FORT WORTH – TCU made four of its final five field goal attempts to pull away from Xavier for a 76-72 win on Thursday in Schollmaier Arena.
It was the Horned Frogs’ fourth-straight win in the Big 12-Big East Battle scheduling series.
Frankie Collins led TCU (5-3) in scoring, rebounding and assists for the second-straight game. The senior from Sacramento, Calif., scored 16 points and had seven rebounds and five assists.
The Horned Frogs led for most of the game and by as many as 11 in the first half. The Musketeers (7-2) chipped away at the deficit in the second half and with 12:07 to play, took their first lead of the game since it was 4-2. Xavier used a 13-2 run to take a 60-54 lead with 7:28 remaining.
Out of a timeout, TCU responded with six-straight points to tie the game at 60-60. Brendan Wenzel’s third 3-pointer of the night allowed the Frogs to regain the lead, 65-63 with 3:50 to play. It was the first of six lead changes over the next four minutes.
Vasean Allette helped TCU extend its lead with a layup following a steal by Ernest Udeh Jr. Then two Allette free throws put the Frogs up 73-69 with 46 seconds left. Freshman David Punch, who started his first game, came up big with a blocked shot on the layup attempt by Dayvion McKnight.
Collins made 1-of-2 free throws and then rebounded an Xavier miss on the next possession that led to an Udeh dunk to put the Frogs up seven, 76-69, with nine seconds to play.
Wenzel scored a season-high 15 points and Udeh tied a season-high with 13 points and added six rebounds. Micah Robinson and Trazarien White each added 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers.
TCU will next face Vanderbilt on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Dickies Arena. The game is part of the USLBM Coast to Coast Challenge and will air on ESPNU.
TEAM NOTES
– TCU improved to 2-2 all-time against Xavier.
– TCU won its fourth-straight game in the Big 12-Big East Battle scheduling series. The Frogs are 4-2 overall in those games.
– Jamie Dixon‘s record moved to 493-236 as a head coach.
– TCU improved to 5-0 at home this season.
– TCU won its 17th straight home nonconference game.
– Under Dixon, TCU improved to 67-5 against nonconference opponents at Schollmaier Arena.
– TCU held Xavier to 29 first half points, which tied a low in a half for the Musketeers this season.
– The starting lineup of Vasean Allette, Frankie Collins, David Punch, Ernest Udeh Jr. and Trazarien White was TCU’s third different starting lineup of the season.
– Vasean Allette and David Punch made their first starts as Horned Frogs
– TCU forced 15 turnovers. It was the fifth time this season the Frogs have forced an opponent to 15 or more turnovers.
– It was TCU’s first win of the season when getting outshot by its opponent. Xavier shot 48.3 percent from the field and TCU was 46.7 percent.
– TCU’s 19 fastbreak points were its most in five games.
– Xavier entered the game ranked fourth nationally with 20.6 fastbreak points per game and was held to 11.
– TCU led for 30 minutes and 43 seconds. Xavier led for six minutes and 28 seconds.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
– Frankie Collins had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. It was the second-straight game he led the Frogs in all three categories.
– Ernest Udeh Jr. tied a career-high with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
– Brendan Wenzel was 3-of-5 from 3-point range and tied a season-high with 15 points. He has made at least one 3-pointer in all, but one game (Santa Clara).
– Freshman Micah Robinson scored a career-high 10 points, all in the first half, in 13 minutes of play. He was 2-of-3 from 3-point range, a season-high for makes.
– Vasean Allette and Trazarien White each had a season-high four steals. It tied White’s career high.
– TCU was without starting guard, Noah Reynolds, due to a wrist injury.
