TCU Basketball Downs UAB
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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas—Sophomore guard Kyan Anderson scored a career-high 35 points Saturday to help TCU shake out of its offensive struggles, as the Horned Frogs downed UAB, 76-73, in the squad’s final game of the South Padre Island Invitational.
The victory pushed TCU’s season record to 5-2 overall, while UAB dropped to 3-3. The Frogs finished their four-game South Padre Invitational run at 3-1.
One day after a dismal offensive showing in a 55-31 loss to Northwestern, TCU responded with its best offensive game of the young campaign. The squad scored a season high in points and shot 55.8 percent (29-of-52) from the field. It also went a season-best 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) at the free-throw line. The Frogs eclipsed their scoring total from Friday’s loss in the first half.
The Frogs needed the points, as UAB gave TCU all it could handle with its up-tempo attack. The two teams traded the advantage seven times, with no team leading by more than eight points. The Frogs built a seven-point edge late in the contest before holding on for the victory.
UAB’s Jordan Swing sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to just one point with 2.8 seconds left, but Anderson answered by sinking a pair of free throws that pushed the TCU advantage back up to three. Blazer guard Jekore Taylor had a shot at another 3 to tie the game at the buzzer, but it bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.
Anderson led the way for TCU with his career-best effort that featured a 13-of-20 shooting night and an 8-of-10 showing at the free-throw line. He totaled 18 points in the first half alone on the
way to scoring the most points by a Big 12 player this season and by a TCU player since former Frog Kevin Langford dropped 36 on Wyoming on Jan. 21, 2009. Anderson’s effort tied for the No. 21 overall scoring performance in team history, while he shattered his former career high of 22 set last year at San Diego State.
Anderson also got it done on the defensive end, pulling in a game-high four of the Frogs’ eight steals. He was named to the South Padre Island Invitational All-Tournament Team for his overall efforts.
Senior guard/forward Garlon Green joined Anderson in stepping up for TCU, scoring 14 points, including eight in the second half despite playing for much of the period with four fouls. Green made 6-of-7 field-goal attempts on the night. Senior forward Adrick McKinney, who filled in much of the second half while sophomore forward Devonta Abron also sat with four fouls, finished with nine points. McKinney and Abron shared the team lead with six rebounds.
All five UAB starters finished in double figures, including forward Rod Rucker, who scored 13 points while dishing out a game-high six assists. The Blazers matched the Frogs’ offensive success for much of the evening and finished the contest at an even 50.0 percent shooting (25-of-50), the best by a TCU opponent this season. UAB kept things close by making six 3-pointers compared to TCU’s one, and it went to the charity stripe 29 times, albeit making just 17.
TCU now returns to Fort Worth for a two-game homestand that opens up with a Thursday matchup against Southern Utah at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The contest, set to tip off at 7 p.m., will be televised live by FOX Sports Southwest.
