TCU 80, Furman 69
Fort Worth, Texas -- TCU shot 59.6 percent from the field, including 70 percent in the second half, to hold off Furman, 80-69, in non-conference basketball action on Monday evening at the Wilkerson-Greines Activities Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
With the win, the Horned Frogs improved to 9-0 on the season, while the Paladins slipped to 2-5.
TCU connected on 28-of-47 field goal attempts, including 14-of-20 in the final period, and hit 18-of-27 free throws in the second half to overcome a 51 percent shooting effort from the Paladins. Point guard Kyan Anderson scored 21 points to lead four Horned Frogs in double figures. Amric Fields scored 14 points, while Kenrich Williams and Trey Zeigler contributed 11 and 10, respectively. TCU controlled the paint, outscoring Furman 46-24 in the lane and posting a 17-3 edge in second chance points.
The Horned Frogs fashioned a 23-10 lead over the opening 11 minutes before Croone, who scored 15 points in the first 20 minutes, netted five straight points to a ignite a Furman comeback. The Paladins outscored TCU 19-10 over the final 9:30 to trim the deficit to 33-29 at the half.
Kendrec Ferrara netted the first bucket of the second half to pull Furman within two points at 33-31 before TCU pushed the margin to double digits. Three-pointers from Ferrara and Devin Sibley helped Furman climb back within six points at 56-50 midway through the second half, but Anderson scored five points in a 6-0 Horned Frogs run that brought the score to 62-50 on Chris Washburn’s free throw with 8:07 to play.
Furman cut the lead back to just seven points on two occasions, but TCU converted at the foul line in the final minutes to keep its perfect record intact.
Croone finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and reached double figures for the 26th consecutive game. He added four boards, three steals and three assists. Sibley tallied a career-high 14 points and Ferrara also reached 14 points before both players fouled out down the stretch. Beans rounded out Furman’s double figure scorers with 10 points.
The Paladins 51 percent shooting was the highest by a TCU opponent this season and just the second Horned Frog foe to top 37 percent. Furman also hit 8-of-20 three-point attempts and converted on 15-of-18 trips to the charity stripe.
Navy 84, VMI 66
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy Midshipmen closed the game on a 12-2 run and held the VMI Keydets to 23 second half points en route to an 84-66 win in non-conference basketball action Tuesday night in Annapolis, Md.
The Keydets (4-6) never led in Tuesday's contest, but were within three at halftime, thanks in large part to three scorers in double figures. The second half was a different story, however, as Navy (3-7) held VMI to just 23 total points en route to the victory.
Tilman Dunbar led the way for the home team, scoring 26 points, while QJ Peterson led VMI with 23 markers, 13 of which came in the second half.
The homestanding Mids jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, and stretched that figure to 10, 20-10, at the 12:01 mark. After a brief VMI rally cut the lead to four at the 7:50 mark, Navy pushed the margin back to 11 with 3:46 left in the half, 41-30.
The Keydets, in one of their stronger pushes of the night, closed the period on a 13-5 run that made it a 46-43 game at the half. It was the closest VMI had been since falling behind 5-0 in the opening moments.
The second half started much like the first had - Navy pushed its lead to near double digits, 62-53, with 11:18 to play, but the Keydets rallied. After a Julian Eleby three-pointer, VMI was back within four just moments later, 62-58. That was as close as the visitors would get. Navy scored eight of the game's next 11 points, and VMI got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
In addition to Peterson, VMI saw Eleby finish with 16 points and Weethee post 14 markers. Kevin Alter and Zach Fong were in double figures for Navy, joining Dunbar with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
The Keydets were held to a 23 of 65 night from the floor and made just seven of 32 shots in the second half. Three-point range told a similar story, with VMI making 7 of 34 for the game but only 3 of 22 in the final 20 minutes.
Navy was 29 of 51 from the floor and 7 of 19 from long range.