TCU’s ‘strongest’ 4 minutes knock out Texas Tech in Big 12 tournament

Brandon Parrish said it was going to take the strongest four minutes of the season.

That and Vladimir Brodziansky helped TCU win a first-round game in the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night against Texas Tech 67-62.

“It’s been a long time coming,” coach Trent Johnson said. “This last month, we’ve been coming close versus good teams, and Texas Tech is a very good basketball team. And I thought this probably was our best game in terms of offensive execution.”

In the final 4:01, Brodziansky had three points, two blocks, a steal and two rebounds — including the final rebound of the game — to secure the victory that sent TCU into Thursday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal matchup against West Virginia on ESPNU.

“I was confident because my teammates were confident in me,” said Brodziansky, a first-year player from Slovakia who transfered from Pratt (Kan.) Junior College.

Chauncey Collins had 19 points, including 16 in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, and Parrish added 15 for the 10th-seeded Horned Frogs (12-20), who won a first-round game for a second consecutive year at the Sprint Center. Last season, they defeated Kansas State as a No. 9 seed.

Chris Washburn’s free throw tied the game 56-56 with 4:24 left, and Texas Tech (19-12) went empty on three trips — Brodziansky blocked a shot by Keenan Evans, Washburn made a steal, and Brodziansky came up with a block on Aaron Ross.

Brodziansky’s left-handed layup put TCU ahead 60-58 with 47 seconds left, and Malique Trent’s steal and 3-point play made it 63-58 with 34 seconds left.

Free throws by Collins gave TCU a 66-62 lead with 14 seconds left, and Parrish blocked a layup that Brodziansky secured with four seconds left. He made a free throw with one second left for the final margin.

“We knew going into the final four minutes, it was tied up, and it was going to take our strongest four minutes of the season,” Parrish said. “We tried our hardest to stay poised.”

Brodziansky finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana.

“He stepped up, he hit a couple of big shots,” Collins said. “He rebounded the ball well tonight, and that’s what we expect from him every night. We know what he’s capable of, so it just kept us going.”

It was another big game for Collins against Texas Tech. He scored 19 against the Red Raiders in Fort Worth and 29 against them in Lubbock.

“Once a kid like that gets going, he is hard to handle because he really stretches it from the perimeter,” Johnson said of Collins.

Collins said he did what Johnson always advises.

“Just step up and shoot the ball,” Collins said. “Coach preaches to us about shooting the ball with confidence, just get up and shoot the ball with confidence. And the shots fell.”

Trent finished with 10 points, all in the second half, and five rebounds for TCU. He had five turnovers, but his 3-pointer tied the game 55-55 with 5:37 left.

TCU went 10-for-21 on 3-pointers, its best shooting game of the season from long range. The Frogs shot 42.6 percent for the game.

“A lot of games, we came close,” Collins said. “Like Brandon said, the last four minutes, during the time out, it was a tie ballgame, and we just said, ‘We’ve got to give it our all, we’re not coming close any more, and just put our backs to the wall and live with the result.’  ”

They ended up with four good minutes.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 11:21 PM with the headline "TCU’s ‘strongest’ 4 minutes knock out Texas Tech in Big 12 tournament."