Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

No. 23 TCU beats Belmont 87-76 in return to AP rankings

649812132

during the first round of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 8, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jamie Squire

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Vladimir Brodziansky scored 22 points and No. 23 TCU extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 12 games with an 87-76 victory against Belmont on Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-11 senior from Slovakia was 5 of 6 from 3-point range and 8 of 11 overall in TCU’s first game since returning to The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in almost three years. The Frogs, who were in the poll for a week at No. 25 in 2014, have their highest ranking since they were 21st in January 1999.

JD Miller had 16 points and eight rebounds for TCU, which won its last five games last season on the way to the NIT championship and is off to a 7-0 start for the third time in four seasons.

Kenrich Williams had his third straight double-double and fourth of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Frogs outrebounded the Bruins 37-23. The NIT MVP led the Big 12 with 19 double-doubles last season, including all five NIT games.

Dylan Windler scored 17 points and Kevin McClain and Amanze Egekeze had 15 apiece in a third straight loss for Belmont (4-4).

Alex Robinson had a four-point play after getting fouled on a 3-pointer and Brodziansky and Jalen Fisher each had three-point plays following layups during a 15-0 run that put the Horned Frogs up 36-16 in the first half.

THE TAKEAWAY

Belmont: It was another competitive loss for the Bruins against a Power Five opponent. They lost by four points at Washington in the opener before beating Vanderbilt by nine at home. Prospects look good for Belmont’s eighth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006, and first since 2015.

TCU: The Horned Frogs have had a hard time pulling away from opponents that appear to be outmatched, an issue that goes back to the opener against Louisiana-Monroe. The Bruins were within seven points in the final 2 minutes.

UP NEXT

Belmont: Green Bay at home Saturday.

TCU: Yale at home Saturday.

___

More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25