Despite sloppy play and bad shooting plaguing them for most of the afternoon, the TCU men’s basketball team found a way to win, beating Texas-Pan American 57-48.
“A win is a win,” TCU head coach Trent Johnson said. “Obviously, they were better than we were for 35 minutes.”
Junior guard Kyan Anderson led the Frogs with 16 points and four assists in the win.
“He played very well,” Johnson said.
Freshman center Karviar Shepherd also posted 11 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double at TCU.
The Frogs are now 4-0 this season when Shepherd reaches double-digits in rebounds.
“I’m just really focusing on doing what I can to help my team,” Shepherd said. “That’s what I do.”
Both teams struggled on the offensive end to start the game. Midway through the first half, the Frogs had missed 11 of their first 15 shots and trailed by two points.
“We’re not good enough, we’re not talented enough to not play and compete at a fever pitch every time out,” Johnson said.
From then on, the Frogs and Broncs started hitting shots and continued to trade scores for most of the first half.
TCU finished the game shooting only 38.5 percent from the field. They made only 3-of-20 shots from behind the arc.
“Our fans deserve to see a better brand of basketball played than what we’ve played so far this year,” Johnson said.
Freshman guard Hudson Price hit a three-pointer to give the Frogs a 23-20 lead with 3:49 left in the half. It was his first time scoring since the first game of the season.
“Since Sunday, he’s been out there every day,” Johnson said. “I thought he did a decent job. He hadn’t played in a game in over a month.”
Price had only played in two games prior to Sunday’s contest due to injury and illness.
Broncs forward Justin Leathers responded with a three-pointer of his own to tie up the game. Leathers led all scorers at halftime with 10 points.
Freshman forward Brandon Parrish then hit a layup to give the Frogs a 25-23 lead. Neither team would score for the rest of the first half and TCU went into halftime up 25-23.
The Broncs opened the second half with a 4-0 run before the Frogs responded with a 5-0 run of their own, capped by an Anderson three-pointer.
“We came out slow but we still came out and got the win,” Anderson said. “We played our hearts out.”
With 13:03 left in the game, UTPA called a timeout. The Broncs then went on a 5-0 run to take a 36-32 lead midway through the second half.
Once again, the Frogs fought back, responding with a 6-0 run of their own, capped by an electrifying Jarvis Ray dunk to give TCU a 38-36 lead.
Ray added 12 points and three assists for the Frogs.
After UTPA got up 45-40, TCU went on 12-0 run, putting the game at 52-45 with a little over a minute left in the game.
The Broncs had to foul late but ultimately couldn’t overcome the deficit and TCU ended up winning 57-48.
“It’s still a learning process with these guys and we’re trying to get it done at home,” Anderson said.
The Frogs improve to 6-3 on the season. They’re scheduled to face Grambling State next Thursday.
“We need to continue to move forward and get better at all aspects of the game,” Johnson said.
