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Vladimir Brodziansky led the way for TCU on Monday night, as TCU improved to 4-0 on the season. With the win, Jamie Dixon becomes the first head coach to start his TCU career 4-0.
Brodziansky scored 24 points, including 16 in the second half, to go with six rebounds. His physical interior presence was too much for Illinois State, and he showed a great range of low-post moves to dominate the Redbirds.
Jaylen Fisher struggled mightily in the first half, scoring just two points, but he also came alive in the second half, dropping 13. Fisher drilled a three-pointer, ultimately the game-winner, to give TCU a 74-71 lead with 42 seconds left in the game.
Kenrich Williams logged a double-double in his second game back, dropping 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
TCU was behind for the majority of the game, and found themselves down by as many as seven points in the second half, but fought back against a very physical Illinois State squad. All in all, there were 12 lead chances and seven ties in what was TCU’s closest game this season.
Alex Robinson dropped 14 points, to go with six assists in the contest, and his consistent pressure with the ball in his hands opened up plenty of opportunities for other Frogs.
Illinois State was led by MiKyle McIntosh, who scored 20 points, but fouled out late.
The Frogs will look to improve to 5-0 on the season this Friday, when they take on UNLV in Las Vegas. It should be an intriguing matchup, as Jaylen Fisher was once committed to the Rebels prior to flipping to TCU.