MENS BASKETBALL

Texas Christian 80, Oklahoma 71

BY STEPHEN HAWKINS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT WORTH, Texas - Emanuel Miller scored a season-high 27 points and had nine rebounds as TCU beat ninth-ranked Oklahoma 80-71, making the Sooners the fifth Top 10 team over two nights to lose to an unranked opponent.

Oklahoma (13-2, 1-1 Big 12) quickly erased a six-point halftime deficit when Javian McCollum hit two 3-pointers in the first 32 seconds after the break — the tying shot coming off a TCU turnover.

But the Sooners didn’t score again until almost four minutes later on Milos Uzan’s baseline drive for a reverse layup, and they trailed 49-44 then.

Miller scored seven points in that span for the Horned Frogs (12-3, 1-1). He had the go-ahead layup and also had a three-point play, driving for another layup and then making the free throw after being fouled.

McCollum had 17 points to lead Oklahoma, while John Hugley had 14, Uzan 13 and Jalon Moore 10.

Avery Anderson III added 15 points for TCU. Jameer Nelson Jr. had 13 and Chuck O’Bannon Jr. 11.

Oklahoma went down after third-ranked Kansas, its next Big 12 opponent, lost earlier Wednesday to UCF, and No. 5 Tennessee fell at Mississippi State.

All of those upsets came a night after losses by No. 1 Purdue (to Nebraska) and No. 2 Houston (to Iowa State). The only Top 10 team to play and win Wednesday was No. 4 UConn, which held on for an 80-75 win over Xavier.

TCU had a 27-22 lead with 6:02 left in the first half after Nelson drove by McCollum at the top of the key and drove through the lane unimpeded for a two-handed slam dunk.

The Sooners went ahead 32-29 on a 3-pointer by Otega Oweh with 2:57 left in the half, but TCU never trailed again after O’Bannon’s four-point play less than a minute later, which he followed with a steal and an assist on Nelson’s 3.

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners hit eight of their first 10 shots in the game, but were plagued by 12 first-half turnovers and several stretches of bad shooting. They missed eight of their next nine. McCollum had six turnovers by halftime after no more than three in an entire game all season. After the junior guard’s quick 3s to start the second half, Oklahoma missed 10 of its next 13 shots and trailed by double figures midway through the second half.

TCU: The Frogs played the second of three consecutive Top 10 opponents, after an 83-81 loss at then-No. 2 Kansas on Saturday that featured 11 ties and 26 lead changes. Next is this week’s No. 2, Houston. TCU now has 20 wins over Top 25 teams in the past six seasons, after only 14 such wins before that.

January 10, 2024