TCU Falls To OK State
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STILLWATER, Okla. – TCU had three players score in double-figures Wednesday, but dropped an 82-50 contest to No. 8/9 Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Horned Frogs played with the Cowboys for a half Wednesday, but just missed on some opportunities during the second stanza of action, which allowed the game to get out of hand during the late stages. The Frogs, who moved to 9-7 overall and 0-4 in league play, were able to whittle away at the OSU lead, cutting it to 12 at the 17-minute mark of the second period, but couldn’t make up the difference despite playing right with the No. 8 team in the country for the opening frame of play.
Freshman Karviar Shepherd carried the load for the Purple and White Wednesday, tallying a career-high 13 points on 4-of-8 from the field. The Dallas native, who went 5-of-7 from the charity stripe, also totaled five boards, two blocks and two steals. Fellow freshman Michael Williams was also solid, scoring 11 points, which included seven in the first half alone. Junior Amric Fields rounded out TCU’s notables, dropping 11 points, while grabbing a team-high six boards. The Oklahoma City product has now scored in double-figures in four out of the last five games.
Oklahoma State (15-2; 3-1 Big 12) was carried by returning
All-America honoree Marcus Smart who scored 20 points on 5-of-11 from the floor. Markel Brown and Le’Bryan Nash added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Fields got the Purple and White going during the early stages of the second half, powering home a thunderous dunk to make it 39-27. Shepherd then got into the act, connecting on a hook inside the paint to pull the Frogs closer at 45-29, but OSU pushed its lead to 50-31 before Williams corralled a loose ball and drove all the way to the rack at the 13:48 mark.
With the scoreboard reading 55-36, TCU continued to fight down the stretch as both Williams and Shepherd found the bottom of the net with a little more than seven minutes to go in the contest. A few plays later, Fields scored on an old fashioned three-point play and the Frogs appeared to show some life late in the contest.
Jarvis Ray got the Frogs going on the opening possession of the first half, scoring a jumper from the corner to give the Purple and White an early 2-0 lead, but Smart answered with a trey ball on the other end. A few plays later, Shepherd found the bottom of the rim, but the Cowboys continued their hot start from deep as Smart drained another triple to give OSU a 9-4 advantage at the 15:43 mark of the opening frame of play.
Shepherd continued to go to work at the 14-minute mark, pulling the Frogs within four at 10-6. On the very next trip, Fields tickled the twine from deep and TCU appeared to be in business, now down only 13-9.
The Cowboys would pull ahead 18-9 off a mini 5-0 run, but Fields would have nothing off it, sticking a mid-range shot to inch the Frogs closer. The junior then watched as Kyan Anderson found pay-dirt to make the scoreboard read 20-13 at the midway point.
The Frogs would pull within 20-15 in the final couple of minutes, but Oklahoma State would push its lead to 33-19 off a 13-4 run with a little over six minutes to go in the first half before Williams took over. The freshman ended the Cowboy run, scoring four-straight, which included a beautiful coast-to-coast layup at the 5:52 mark to inch the Frogs closer. He then ripped the nets from deep with a little over three minutes to go in the period to make the scoreboard read 33-22 and the Purple and White continued to play right with OSU.
The two teams would go back and forth the rest of the half and Oklahoma State took a 39-25 lead into intermission.
TCU will return to action Saturday against Texas Tech at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. CT.
