The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
7-9, 1-3
TCU
13-3, 2-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCU | 38 | 26 | 64 |
| Texas | 36 | 25 | 61 |
Men's Basketball falls to TCU, 64-61
01.11.2017 | Men's Basketball
Freshman Jarrett Allen records career-high 18 points and 9 rebounds in defeat.
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman forward Jarrett Allen registered a career-high 18 points, but the Longhorns fell to TCU 64-61 at the Frank Erwin Center on Wednesday night. Allen tied a career high in field goals made, hitting 8-of-14 from the field, and added nine rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore guard/forward Tevin Mack had nine points and nine rebounds for Texas.
The Longhorns and Horned Frogs swapped leads throughout the entire game, which featured nine ties and 13 lead changes . Texas (7-9, 1-3 Big 12) shot 42.9-percent from the floor (24-of-56) and a solid 81.8-percent from the free-throw line (9-of-11) in the loss.
TCU (13-3, 2-2) was carried by Vlad Brodziansky, who had a game-high 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Freshman Jaylen Fisher scored 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while Kenrich Williams snagged a game-high 13 rebounds and had five steals.
The Horned Frogs jumped out to a 14-6 advantage following a Brodziansky layup at the 16:26 mark. The Longhorns responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game (14-14) with 14:00 remaining in the half.
Texas started heating up following the midway point in the first half, sinking four straight field goals, including an and-one opportunity by Kerwin Roach Jr., to take a 29-26 lead at the 6:57 mark. In a back-and-forth first half that saw each team leading by as many as 8 points, TCU closed the half on a 12-2 run in the final 4:51 to take a 38-36 lead into halftime.
A pair of dunks from Allen and TCU's JD Miller got each team off to a lively start at the beginning of the second half, before a dunk in transition from freshman center James Banks gave Texas a 42-41 lead at the 16:02 mark. The Longhorns held the Horned Frogs without a field goal over a stretch of 7:29, extending their lead to 48-42 with 11:13 remaining.
A fast-break layup from freshman guard Jacob Young gave UT a 53-46 advantage at the 8:48 mark, but TCU would hold Texas scoreless over the next 5:43 and score the next 12 points to take the lead back, 58-53, with 3:33 remaining. Allen ended the drought with a layup and a dunk, and a pair of free throws from Andrew Jones put the Longhorns back ahead, 59-58, with 2:02 to go.
A tip-in from Williams and a layup from Roach would contribute to a pair of lead changes heading into the final minute of the game. Brodziansky's layup put the Horned Frogs ahead 62-61 with 50 seconds to go, and free throws from Fisher extended TCU's lead to 64-61 with 17 seconds remaining.
Eric Davis Jr. missed a game-tying corner three with six seconds left, sending Alex Robinson to the line for a pair of free throws after a Texas foul. Robinson missed both, but Texas could not get a shot off before the buzzer.
The Longhorns continue Big 12 play at home on Saturday, Jan. 14, when they face No. 10/9 West Virginia. Tip is set for 3 p.m. Central at the Frank Erwin Center, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
TCU 64, Texas 61
January 11, 2017
Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
Attendance: 9,661
Team Notes
- UT had its 14-game home win streak against TCU snapped in the defeat. The last time TCU had won in Austin prior to tonight's game was in a 70-54 victory on Feb. 18, 1987.
- Texas dropped to 107-64 all-time in the series against TCU. UT owns an 8-2 advantage in Big 12 league contests against the Horned Frogs.
- The Longhorns fell to 484-115 all-time in home games at the Frank Erwin Center. The Horns fell to 212-32 at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (since start of the 2002-03 season). Texas fell to 7-3 this season and 21-6 at home in the Shaka Smart era.
- Six Longhorns scored at least 7 points on the evening (18 – Jarrett Allen, 9 – Tevin Mack, 8 – Shaquille Cleare and Andrew Jones, 7 – Kerwin Roach Jr. and Eric Davis Jr.)
- Reached double figures in scoring (18 points) for the 10th time this season (16 games).
- Set a career high in scoring (previous: 17 vs. Kent State on Dec. 27) and tied his career high in FG made (8-14).
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On common thread of losing close games: To be honest, I think that it's not a matter of what the score is, it's a matter of are you willing to play 1000-percent for Texas, and following the plan as a team that we all laid out regardless of what happens on the last play, or last series of plays, or last half. There was a level of frustration that came into play tonight and that's one of the reasons that took the guys out of the mindset they needed to be in.
