TCU won its third straight and eighth of the season.
Following a narrow defeat to the Incarnate Word Cardinals, the TCU Horned Frogs returned home to host the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, looking for a more decisive performance ahead of conference play. From the opening tip, the game appeared headed for another grind. Both teams struggled offensively early, combining for just 10 points over the first four minutes.
Then, a Jayden Pierre three-pointer finally jump-started the Frogs. Including Pierre’s triple, TCU rattled off nine straight points to build a 17–8 lead. Shortly after, David Punch found his rhythm, scoring six consecutive points for the Frogs, highlighted by a smooth fadeaway jumper.
Two Micah Robinson free throws later gave TCU a 15-point advantage with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Despite the Golden Eagles finding their offensive rhythm as the period wound down, the Horned Frogs maintained a sizable lead behind sound defense and efficient offense. TCU closed the opening 20 minutes ahead, 38–25.
The Frogs came out of the halftime break much stronger than in the first half, scoring the first seven points to take a 20-point lead. TCU held a 20-plus-point advantage for much of the second half, extending it to as many as 25 on a Brock Harding jumper with around 12 minutes remaining.
Over the next six minutes, TCU kept Oral Roberts at bay. Two consecutive Golden Eagles three-pointers cut the deficit to 18 at 5:41, but that was as close as they would get. The Horned Frogs cruised the rest of the way, defeating Oral Roberts 72–53.
The Horned Frogs shot 48.2 percent from the field but struggled from beyond the arc, making just 25.0 percent, extending a stretch of poor three-point shooting. TCU dominated inside, scoring 40 of their 72 points in the paint. Conversely, Oral Roberts shot 38.5 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from three-point range, managing only 22 points in the paint.
David Punch led all scorers with 17 points, marking his fourth game-leading performance in the past five contests. He also topped TCU in rebounds with six, extending his streak to seven straight games. Jayden Pierre added 13 points, while freshman Kayden Edwards scored a career-high seven off the bench. Ty Harper led Oral Roberts with 16 points, the only Golden Eagle to reach double digits.
Next up, TCU hosts the Florida A&M Rattlers on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m.
Category: General Sports
