All Sooners

OU Basketball: No. 9 Oklahoma Falls to TCU in Messy Road Performance

The No. 9-ranked Sooners committed 12 turnovers in the first half alone in Wednesday's loss in Fort Worth.

Ryan Chapman

OU Basketball: No. 9 Oklahoma Falls to TCU in Messy Road Performance
OU Basketball: No. 9 Oklahoma Falls to TCU in Messy Road Performance /
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A sloppy road performance got the best of Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

Traveling to TCU for the No. 9-ranked Sooners’ first true road game of the year, OU became the fourth top 10 team to fall over the last 48 hours.

The Horned Frogs forced 14 turnovers, and pulled away from OU late to seal a 80-71 victory at Schollmaier Arena.

It was the first setback for Oklahoma in Big 12 play, as the Sooners dropped to 13-2 on the year, and 1-1 in the league. TCU moved to 12-3 overall, rebounding from Saturday’s loss to Kansas to also pull to 1-1 in the young Big 12 season.

Final Box Score
Final Box Score / OU Stats

The Sooners did everything imaginable to try and dig a massive hole on the road in Fort Worth in the opening 20 minutes.

After taking great care in protecting the basketball in the Big 12 opener against Iowa State, only turning the ball over 11 times, OU coughed the ball up 12 times in the first half, which the Horned Frogs cashed in for 20 points on the other end — accounting for half of their scoring output.

Pair the carelessness with the basketball with 11 personal fouls that sent TCU to the free throw line 14 times, and it’s a miracle Oklahoma only trailed by six points at the break.

The fouls nullified any momentum built by a quick seven points from big man Sam Godwin, who was forced to the bench after picking up his third foul with 4:35 left in the first half.

Oklahoma’s efforts rebounding, limiting TCU to just four offensive boards, and the steady perimeter defense helped keep the game within reach to start the second half.

Javian McCollum immediately erased the Sooners’ deficit, connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second half, but TCU found its footing.

The Horned Frogs responded with a 7-0 run run of their own, punctuated by Emanuel Miller draining a jumper over Jalon Moore, drawing a foul in the process to finish the move at the stripe.

Miller was more than just a steadying hand for TCU in the early stages of the second half, he hurt Oklahoma all night.

The fifth year star led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, adding nine rebounds to punctuate the top 10 win.

Former Oklahoma State guard Avery Anderson then took over, hitting a couple of bombs from deep to help extend the lead to double digits and put the Sooners away.

With Godwin spending most of the night confined to the bench, John Hugley IV gave Oklahoma crucial minutes off the bench.

He finished second on the team in scoring with 14 points, but OU’s struggles shooting from deep hampered the comeback effort.

McCollum finished with 14 points, drilling 5-of-9 attempts from 3-point range, but Otega Oweh and Milos Uzan were the only other Oklahoma players to hit from beyond the arc, adding one apiece.

The rest of the team combined to shoot 0-for-11 from 3, including a combined 0-of-9 from Le’Tre Darthard and Rivaldo Soares off the bench.

Uzan, the sophomore guard, continued his nice stretch of play as of late, finishing just short of a triple-double with 10 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists.

There’s no time for the Sooners to dwell on the result in Fort Worth.

Up next, Oklahoma makes its final scheduled trip to Allen Fieldhouse to meet the Kansas Jayhawks, who also succumbed to the Big 12 slate on Wednesday. Conference newcomer UCF upended Bill Self’s No. 3-ranked outfit 65-60 in Orlando in a game that finished as OU and TCU got rolling.

Tip-off between the Sooners and the Jayhawks is slated for 1 p.m. in Lawrence on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.