On players sniping with each other: Guys want to win so I think it depends how you look at it. They were disappointed with the last play. There was frustration throughout the game at different times. I tell these guys all the time that basketball is not a perfect game – there are going to be mistakes, there are going to be missed shots. You can win without being perfect, but we have to be more about lifting each other up. We have to be more about trying to recommit on what we plan to do, whether its offense or defense. That's something that takes guys time to learn. We have played 16 games this year. For guys that aren't freshmen, they have played games in the past, and it's time to learn that lesson and not forget it.
On frustration of another one-possession game loss: It's very frustrating. When we watch the tape, what we will see is we had a lot of really good looks in the last five minutes or so. Those are shots guys are trying to make – no one is trying to miss. If we can put some of those away then instead of being down one or three, we're up. And then on the defensive end, when your focus goes away at all, even one- or two-percent from what your plan is to stop these guys, because of any level of frustration or whatever it may be, you just aren't as good on defense. It takes five guys all being at the same place and there were some plays we just couldn't finish the play where we need to.
Texas Sophomore Guard Kerwin Roach Jr.
On what was going through his mind during the last possession: We were just trying to get the rebound and we had like five seconds left. It touched TCU hands first so I know some time ran off. By the time I got it, there was one second left and I had guys in front of me. I just tried to get one off.
On the circus layup at the end of the game: It was improvised. The first play we ran didn't go through and there was eight seconds left on the shot clock. Jarrett [Allen] set a screen up for me. I split it. It was a good move, but I wasn't able to finish.
On how the team is doing down the stretch: To be honest, it should never have gotten to that point. We were up by seven with seven minutes left. We should have just kept that going. We just can't get in situations like that.
On having another one-possession game slip through the cracks: It's very frustrating when you practice and prepare hard all week. You come out there and go up, and then they come back. It's very frustrating.
Texas Freshman Forward Jarrett Allen
On what went wrong in the closing minutes: We just couldn't execute and stop their shots. They played harder than us.
On TCU's Vladimir Brodziansky: He was good. He had a good right-hand hook over his left shoulder. He ran the floor. It was a good matchup.
On why TCU wanted it more: I just feel like they got momentum towards the end, and they rode that.
On the mood of the team after the game: We just wanted to get a win. We are willing to do anything now to get a win, extra shots, extra everything. We just have to get back to Cooley (Practice Facility).
TCU Head Coach Jamie Dixon
Opening statement: Obviously, this was a great win for us. We let our guys know before the game that we hadn't won here in 30 years or 14 tries, so I said we needed to put an end to that. It was an interesting game, as I thought it was an offensive clinic for both teams in the first half. Second half, we go 0-13 from three and they missed some threes, too. It was a tale of two halves, offensive execution versus defense grinding it out in the second half. It seemed like we came up with the loose balls, the rebounds down the stretch and that's something we emphasized in the last couple of days. We were in a similar situation at West Virginia, where there were seven minutes left and we came up short. This time we got it done, so hopefully this is growth. This is young guys getting better. This is learning and we need to do that. We responded really well to our practice the last two days, plus the film on Sundays, so it was getting down to business these last three days. We stressed physicality, we stressed rebounding, we stressed taking care of the basketball. But we're going to get better because this team wants to and they are receptive to coaching and it doesn't happen overnight. We are making progress, so a big win for us here at Texas.
On what the win means to him: I knew we hadn't won down here, but I didn't know that it had been that long, I didn't know how many times we had played during that time. It doesn't mean anything to me really. This is about the future and it's about these guys. So we need to change things and change history and move on to the future, and that's what we're doing.
On offensive rebounding: It's something that my staff, they're amazed at how much we emphasize that, but our numbers show it. We've got to continue to get better at that, but I know early in the game we didn't have any and it seemed that way down the stretch. We got more drives to the basket and made the defense rotate. We settled for threes too much even though a lot were open during the second half. But more drives gave us rotation, gave us penetration, gave us rebounding opportunities.
TCU Junior Forward Vladimir Brodziansky
On tonight's game: It was awesome. Every Big 12 win is great for us and big, so going into every game, we try to win every game. It's something special since we haven't won here in 30 years. We just have to get ready for next game.
On the vibe of the team this year: Our energy is pretty good. We have four seniors so we are fighting for them in their last year. We just want to help them go out in a good way. We have a good team.
On how this game rates compared to others: Every game is very important, and we need to win it. This game is up there for this year.
TCU Freshman Guard Jaylen Fisher
On winning in Austin for the first time since 1987: It definitely means something. I wanted to send the seniors and the whole team out with bang, but it was definitely for the seniors. Coach put it on us before the game. He made it a big deal.
On the key to TCU's play tonight: Just play how we play, swing the ball and let it flow. Just do what we usually do and practice how we play.
On making the crucial free throws in the last 17 seconds: I was pretty confident. I practice free throws all the time. Just walking to the line, I felt like it was an opportunity to bring it home.
