TCU sophomore forward Nikola Cerina scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds and junior guard J.R. Cadot added 12 points, but it wasn’t enough for a win as Colorado State downed the Horned Frogs 69-55 Wednesday night at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

The loss was TCU’s ninth straight and it dropped the Frogs’ record to 10-17 overall and 1-11 in Mountain West Conference play.

“I think the mindset has been great,” head basketball coach Jim Christian said. “We had an unbelievable walkthrough before the game. I think we just get deflated when something does not go our way. It is frustrating to these guys when they go down and miss the shots they should make and the other team is making plays. It is tough.”

For Colorado State, the victory improved its record to 18-7 overall and 8-3 in MWC action and helped the Rams remain in third place in the conference standings.

The Rams started the game in sloppy fashion, turning the ball over three times in the first five minutes and shooting only 1-of-4 from the field. But TCU could not take advantage of CSU’s early miscues as it shot 25 percent (2-of-8) from the field early on and held a 5-4 advantage at the 15:27 mark in the first half.

But the Rams would eventually find their rhythm, shooting 7-of-13 from the field the last 11:22 of the first half. TCU’s shooting struggles continued as the Rams entered halftime with a 26-23 lead.

The beginning of the second half saw more of the same from the Rams. TCU got two energizing dunks from Cerina on their first two possessions of the half, but CSU responded both time by making three-pointers on the other end.

By the 16:13 mark in the second half, the Rams had extended their lead to 39-28 after coming out of the locker room, shooting 5-of-7 from the field including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

From there, it would be an uphill battle for the Frogs.

CSU held on to a steady double-digit lead the next 10 minutes until TCU freshman forward Amric Fields drained nailed a 3-point shot and freshman guard Jarvis Ray bucketed two free throws on the next possession to cut the lead to 55-48 with 5:00.

But after the TCU rally, CSU senior forward Andy Ogide helped put the game away by scoring nine points the rest of the way.

Ogide finished the game with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Junior guard Hank Thorns scored 11 points and eight assists and sophomore forward Garlon Green added 10 points as TCU’s two other double-digit scorers.

Up next

TCU will be in action again this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when it plays No. 7 BYU at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Notes

TCU set a season high with 13 steals.

Cadot, who tied for the team lead in scoring with Cerina, led TCU in scoring for the second straight game and third time overall.

Thorns, who had eight assists, matched former Frog Jamie Dixon for ninth place on the Frogs single-season assist chart with 168.

Green tied a career high with three shots from 3-point range.

The announced attendance for Wednesday’s game was 4,088.