TCU Falls At K-State
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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Junior Kyan Anderson scored 23 points to lead TCU Wednesday night, but the Horned Frogs dropped a hard-fought 65-53 decision to Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum.
For a fourth-straight game, Anderson simply dominated in the opening frame of play, scoring 17 of the Frogs’ final 20 points of the half. On the night, the Fort Worth native tallied a game-high 23 points, marking the fifth time out of six contests he has dropped 20 or more in a single-game. The junior finished 7-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-4 from deep. Freshman Karviar Shepherd was the only other Frog in double-figures Wednesday with 12 points on 4-of-8 from the floor, which all came in the second half.
On the night, the Horned Frogs appeared to be well on their way to claiming a much needed road victory, tying the game at 42-42 midway through the second half, but in the end couldn’t get over the hump despite forcing the Wildcats into 18 turnovers. For a majority of the game, the Purple and White scored points off those turnovers, outscoring K-State to the tune of 21-11, but the Wildcats eventually wore the Frogs down late in the game to secure the victory.
With the loss, TCU dropped to 9-16 overall and 0-13 in Big 12 play, while K-State, who is receiving votes in both national polls, improved to 18-8 overall and 8-5 in league action.
Thomas Gipson carried the Wildcats on the night, scoring 16 points, while
grabbing a game-high 11 boards. Freshman Marcus Foster followed with 13 points, while Nino Williams chipped in with 11 points on 5-of-8 from the field.
The two teams would open the second half just like they did the first, going back and forth the first couple of trips, but Kansas State would take a 37-32 lead during the opening stages of the second half. Shepherd would halt the K-State attack five minutes into the period and then watch as fellow freshman Hudson Price, who finished the night with a career-high seven points, got into the act to pull the Frogs within 39-36 at the 14:47 mark.
Shepherd would tie the game at 42-42 midway through the period, grabbing a rebound and powering home a layup, but the Wildcats responded with six-straight to regain the lead before the freshman went back to work on the glass to make it a 48-44 game with 10:14 to go in the contest.
An 11-3 run by K-State would make the scoreboard read 59-47, but the Frogs would try to halt the Wildcat attack at the charity stripe, cutting it to 61-50 down the stretch. TCU tried time after time to chip into the K-State lead, but couldn’t make up the difference.
The two teams opened the game going back and forth as Jarvis Ray found the bottom of the net off a deep jumper on the opening possession, but K-State was able to push its advantage to 11-2. Amric Fields ended the Wildcat run five minutes into the opening frame, knifing into the lane and connecting to inch the Frogs closer.
With the scoreboard reading 14-7 in slight favor of K-State, Anderson tickled the twine from deep to pull the Frogs within 14-10. The junior continued to go to work on the next two possessions, finding the bottom of the net on consecutive trips, which included a beautiful pull-back jumper over the outstretched arms of K-State’s Omari Lawerence midway through, which made it a 16-14 score at the 6:57 mark.
The Wildcats would push it to 22-16, but Fields would stymie their attack, scoring on a running layup with 3:37 to go prior to intermission. Anderson gave the Frogs a 24-23 lead with a little over a minute to go in the opening frame, but it was short lived as K-State answered to regain its lead on the very next possession. Another runner by the Fort Worth native with four seconds left brought the halftime score to 27-26. In all, Anderson closed the half scoring 17 out of the Frogs’ final 20 points.
TCU will next be in action Saturday against Iowa State at the DMC, beginning at 3:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
