TCU Men's Basketball Survives Oklahoma State Comeback Raid
TCU men's basketball (16-5, 5-4) beat Oklahoma State by a score of 77-73 in an intense game played at Schollmaier Arena. They were missing some pieces with Mike Miles being out, but they found a way to win. Four Horned Frogs scored in double digits.
After this game Coach Jamie Dixon entered the post-game press conference level headed. He looked exhausted from the rollercoaster game they just had, but still proud of the way his guys battled.
“I think it says something," Coach Dixon said. "Again, it was so quick, I just didn’t get the message across. We thought it was what we came up with offensively, had 45 minutes to get it across, not even that with warmups and stuff, but I think they found out how to do it. That’s the biggest thing and it’s kind of something we’ve been emphasizing and we took a step backward against Kansas State but got refocused. We got the ball inside early and that was huge … I would’ve thought we shot a little better percentage wise but 47% is pretty good given that we’re not a great shooting team. We know that. We took good shots and got 14 offensive rebounds … other than the turnovers, we have bizarre turnovers … hopefully I got the message across, we’re going to win with defense.”
This team is definitely growing in the right direction, as they were getting more noticeable transition buckets. Coach said to that, “I thought Damion did a good job of advancing it, we’ve got to cut down his turnovers, it wasn’t as aggressive of a press, I think he threw ahead a lot, just throwing ahead and getting into our offense rather than walking it up or backing it down … Eddie, Xavier are pretty good decision makers, Eman, JaKobe is going to get better … using our other guys to initiate our guys.”
The Horned Frogs did have quite a few turnovers, but Coach Dixon expected that. He stated, “Ain't overthinking … they (OSU) cause turnovers … we should’ve had a couple of less, the back screen, the three to star the half, and OBs, I don’t know how we turn it over to Fran, two feet away, kick it off his foot. We say 12, 10, in that vicinity, it’s a little high right now but we are headed in the right direction.”
Chuck O’Bannon led TCU in scoring with a career-tying 19 points, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. He has made a three-pointer in 17-of-21 games this season. O’Bannon was 6-of-9 from the field, a season-high for makes. O'Bannon stated post game, "Last game wasn't my best game, but I stayed with it and focused in, and had my touch going."
Eddie Lampkin recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. TCU improved to 4-0 on the season when Lampkin records a double-double. His 12 rebounds tied a season-high (Austin Peay). Eddie stated post game, " I'm the best big man in the country. Offensively I can do it all for the team."
Emanuel Miller scored 16 points, his most in 11 games, along with a career-high 4 assists. Damion Baugh had 15 points plus eight assists.
It was TCU’s fifth-straight win over OSU in Fort Worth and improved the Horned Frogs to 16-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12, their best start in conference play through nine games since the 2003-04 C-USA season.
TCU led by as many as 10 in the first half and led 39-32 at the half. The Frogs built a 69-56 lead, its largest of the game following a floating jumper by Baugh with 7:00 minutes remaining.
OSU (11-12, 4-7) then went on a 13-1 run over the next five minutes to get within one point, 70-69 with 2:04 to play. TCU never surrendered the lead and went up by four following two Lampkin free throws with 19 seconds on the clock, part of an 18-of-23 effort from the line for the Frogs.
Following a layup by the Cowboys to cut it to two points, Baugh passed it to Miller nearly the length of the court for the dunk that put the Frogs up by four with 11 seconds left.
Once again, TCU dominated the rebounding effort, 37-24, including 14 on the offensive end.
The Horned Frogs head to Lubbock to face the No. 9 Red Raiders for the first time this season. The game is a 3 p.m. tip and can be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
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