TCU Suffers First Loss
{fshare id=5905}
FORT WORTH, Texas — Playing without their star point guard, No. 17 West Virginia found a more-than-capable leader to take over down the stretch against TCU in a Big 12 Conference opener.
Guard Gary Browne had 16 points, all in the last 11 minutes of the game, in helping West Virginia overcome a poor first half and send TCU to its first loss of the season in a 78-67 victory on Saturday.
Forward Devin Williams had 12 points and seven rebounds, including two key second-half put-back baskets for West Virginia (13-1), which played without leading scorer Juwan Staten, the Big 12 preseason player of the year who sat out because of the flu.
West Virginia shot 35 percent in the first half, but hit 55 percent of its shots in the last 15 minutes of the game. Browne was 5-for-9 in the last 11 minutes.
TCU (13-1) was led by guard Kyan Anderson’s 19 points and guard Trey Zeigler’s 17.
Without Staten and with Browne sitting for the last part of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second because of foul trouble, West Virginia showed off its depth in managing to stay in the game in the first half.
“We scrimmaged Ohio State and (Staten) didn’t play. And we were OK,” West Virginia
coach Bob Huggins said. “Obviously, Gary was really good today.”
The Horned Frogs eventually wilted under the relentless pressure of West Virginia’s full-court press. TCU had 18 turnovers, including 10 in the second half. Nonetheless, the Horned Frogs maintained a lead into the second half.
The Mountaineers took their first lead, 38-37, at the 17:08 mark of the second half.
Up 59-54, Browne missed the second of two free throws. Sweeping in was Williams, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, who was fouled on a successful offensive rebound put-back. Following a defensive stop by the Mountaineers, a jumper by Browne put his team up 10 at the 6:03 mark.
Forward Devin Williams’ offensive rebound and put-back at the 4:30 mark kept TCU at bay. Williams finished with seven rebounds, after only one in the first half. The Frogs were outrebounded by seven in the second half.
“Devin can be one of the best rebounders in the country,” Huggins said. “He hasn’t rebounded much recently. I kind of challenged him at halftime.”
“That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to get more shots than the other team.”
The conference opener was the first real test for TCU, which opened the season with 13 consecutive victories. But all but three of those nonconference opponents had a record of .500 or better.
“It just got a lot tougher,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. West Virginia is “talented, they’re deep. Brown is a good player. We knew they were going to ratchet it up in the second half.”
“We lost our poise. When you play against good people and good teams, you get forced out of your comfort zone. It’s good that that happened early.”
Anderson, the Frogs’ leading scorer at 13.4 a game, was held to three shots in the second half, though the point guard only had three turnovers. The senior was 9-for-12 from the free-throw line.
While the Mountaineers struggled from the field, TCU went on a 10-2 run midway through the first half to take a 10-point lead.
West Virginia forced four turnovers in the final minutes of the opening half, as it outscored the Horned Frogs, 14-7, to trim its deficit to two at halftime.
The Mountaineers connected on only 13-of-37 shots in the first half, including eight layups.
“I don’t know how we stayed in it. We weren’t very good,” Huggins said. “We had a little bit better ball pressure [in the second half], but I think it was the cumulative effect.
“It wears on you. We’ve been decidedly better in the second half all year.”
