TCU Beats Oklahoma In Big 12 Tournament Opener
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — TCU took care of an undermanned Oklahoma, 77-70, in the second round of the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Center on Wednesday.
TCU (21-11), the No. 8 seed, gets a rematch with No. 1 seed Houston on Thursday at 2 p.m. The Horned Frogs are one of three Big 12 teams to beat Houston this season, though their matchup came on Jan. 13 in Houston.
Oklahoma (20-12) was without three key players. Coach Porter Moser announced on Tuesday that forward John Hugley and guard Rivaldo Soares would be out. Then right before the game the Sooners’ pre-game radio show reported that the Sooners’ leading scorer, Javian McCollum, would be out as well.
Hugley was averaging 8.4 points while Soares was averaging 15.5 points since being added to the starting lineup in late February. McCollum was averaging 13.3 points.
Moser is also coaching through persistent rumors that he’s a candidate for the job at DePaul, something he denied again on Tuesday.
With the loss, Oklahoma played its final game against a Big 12 team as a Big 12 member. The Sooners, who will likely be selected to the NCAA Tournament, join the SEC in July.
The two teams played once this season, with TCU winning, 80-71, on Jan. 10. That was Oklahoma’s first Big 12 loss of the season.
While it had been more than two months since they met, the Horned Frogs cruised to a win. The game’s most exciting moment came at halftime when TCU’s Micah Peavy hit a three-quarters court buzzer beater before halftime to give TCU a 45-31 lead.
In the second half, Oklahoma never seriously threatened TCU, which managed a double-digit lead most of the half until a Milos Uzan 3-pointer and an Otega Oweh jumper cut the lead to seven points with 1:05 left.
TCU never led Oklahoma get closer, even though the Horned Frogs went more than six minutes without a field goal while Oklahoma made 7-of-8 shots.
Emanuel Miller, an All-Big 12 Second Team selection for the Horned Frogs, led TCU with 26 points and eight rebounds, as TCU shot close to 50% for the game. Jameer Nelson Jr. scored 14 and JaKobe Coles came off the bench to score 11 points.
Oklahoma shot 48% for the game but missed its injured trio as much on defense as it did on offenss. Four Sooners hit double figures — Jalon Moore with 16 points, Oweh with 16, Uzan with 15 points and Le’Tre Darthard with 12 points.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
