National Basketball Association
Texas Christian 63, UNLV 59
When: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, November 25, 2016
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# John Higgins, # Jamie Luckie, # Gerry Pollard
Attendance:
9815
By The Sports Xchange
Freshman guard Desmond Bane scored 15 points and junior guard Kenrich Williams grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds as TCU remained unbeaten in the Jamie Dixon era with a 63-59 victory over UNLV in the semifinals of the Global Sports Classic on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The Horned Frogs (5-0) will play Washington (4-1), a 86-47 winner over Western Kentucky, in Saturday night's championship game. The Runnin' Rebels will face the Hilltoppers (3-2) in the consolation game.
Junior forward Vladimir Brodziansky finished with 14 points, including two free throws with 26.2 seconds left that gave the TCU a 61-55 lead and proved to be the winning points.
Sophomore guard Jalen Poyser scored a game-high 19 points, including 4-of-7 3-pointers, junior forward Dwayne Morgan added 13 points and senior forward Tyrell Green finished with 10 points for UNLV (3-2), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
UNLV, which connected on five of its first six 3-pointers, jumped out to a 16-6 lead and led 19-12 after nine minutes. But TCU answered with a 12-0 run as the Rebels went almost six points without a point en route to a 30-27 halftime lead.
The Horned Frogs, who led by as many as seven points midway through the second half, won despite making just 15 of 28 free throws (53.8 percent). TCU made up for it by forcing 19 UNLV turnovers and turning 13 offensive rebounds into a 19-9 edge in second-chance points.
Senior F Christian Jones, a transfer from St. John's who is UNLV's leading rebounder, and 6-foot-11 freshman F Cheickna Dembele missed their second straight games with a foot injuries.
Highly touted TCU freshman G Jaylen Fisher did not start for the first time this season after getting sick on the team's flight to Las Vegas. Fisher, who originally signed scholarship papers to attend UNLV but reopened his recruiting after then-coach Dave Rice was fired in January, was booed each time he touched the ball.
Fisher finished with seven points and three assists in 24 minutes.
Top Game Performances
Texas Christian |
|
UNLV |
Desmond Bane 15 |
Scoring |
Jalen Poyser 19 |
Alex Robinson 4 |
Assists |
Jalen Poyser 4 |
Kenrich Williams 18 |
Rebounds |
Dwayne Morgan 7 |
Vladimir Brodziansky 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Jalen Poyser 3 |
Alex Robinson 3 |
Steals |
Uche Ofoegbu 3 |
Vladimir Brodziansky 3 |
Blocks |
Dwayne Morgan 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Texas Christian
|
63 |
36.2 |
6-24 |
15-28 |
11 |
38 |
7 |
9 |
13 |
UNLV
|
59 |
38.6 |
9-19 |
6-10 |
14 |
33 |
6 |
5 |
19 |