TCU 79, Oklahoma 52: Demolition Men

One way to prove you aren’t a one-hit wonder: deliver back-to back bangers. TCU Basketball returned to Schollmaier Arena after perhaps the program’s best win ever, a 23-point dismantling of the reigning National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, and followed it up with a wire-to-wire 27-point victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in front of the 2nd-largest home crowd in TCU Basketball history.

The Fiesta Bowl-winning TCU Football team was in the building and honored at halftime, bringing memories of the 55-24 beatdown it served the Sooners in Fort Worth back in October. Similar to that contest, TCU never trailed and got out to a barnstorming start to fully crush the will of the Sooners, sending them out of Fort Worth with a humbling loss. The Frogs opened the game on an 11-0 run, as it took nearly 5 minutes of game time before OU could find a basket, and the Frogs never looked back in one of the most complete halves of basketball one could imagine: TCU shot 46% from the field, 50% on 3-pointers, and a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line in the opening period. Mike Miles continues to dazzle, leading the Frogs on the night, with 23 points in just 28 minutes. TCU once again got a huge contribution beyond the starting lineup, with the bench adding 25 points. Micah Peavy made a triumphant return to the court for TCU, having missed the previous four games with a back injury, adding 13 points and 9 rebounds off the bench.

TCU didn’t just dominate on the offense end, also shutting down everything the Sooners did offensively. With Eddie Lampkin sitting out, Xavier Cork got the start at Center and locked up the paint with 5 defensive rebounds, a steal and 2 monster blocks at the rim

TCU’s defense erased Fort Worth-native Grant Sherfield from the game; he entered as the Big 12’s 6th leading scorer at 17 points per game, but Tuesday night he could only manage 5 points on 2-11 shooting, including zero 2nd Half points. As a team, Oklahoma shot just 31.3% from the field, its worst shooting performance of the season, while committing 15 turnovers. All those Sooners missed shots and turnovers become instant offense for the Horned Frogs, generating 25 transition points to extend the lead as the nation’s top fast break scoring team.

Up Next:
Oklahoma (11-9; 2-6), soon to be on the other end of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, will attempt to break its 3-game losing streak and climb back into the Bubble race in Norman on Saturday at 1:00 PM against #2 Alabama (17-2) on ESPN

TCU (16-4; 5-3) will be on the road for its SEC/Big 12 Challenge contest against Mississippi State (12-7) on Saturday at 3:00 PM on ESPN2. The Frogs are 5-4 all time in the Challenge after defeating LSU in Fort Worth in 2022.