Freshman Mike Miles scored a career-high 26 points and RJ Nembhard added 22 for TCU, which built a big first-half lead, gave it all back, then charged from behind to beat North Dakota State 89-82 on Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The game was tied at 73 with 5:45 remaining, but the Horned Frogs were at their best down the stretch. Kevin Easley scored five points and Kevin Samuel added a dunk and a layup during a 11-2 run over the ensuing 4 1/2 minutes, allowing TCU to build a nine-point advantage and cruise to the finish line.
Samuel added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Horned Frogs (7-2). Easley grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for TCU, which outshot the Bison 58.6 percent to 48.3 percent.
Jarius Cook led North Dakota State with 22 points, all but six of those in the first half. Rocky Kreuser added 21 points for the Bison (2-6) while Grant Nelson hit for 14 points.
TCU led by as many as 17 points in the first half, at 44-27, before the Bison mounted a charge. The visitors ended the half with an 18-5 run that allowed them to crawl back to within 49-45 at the break.
The Horned Frogs outshot North Dakota State 62.1 percent to 50 percent in the half while the Bison outrebounded TCU 16-13 and made 10 free throws to five for the Horned Frogs.
Cook led all scorers in the first half with 16 points. Nembhard (15) and Miles (14) accounted for 29 of the Horned Frogs' points over the first 20 minutes.
North Dakota State came all the way back and more early in the second half, forging a 62-57 advantage with 14:19 to play after a fastbreak 3-pointer from Kreuser. That seemed to wake up the Horned Frogs, who scored the next five points (on a Miles jumper and a Taryn Todd 3-pointer) to tie the game before mounting a final decisive run.
--Field Level Media
North Dakota State | Texas Christian | |
Jarius Cook 22 | Scoring | Mike Miles 26 |
Sam Griesel 12 | Assists | RJ Nembhard 5 |
Rocky Kreuser 7 | Rebounds | Kevin Easley Jr. 11 |
Jarius Cook 4 | Free Throws Made | RJ Nembhard 7 |
Dezmond McKinney 2 | Steals | PJ Fuller 1 |
Jaxon Knotek 1 | Blocks | PJ Fuller 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
North Dakota State | 82 | 48.3 | 13-29 | 13-16 | 20 | 30 | 2 | 5 | 16 |
Texas Christian | 89 | 58.6 | 11-24 | 10-19 | 23 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 11 |