TCU Struggles in Overtime, Lose to Oklahoma

Life in the Big 12 is hard, especially on the road.

No. 16 TCU faced a tough challenge on Saturday in Trae Young and No. 9 Oklahoma in Norman. The last time these two teams met two weeks ago, Young lit up the Frogs defense to the tune of 27 points in the Sooners one-point win in Fort Worth.

Saturday was the rematch and it was every bit as good as advertised.

TCU point guard Jaylen Fisher drove the lane and made the layup with two seconds left, sending the game into overtime. However, the Frogs had no answer for Young, who scored 29 of his 43 points after halftime. The Sooners would get the 102-97 win. TCU falls to 13-4 overall but has lost four of their last five. The Frogs also remain winless in Norman (0-11 all-time) and are 1-77 against Top 25 teams on the road.

The layup to send it into overtime was a little bit of redemption for Fisher, who missed a similar shot earlier in the week against Texas. He would finish with a career-high 22 points. Vlad Brodziansky added 21 for the Frogs.

TCU has a good team, a tough team, this season in Fort Worth. They have the make-up to be a NCAA tournament team when the smoke clears from the battle that is the Big 12 conference schedule. However a 1-4 record to start out conference play isn’t the ideal situation to be in at this point. The good news for TCU is that the four losses are by a combined 11 points and three have been in overtime. Those things tend to even out as the season moves along.

North of the Red River, Young continues to be something special. Whether it’s drilling three’s from downtown Moore or driving the lane, the freshman is all kinds of fun to watch. However, Oklahoma is not exactly just a one-man show. Brady Manek, another freshman, had 22 points in the win over TCU. Christian James and Kristian Doolittle are deadly from behind the arc. Khadeem Lattin adds shotblocking and rebounding down low. Oklahoma can make some noise in March.