‘Unacceptable.’ TCU basketball collapses down the stretch, stunned by Oklahoma State

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Unacceptable.

That’s the word Chuck O’Bannon Jr. used to describe TCU basketball’s collapse late in a 57-56 loss to Oklahoma State on Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Horned Frogs led by nine with three minutes left and led by six with 93 seconds left but blew it. The Cowboys (10-7, 3-3 Big 12) closed on a 7-0 run to stun the Frogs (12-3, 2-2 Big 12).

“You’ve just got to play smart basketball, make the right plays, defensively come together and make stops,” O’Bannon said. “We couldn’t do that. They finished the game on 7-0 run? Can’t have that up six on the road. Unacceptable.”

Also unacceptable for TCU is turning it over a season-high 22 times. Oklahoma State has the country’s seventh-best defense in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, but TCU enters every game with the goal of fewer than 10 turnovers.

The Frogs had 13 by halftime and finished the night with four turnovers due to shot clock violations.

“Twenty-two turnovers is not going to get it done,” O’Bannon said. “It’s not going to get it done.”

TCU’s leading scorer, Mike Miles, had a forgettable night as well. He missed his first 10 shots from the field before draining a deep 3-pointer from the right wing with 10 minutes left in the game.

But, for all that went wrong from Miles’ off night to the turnovers, TCU found itself leading much of the night.

Miles’ 3 gave TCU a 38-36 lead with 10 minutes left, and he made another deep 3-pointer from the left wing two minutes later to extend TCU’s lead to 45-40.

The Frogs eventually pushed their lead to 54-45 on a dunk by O’Bannon with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left. But they scored only two more points down the stretch on a couple of free throws by guard Francisco Farabello.

“At the end of the day, we’re up nine. You’ve got to win the game,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “That’s where you’re at. You’re up nine. You can’t foul them. You can’t let them make 3s. That’s what they did.”

Oklahoma State started its rally with a couple of free throws by Tyreek Smith with just over a minute left. Miles missed a jumper on TCU’s end and then OSU pulled to within 56-55 on a second-chance 3-pointer by Rondel Walker with 31 seconds left.

TCU then had a layup attempt by JaKobe Coles blocked by Smith with 20 seconds left, giving OSU the ball with a chance for a go-ahead score in the final seconds. Walker drove to the basket and drew a foul by Miles with 4.8 seconds left.

Walker made both of his free throws to give the Cowboys the lead on a night when they missed 10 free throws (13 of 23).

TCU had a chance at the buzzer, but Damion Baugh missed a 3-pointer.

“The play of the game was Tyreek Smith’s block,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. “That’s the game right there.”

TCU and OSU both shot just 35% from the field on the night. TCU won the rebounding battle 44-33 but, as Dixon said, that margin had to be even greater to overcome the turnovers.

TCU is averaging almost 19 turnovers a game in Big 12 play.

“We’ll talk about the six-point lead with a minute-and-a-half left but the reality is we turned it over 22 times and put us in the situation we’re at,” Dixon said. “Disappointed.”

TCU is on the road again this weekend as it travels to No. 15 Iowa State (14-4, 2-4 Big 12) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. in Ames. The Frogs’ next home game is against Texas on Tuesday.

“We just have to turn the page starting tomorrow,” said Farabello, who had a season-best 12 points. “We know how tough this league is. We can’t think too much about the last game because you have a tough one coming up. Tomorrow we’ll come together and prepare for Iowa State.”

TCU women win

The TCU women’s team had a thrilling victory over Texas Tech 51-50 on Wednesday night in Fort Worth.

The Red Raiders had a chance to win it at the buzzer but a layup lipped out of the rim.

TCU improved to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in Big 12 play.

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