Oklahoma basketball: Trae Young sinks TCU for second time
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball moved into a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 with a 102-97 overtime win over TCU on Saturday behind a sensational 43-point performance from super Sooner Trae Young.
Young, who leads the nation in both scoring and assists as a true freshman, is going to wish he could play TCU several more times this season. When OU played TCU two Saturdays ago, Young dropped 39 points on TCU, including two free throws in the closing seconds that sealed a 90-89 Sooner win. He also had 14 assists in that earlier contest with the Horned Frogs.
The heralded Oklahoma freshman hit 10 of 19 three-pointers on Saturday and also pulled down 11 rebounds to finish with a stat line of 43 points, 11 boards and seven assists. His scoring total matched a career high. Young also had 43 points in OU’s nonconference win over Oregon early in the season.
Young wasn’t the only Sooner freshman who was on fire in Saturday’s win over TCU. Brady Manek scored 18 of his 22 points on long-range treys, hitting six of nine from behind the arc.
Sophomore guard Jaylen Fisher was the high scorer for TCU with a career-high 22 points and Vlad Brodziansky added 21.
Oklahoma built an 11-point advantage eight minutes into the game, but lead by just two, 49-47 at the half.
TCU’s biggest lead in the game came at 80-74 with 5:27 remaining in the second half, but Young scored 11 consecutive points for the Sooners to knot the score at 85. Christian James hit a three-point shot with six seconds to go in the game to put OU ahead 89-87, but Fisher was able to get to the hole with a layup with just over a second remaining to send the game to overtime.
The Sooners never trailed in the overtime session with Young scoring five of the Sooners 13 points to close out the victory, OU’s 14th of the season with just two losses. The Sooners are 4-1 in conference play.
Oklahoma hit a school-record 19 treys in 33 attempts (56.7 percent) on Saturday.
TCU was undefeated (12-0) when the Sooners and Horned Frogs met two weeks ago. Since then TCU has gone 1-4. Those four losses have been by a combined 11 points and three of the games went into overtime.
Next up for OU is a road game at Kansas State (12-5, 2-3) on Tuesday, followed by a Bedlam rematch at Oklahoma State (12-5, 2-3) next Saturday.