Emanuel Miller paces TCU to 80-71 win as No. 9 Oklahoma is fifth Top 10 loser over 2 nights
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Emanuel Miller scored a season-high 27 points and had nine rebounds as TCU beat ninth-ranked Oklahoma 80-71 on Wednesday night, making the Sooners the fifth Top 10 team — third from the Big 12 Conference — to lose to an unranked opponent over two nights.
“It’s life in the Big 12,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “The Big 12, it's every night.”
Oklahoma (13-2, 1-1 Big 12) quickly erased a six-point halftime deficit when Javian McCollum hit two 3-pointers in the first 32 seconds after the break — the tying shot coming off a TCU turnover.
But the Sooners didn’t score again until almost four minutes later on Milos Uzan’s baseline drive for a reverse layup, and they trailed 49-44 then.
Miller scored seven points in that span for the Horned Frogs (12-3, 1-1), who were coming off an 83-81 loss at then-No. 2 Kansas. He had the go-ahead layup against the Sooners and also a three-point play, driving for another layup and then making the free throw after being fouled.
“After the game in Kansas, we knew we could play with the best of them,” Miller said. “We can compete with anyone in the country. ... Other than that, just having fun and competing.”
McCollum had 17 points to lead Oklahoma, while John Hugley had 14, Uzan 13 and Jalon Moore 10.
Avery Anderson III added 15 points for TCU, 13 in the second half after shooting 0-for-8 from the field before halftime. Jameer Nelson Jr. had 13 and Chuck O’Bannon Jr. 11.
“I think they really responded. After the tough loss the other day, we really, really made a concerted effort to, immediately after the game, to be focused on Oklahoma, not what had happened,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “They’re smart they knew it was a trap to fall in to keep talking about the last game.”
Oklahoma went down after third-ranked Kansas, its next opponent, lost earlier Wednesday to UCF, and No. 5 Tennessee fell at Mississippi State.
All of those upsets came a night after losses by No. 1 Purdue (to Nebraska) and No. 2 Houston (to Iowa State). The only Top 10 team to play and win Wednesday was No. 4 UConn, which held on for an 80-75 win over Xavier.
TCU had a 27-22 lead with 6:02 left in the first half after Nelson drove by McCollum at the top of the key and drove through the lane unimpeded for a two-handed slam dunk. The Sooners went ahead 32-29 on a 3-pointer by Otega Oweh late in the half before O’Bannon’s four-point play — and TCU never trailed again.
MILESTONE NIGHT
The 27 points gave Miller exactly 1,000 in his three seasons at TCU, after beginning his college career with 467 points in two seasons at Texas A&M.
“Ever since I came here, my heart turned purple,” said Miller, the 40th TCU player to reach 1,000 points.
BIG PICTURE
Oklahoma: The Sooners hit eight of their first 10 shots in the game, but were plagued by 12 first-half turnovers and several stretches of bad shooting. They missed eight of their next nine. McCollum had six turnovers by halftime after no more than three in an entire game all season. He didn't have any turnovers after halftime, but after the junior guard’s quick 3s to start the second half, Oklahoma missed 10 of its next 13 shots and trailed by double figures midway through the second half.
TCU: The Frogs faced the second of three consecutive Top 10 opponents, after 11 ties and 26 lead changes at Kansas. Next is this week’s No. 2, Houston. TCU now has 20 wins over Top 25 teams in the past six seasons, after only 14 such wins before that.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma is at Kansas (13-2, 1-1) on Saturday for a matchup of Top 10 teams both coming off losses.
TCU is home Saturday night against No. 2 Houston (14-1, 1-1), coming off its first loss.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
