The TCU Horned Frogs defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 73-63 to win their fifth straight game heading into the Big 12 Tournament. TCU finished the regular season with a record of 21-10 and 11-7, their first winning record in Big 12 play.
In TCU’s regular-season finale, it hosts a Cincinnati team that has won six of its last seven games. Both teams started strong, scoring just one field goal in the first three and a half minutes. At 16 minutes and 23 seconds into the game, the Frogs quickly scored 5 points and Cincinnati scored 2 points to lead 7-5. Then there was another scoring drought, which lasted for several minutes before both sides scored again.
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Much of the first half followed a similar pattern: quick scoring followed by a long dry spell. In a back-and-forth situation, neither team was able to pull away, with neither TCU nor Cincinnati leading by more than four points. There were six draws and five lead changes in the final 10 minutes, highlighting the volatility of the game. The final play was a corner 3-pointer by Micah Robinson that gave the Frogs a 32-29 halftime lead.
The second half started faster, with David Punch scoring on a 10-foot jumper just 10 seconds into the game. Cincinnati responded with three runs. Unlike the first half, however, TCU quickly began to pull away. The Frogs led 36-35 when Xavier Edmonds scored at 17:21 to cap a 9-0 run. TCU forced five turnovers to take a 45-35 lead with 14:13 left.
Cincinnati stopped the bleeding with 13:10 left, but the Frogs kept coming, pushing the lead back to double digits at 48-38 just a minute later. The Bearcats found ways to score as time expired, but TCU responded consistently. Cincinnati never managed to cut into the Frogs’ lead.
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TCU’s biggest advantage of the game came at the 3:02 mark when Liutauras Lelevicius hit 2 of 2 free throws to give the Frogs a 65-53 lead.
The Horned Frogs never made a field goal from that point on, but they made 10 of 12 free throws in the final seconds, including two free throws by Lelevicius, to keep the game at bay. TCU won 73-63 to end the regular season with a home victory.
The Horned Frogs secured the victory by getting to the free throw line and forcing turnovers despite lower field goal percentage and 3-point shooting percentage than Cincinnati. TCU has 15 of 21 from the charity stripe to Cincinnati’s 4 of 6. The Frogs also forced 19 Bearcat turnovers, converting those turnovers into 24 points.
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Jayden Pierre led TCU with 18 points on Senior Night, along with five rebounds and five assists. Liutaras Lelevicius came off the bench to score 14 points, and David Punch had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.
Dade Thomas scored 19 points for Cincinnati, 12 of which came from beyond the arc. Jalen Celestine scored all 12 points with four three-pointers, while Jizzle James added 11 points, including three three-pointers.
Next up, TCU will face the winner of No. 11 vs. No. 14 in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, in Kansas City. The Horned Frogs entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed with an 11-7 record, earning a first-round bye.
