TCU Beats Lamar 77-72
FORT WORTH—Freshman guard Kyan Anderson scored a career-high 15 point and senior forward Craig Williams pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds to lead TCU to a 77-72 home victory over a veteran Lamar squad Wednesday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The victory moved TCU to 5-2 overall this season and 3-0 at the DMC. Lamar dropped to 4-3 overall.
Fresh off Saturday’s buzzer-beating win at Houston, the Horned Frogs found themselves in another nailbiter Wednesday, earning the fourth of its five victories by five points or fewer. The squad was able tobuild a double-digit halftime lead, but the Cardinals still battled to the finish. LU scored the first seven points of the second half and eventually led by as many as three with just under 13 minutes to play before TCU pushed back on top for good.
A jumper by Lamar forward Charlie Harper whittled the Frog lead to only one point with 1:22 to play, 70-69. Williams followed with a big play for TCU, recording a putback on the following possession to give his squad a three-point edge after crashing the offensive boards.
The Frogs were able to ice the game at the charity stripe from there, including a big pair of shots from sophomore forward Amric Fields that pushed TCU’s advantage to four points with only 11.6 seconds remaining. Senior guard Hank Thorns added TCU’s final two at the line with 2.3 seconds left.
Anderson recorded his best individual performance as aFrog on Wednesday, shooting 7-of-12 from the field. Much of the Fort Worth native’s offensive production came in transition, as he helped lead TCU to an 18-8 scoring edge on the fast break.
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Williams’ performance was just as important if not more so for the Frogs, as he dominated the glass for a team that had struggled in the area early on this season. The St. Croix product helped lead TCU to a 42-40rebounding advantage with six of his boards coming on the offensive end. As a team, the Frogs pulled down a season-high 17 offensive rebounds. Williams added a season-high nine points.
Senior guard J.R. Cadot chipped in another steady night, totaling 14 points and
five rebounds, as well as season highs in both assists (four) and steals (three). Cadot challenged an athletic Cardinal squad in the paint and was successful reaching the charity stripe, setting career highs with eightfree throws and 12 attempts.
Junior forward Garlon Green and Fields also both reached double figures in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Green led the Frogs as the built their first-half lead, as nine of his point total came in the initial period. Fields extended his streak of consecutive games in double figures to three, marking a career high.
Lamar gave the Frogs all they wanted on the offensive end, as Harper and point guard Anthony Miles shared the game lead with 21 points. Harper finished with a double-double by adding 10 rebounds. TCU had a toughtime keeping the Cardinals themselves off the offensive glass in the secondhalf, as LU finished with 14 of its 17 offensive rebounds in the final period alone. Lamar also went 20-of-29 at the free-throw line.
TCU returns to action on the road this weekend, when it faces Evansville on Saturday in the annual Missouri Valley-Mountain West Conference Challenge. Tip-off from Evansville, Ind., is set for 7 p.m.
