Mike Miles Jr. scored 26 points and No. 14 TCU didn’t trail during the final 32 minutes in a 77-66 victory against visiting Lamar on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Emanuel Miller chipped in with 12 points and Shahada Wells had 10 for the Big 12’s Horned Frogs (2-0). Miller also contributed seven rebounds and six assists.
Jakevion Buckley scored 22 points, Chris Pryor added 11 and Terry Anderson had 10 for the Southland Conference’s Cardinals (1-1).
Both teams struggled shooting, with Lamar going 25 of 64 (39.1 percent) from the field and TCU 30 of 69 (43.5 percent). They especially were cold from 3-point range with Lamar going 4 of 17 and TCU slightly better at 8 of 32.
TCU outscored Lamar 28-12 on the fastbreak and outrebounded the Cardinals 44-36.
Clinging to a 48-47 edge with 13 minutes remaining, TCU outscored Lamar 17-8 to build a 10-point cushion with 6:07 to go. Chuck O’Bannon Jr. scored seven of his nine points during the run.
The Horned Frogs never led by less than nine points the rest of the way.
Trailing 43-30, Lamar went on a 7-0 run to pull within six with 16:24 to go. Buckley’s 3-pointer started the spurt, which also included layups by Anderson and Adam Hamilton, who finished with eight points.
Miles scored 18 points to help TCU take a 36-27 halftime lead. The nine-point cushion was the Horned Frogs’ largest advantage during a half in which they never trailed.
Both teams struggled from 3-point territory, where Lamar was 1 of 6 and TCU 3 of 15.
TCU used a 7-0 run to open a 24-17 lead 7:36 before halftime.
–Field Level Media