November 29 – David Punch scored 17 points to lead a balanced offensive attack as TCU defeated Wisconsin 74-63 on Friday afternoon to capture the championship of the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.<\/p>\n
TCU (5-2) never trailed and led by four points at halftime before quickly rebuilding its advantage to 14 points five minutes into the second half. The Horned Frogs led 65-46 after a layup by Xavier Edmonds with 10:02 to play but Wisconsin made a final run, drawing within 10 on a jumper by Nick Boyd with 4:05 left.<\/p>\n
Two free throws by Brock Harding pushed TCU’s lead back to a dozen. John Blackwell’s three free throws brought Wisconsin within nine points and a putback layup by Andrew Rohde with 2:09 remaining culled the Badgers’ deficit to 70-63.<\/p>\n
Punch answered with a dunk and Micah Robinson hit a free throw to build the Horned Frogs’ lead back to 10 points, and TCU held on to win its third straight game.<\/p>\n
Harding added 16 points for the Horned Frogs while Edmonds had 12 and Liutauras Lelevicius and Jayden Pierre each scored 11.<\/p>\n
Blackwell led all scorers with 30 points and Boyd added 15 for Wisconsin (5-2). TCU outshot Wisconsin 46.7% to 34.5% overall.<\/p>\n
The Horned Frogs led 6-4 three minutes into the game before creating some separation with an 8-0 run, capped by a pullup jumper from Harding at the 15-minute mark. TCU stretched its advantage to 32-18 after Punch canned a pair of free throws with 8:21 remaining in the half.<\/p>\n
The Horned Frogs still led by 13, at 41-28, after a driving layup by Harding with 3:29 left. That’s when Wisconsin caught fire, ending the half on a 9-0 run to pull within 41-37 at the break with Blackwell scoring the final seven points, including a jumper at the buzzer.<\/p>\n
Blackwell led all scorers with 21 points before halftime and the Badgers controlled the boards, building a 19-12 edge on the glass. Punch’s 11 points paced TCU in the first half.<\/p>\n
To open the second half, TCU went back to the strategy that got it its early lead — pushing the ball inside. The Horned Frogs quickly upped the margin to 14 points as they hit six of their first eight shots over the first 5:04 of the half. Wisconsin started the half just 1 of 8 from the floor.<\/p>\n
TCU also ended the game with a plus-2 rebounding edge after turning the tables in the second half, outmuscling Wisconsin 25-16.<\/p>\n
–Field Level Media<\/p>\n
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