TCU Outlasts UNLV 63-59

TCU was able to pick up their first road win over the year by beating the UNLV Rebels 63-59. New coach Jamie Dixon improved to 5-0 in his TCU career, improving on what is already the best career start for a new Frogs’ basketball coach.

The Frogs got out of the gate slowly, falling behind 11-2 in the early minutes as UNLV got some early threes to go in. Vladimir Brodziansky came up big for TCU, scoring 8 of the team’s first 10 points, thus keeping the game from getting out of hand. Vlad finished the night with 14 points and 5 rebounds, as well as 3 blocks.

Freshman Desmond Bane led the Frogs in scoring once again, dropping in 15 points to go along with 6 rebounds. Bane has started every game for TCU in his first year.

Junior Kenrich Williams only scored 5 points but was a monster on defense and on the boards. Kenny Hustle pulled down a whopping 18 rebounds along with 2 steals and 3 blocks.

TCU was able to go on multiple runs in the second half but could never seem to put away the scrappy Rebels. Both teams were struggling to pull away, as TCU had trouble at the free throw line and UNLV couldn’t hold on to the ball. The Frogs finished 15 of 28 at the stripe and the Rebels ended the night with 19 turnovers.

UNLV was led by point guard Jalen Poyser, who led the game in scoring with 19 points. The Rebels kept themselves in it by making 9 threes on the night, 4 of which came from Poyser.

Next, TCU will put their undefeated record on the line tomorrow at 9:30pm CST against the Washington Huskies (4-1) and their star freshman Markelle Fultz. The winner tomorrow will be crowned champions of the Global Sports Classic. The game will be available to watch online on the Mountain West Network.