Parrish, TCU top Oklahoma St 63-56, snap 7-game Big 12 skid

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Brandon Parrish wasn’t discouraged by another poor percentage at halftime for the worst-shooting team in the Big 12.

The TCU guard always tries to believe the shots will start going in. They sure did for the Horned Frogs.

Parrish led four players in double figures with 15 points — 13 after halftime — and TCU recovered from its lowest-scoring half of the season to rally past Oklahoma State 63-56 on Monday night.

The Horned Frogs (11-13, 2-9 Big 12) snapped a seven-game conference losing streak with their second win in four games after beating Tennessee in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 30.

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“How many points did we score in the second half? 44?” Parrish said, answering his own question correctly. “After a 19-point first half, we were just more aggressive, more confident and more free.”

The Horned Frogs shot 26 percent and fell behind 25-19 — getting within six on a jumper by Parrish with 1 second left in the first half — before making 12 of their first 16 shots in the second half while outscoring the Cowboys 44-31 after intermission.

“When you’ve got two teams that are desperately looking for a win and both teams kind of in the same situation … you sit around hoping you find a half like that,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “And man, they played great the second half.”

Oklahoma State (11-13, 2-9), playing without freshman point guard Jawun Evans for the second straight game because of a right shoulder injury, was led by Leyton Hammonds with 16 points.

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The Cowboys dropped their fifth straight Big 12 game since beating No. 6 Kansas, missing a chance for a big first-half lead by shooting 35 percent with 14 turnovers before the break.

Midway through the first half, the Cowboys had more turnovers (nine) than shots (seven). They shot 39 percent with 22 turnovers for the game.

“We’ve done this the last two games,” Ford said. “We’re just not taking advantage of our really good defenses in the first half to get a better lead.”

Chauncey Collins scored 13 points for TCU, Malique Trent added 12 and Chris Washburn Jr. had 10.

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Tyree Griffin had 12 points and a game-high five assists for the Cowboys, and Jeffrey Carroll scored 10.

TCU’S TURN

After missing 10 straight shots at one point in the first half, TCU took the lead for good while making seven in a row early in the second half. The Horned Frogs didn’t trail again after Collins’ layup put them ahead 36-34 with 14 minutes remaining.

The Cowboys went nearly 5 minutes without scoring later in the second half, and TCU pushed the lead to 54-42 on a 3-pointer and another jumper by Parrish and a layup from Collins.

EVANS UPDATE

Evans, a McDonald’s All-American, hasn’t returned since aggravating his shoulder injury in an overtime loss to Texas Tech last Wednesday. Ford isn’t ready to rule him out for the season but says he doesn’t “expect him back anytime soon.”

TIP-INS

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys were outscored 22-11 on points off turnovers. … Carroll, Griffin and Mitchell Solomon had four turnovers apiece, while Carroll and Solomon each had a game-high six rebounds.

TCU: TCU shot 65 percent after halftime and made six of nine from 3-point range. … Parrish and Collins combined to go 9 of 12 from the field in the second half. .. The Horned Frogs’ other Big 12 win was in their third league game against Texas, which entered the rankings this week at No. 24.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State: Host Kansas State on Saturday.

TCU: At No. 10 West Virginia on Saturday.