SMU Tops TCU
Senior guard Nic Moore scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half and added six assists in his return from a finger injury as No. 22 SMU posted a 75-70 nonconference victory over host TCU on Wednesday night in Fort Worth, Texas.
Senior forward Markus Kennedy contributed 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field for the Mustangs (5-0), who scored the final eight points. Junior guard Sterling Brown added 12 points and eight rebounds and scored the tiebreaking basket with 1:41 remaining.
Sophomore forward Vladimir Brodziansky scored 18 points and sophomore guard Malique Trent added 13 points for the Horned Frogs (3-3). Sophomore guard Chauncey Collins had 12 points and junior forward Karviar Shepherd collected 11 rebounds.
Moore was back after missing one game with a broken finger. He was 5 of 9 from 3-point range and drained the tying long-range shot to start SMU’s game-ending 8-0 run.
The Horned Frogs trailed by three points at halftime before inching ahead at 51-50 on a 3-pointer by Collins with 13:18 remaining. Moore answered with back-to-back 3-pointers and Kennedy added two inside hoops and the 10-0 burst gave the Mustangs a 60-51 lead.
TCU responded with a 13-2 run with Trent scoring nine points. Senior forward Devonta Abron capped the spurt with a jumper for a 64-62 lead with 7:32 left and the Horned Frogs led 70-67 after a basket by junior guard Brandon Parrish with 3:32 to play.
TCU didn’t score again and missed its final five shots from the field. Moore hit the tying 3-pointer with 2:43 left and Brown scored the go-ahead basket just over a minute later as SMU remained undefeated.
The Horned Frogs led by as many as 12 points in the first half before missing nine straight shots from the field. SMU rattled off 11 straight points during the TCU drought and led 40-37 at the break.
SMU was once again without coach Larry Brown, who was suspended nine games by the NCAA as part of the penalties for rules violations that included academic irregularities. Tim Jankovich is serving as coach during Brown’s absence.
