TCU Tops Wyoming
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FORT WORTH—TCU returned to its winning ways Wednesday, posting a 58-52 victory over Wyoming at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Senior forward Craig Williams led the Horned Frogs on the scoreboard with 13 points.
The win, the fifth straight for the Frogs at home, moved TCU to 13-8 overall this season while evening its Mountain West record at 3-3. The Frogs are 10-2 overall at home this season.
TCU continued its season trend of winning close games, taking another one over the Cowboys. The Frogs, who improved to 10-1 in contests decided by six points or fewer, led by as many as 11 points after a 14-2 run pushed the score to 49-38 with 9:11 remaining. The lead would soon evarporate, as Wyoming answered TCU’s strong stretch with a 9-0 run of its own to cut the score to 49-47 with about six-and-a-half minutes to play.
Like they have done all season, the Frogs responded toadversity by closing out the game strong at home. Williams sank a huge 3-pointer, only his third of the season, to give TCU a six-point lead with 5:09 remaining, then made a great pass to junior forward Connell Crossland on the following possession that resulted in a layup and a 55-47 edge.
The Frog defense also came alive late after seeing theCowboys shoot 52.0 percent in the first half from the field. Wyoming was limited to only five points in the final 6:29 and 30.4 percent shooting overall in the second period. A late layup by senior guard Hank Thorns clinched the victory by pushing the lead to 58-50 with only 42.5 seconds left.
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TCU leaned on a strong offensive performance insdie Wednesday from the tandem of Williams and
junior forward Adrick McKinney, who combined for 21 of the team’s 58 points and 12 rebounds. Williams led the team in scoring for the third time while shooting 5-of-9 from the floor and pullingdown a team-high seven boards. McKinney totaled five points on 3-of-3 shooting with five rebounds in 16 minutes.
Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Frogs were senior guard Hank Thorns, who totaled 12 points, and sophomore forward Amric Fields, who chipped in 10. Both players combined for five 3-pointers on only eight attempts with Thorns going 3-of-6 from outside.
TCU finished the contest shooting 45.7 percent from the field and is now 8-0 when hitting at least 45 percent. The Frog bench was a big difference in the contest, as it outscored the Wyoming reserves by a 20-0 margin.
TCU managed to limit the impact of a strong outing by Wyoming forward Leonard Washington, who led the Cowboys with a game-high 21 points on an 8-of-10 showing from the floor. Forward Adam Waddell also played solid inside for UW, contributing 13 points and game highs of nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Guard Francisco Cruz added 10 points.
The Frogs held Cowboys’ leading scorer Luke Martinez, the MW’s leading 3-pointer shooter entering Wednesday, to six points and only a 2-of-12 performance from beyond the arc.
As has been the case in several games this season, TCU experienced a slow offensive start to the contest. The squad opened the night by going scoreless for nearly four minutes before heating up. The Frogs shook off a 1-of-5 shooting start by making four of their next five field goals and seven of nine. The squad finished the half 12-of-21 (57.1 percent).
Fields gave TCU a five-point lead, its largest to thatpoint, on a 3-pointer with 2:26 remaining in the half, while a pair of freethrows by junior guard/forward Garlon Green with only 4.4 seconds left made it a 35-30 Frog advantage at the break.
TCU concludes the first half of its Mountain West schedule on the road Saturday when it faces No. 17 San Diego State at the Aztecs’ Viejas Arena. Tip-off for the contest, which will be televised by The MountainWestSports Network (The Mtn.), is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.
