Parrish said. “We competed as hard as we could. We gave it our all. When we play together and play as one unit, the sky’s the limit.”
Collins’ 3-pointer with 1:07 left cut the Texas Tech lead to 80-78. But the Frogs couldn’t get stops.
Zach Smith’s tip-in following two misses pushed the Tech lead back to four points at 82-78 with 27 seconds left.
With 11 seconds left, Collins had a chance to make it a one-possession game. But he missed the second of two foul shots, leaving the score 83-79, and TCU couldn’t get a possession back.
The Frogs fell to 1-34 all-time in Big 12 road games. The one victory came in Lubbock last season.
Trent’s steal and 3-point play gave TCU a 41-29 lead with 1:28 left before halftime, and Collins’ free throws made it 47-33 with 18 seconds left. Aaron Ross’ layup at the horn for Tech cut the halftime lead to 47-35.
Tech tied the game 51-51 with 13:41 left in the second half on Ross’ layup. TCU did not lead again, but was never down more than six points.
For the most part, we played really, really well. Really well. Texas Tech’s a really good basketball team.
TCU coach Trent Johnson
“We’ve had our games where we haven’t fought, got down early, threw in the towel,” Parrish said. “I think that we’ve learned from that. That’s one thing that Coach has taught us that we shouldn’t do, despite how it’s looking.”
Johnson said the Frogs played well, but that he’s frustrated that the players haven’t won because “they deserve to.”
“For the most part, we played really, really well,” Johnson said. “Really well. Texas Tech’s a really good basketball team. They have a lot of confidence in close games. We had a couple bad possessions down the stretch. But I can’t fault their effort. I can’t fault their execution.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 11:06 PM with the headline "TCU ‘hurting team’ after squandering big lead in loss to Texas Tech."