TCU defeats Cincinnati for fifth straight victory

Jayden Pierre scored 18 points and Liutauras Lelevicius added 14 as TCU defeated Cincinnati 73-63 in a Big 12 game Saturday in Fort Worth, Tex.

The Horned Frogs (21-10, 11-7 Big 12) used a 9-0 run early in the second half to break open a close game en route to their fifth consecutive victory.

The Bearcats (17-14, 9-9) had trouble getting on track all day, shooting just 44.2% from the floor and turning the ball over 19 times. Cincinnati won six of its previous seven games.

Day Day Thomas led Cincinnati with 19 points and Jalen Celestine added 12 points and Baba Miller had 14 rebounds.

The Horned Frogs clung to a 36-35 lead when Xavier Edmonds started the decisive run with back-to-back layups to make it 40-35 with 16:47 left.

Pierre followed with a 3-pointer and Tanner Toolson made it 45-35 with a layup with 14:13 left.

Calestine and Thomas cut the lead back down to 48-41 with 3-pointers with 11:40 left.

Brock Harding scored on a layup and David Punch made an eight-foot hook shot for a 52-41 lead with 9:56 left.

Punch finished with 13 points and seven assists.

The Bearcats are 0-12 on the season while trailing at the 10-minute mark.

Jizzle James and Shon Abaev hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to 55-49 with 7:32 to go.

TCU answered right away, however, as Micah Robinson made a layup, Lelevicius and Punch made a pair of free throws each for a 61-49 lead with 5:22 left.

Robinson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Horned Frogs a 32-29 halftime lead.

The first half saw eight ties and seven lead changes and neither led by more than four.

Pierre led the Horned Frogs with 10 points as they hit 48.4% of their shots from the field. The Bearcats made 39.3% and had nine turnovers before the break.

Thomas made a 3-pointer with 3:26 left to tie the game at 27.

Harding put TCU back on top with a 16-foot pullup shot with 2:38 left.

The Bearcats tied again with 38 seconds left when James made a 12-foot jumper.

Robinson followed with his 3-pointer from the corner to give TCU a 3-point lead.