Written by Adrian Beecher
New York, NY - Vlad Brodziansky’s 18 points and 9 rebounds, coupled with Kenrich Williams double-double helped lead the TCU Horned Frogs to a 68-53 win over the UCF Knights in the NIT Semifinal Tuesday evening at Madison Square Garden. It was a comeback effort on behalf of the Horned Frogs as UCF lead by 10 with just over 5 minutes left in the 1st half. Here’s how it all went down.
TCU won the tipoff in a very questionable toss up by the ref. The Horned Frogs quickly got things going with a dunk from JD Miller. The Knights quickly answered with a jumper from BJ Taylor followed by a layup from AJ Davis to give the Knights the early 4-2 lead. After a jumper from TCU’s Vlad Brodziansky had tied it up, the Knights went on a 6-0 run to take an early 10-4 lead with 15:44 left in the first half.
After another basket from TCU’s Vlad Brodziansky, UCF’s Matt Williams hit a triple to put UCF by 7. Shortly after, Williams hit his second triple for the Knight’s after two baskets from TCU. The Horned Frogs answered with a triple of their own from Kenrich Williams. What followed was an 8-2 run by the Knights that included triples from Nick Banyard and Tank Efianayi to give UCF a 24-15 lead with just 8:36 left to play in the half.
The Horned Frogs ended the run with a layup from Brodziansky to cut it to 7. However, UCF kept the pressure on, and with 5:12 left in the first half they had extended their lead to 10 points as Williams hit his 3rd triple of the game. What then ensued, was a dominating 10-0 run by the Horned Frogs that was started by a triple from Alex Robinson to tie the game up at 29.
The Knights would end the run with a jumper from Matt Williams with 49 seconds left as they went into the locker room with the 31-29 lead, but all the momentum was with the Horned Frogs. The drop in shooting percentage for UCF was dramatic, to say the least. After starting the half 6 for 8 shooting 75% from the field, they finished 6 for 21, shooting just 28%. This trend continued into the second half for the Knights.
TCU started the 2nd half with the ball and quickly tied the game up at 31. This was just the start as the Horned Frogs opened up a 7-0 run to start the second half forcing the Knights to use a timeout with 18:21 left in the second half. Out of the timeout, AJ Davis missed a triple, but on their ensuing possession, BJ Taylor hit a triple to cut the deficit to just 2.
Then TCU went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 11 on the Knights with under 16 minutes left to play in the game. This marked a 26-5 run for the Horned Frogs dating back to the first half. BJ Taylor was able to end the run with a jumper to make it 45-36 with the Knights trailing. Then it was Tank Efianayi getting in on the action with a jumper of his own to cut the deficit to 7. A layup from Kenrich Williams from TCU pushed their lead back to 9 with just 12:51 left to play.
After a free throw from BJ Talor had cut the deficit to just 8, TCU’s Kenrich Williams hit a triple to push their lead back to 11. A layup from Taylor and a dunk from Davis would cut the TCU lead to just 7 forcing TCU to call timeout. After the timeout Brodziansky put in a layup, pushing the lead back to 9.
After two minutes of scoreless basketball, it was TCU’s Kenrich Williams putting in another layup to make it an 11-point game again with just 5:41 left to play. The Knights continued to fight and did everything the could to claw their way back into to this one and with 3:21 left to play, the deficit was just 7 points.
However, after that, the Horned Frogs would go on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 15 points with just 1:54 left on the clock. Shortly after UCF head coach, Johnny Dawkins would sub out his starters, conceding defeat as TCU earned a spot in the NIT Championship on Thursday, March 30th at Madison Square Garden.
TCU won the tipoff in a very questionable toss up by the ref. The Horned Frogs quickly got things going with a dunk from JD Miller. The Knights quickly answered with a jumper from BJ Taylor followed by a layup from AJ Davis to give the Knights the early 4-2 lead. After a jumper from TCU’s Vlad Brodziansky had tied it up, the Knights went on a 6-0 run to take an early 10-4 lead with 15:44 left in the first half.
After another basket from TCU’s Vlad Brodziansky, UCF’s Matt Williams hit a triple to put UCF by 7. Shortly after, Williams hit his second triple for the Knight’s after two baskets from TCU. The Horned Frogs answered with a triple of their own from Kenrich Williams. What followed was an 8-2 run by the Knights that included triples from Nick Banyard and Tank Efianayi to give UCF a 24-15 lead with just 8:36 left to play in the half.
The Horned Frogs ended the run with a layup from Brodziansky to cut it to 7. However, UCF kept the pressure on, and with 5:12 left in the first half they had extended their lead to 10 points as Williams hit his 3rd triple of the game. What then ensued, was a dominating 10-0 run by the Horned Frogs that was started by a triple from Alex Robinson to tie the game up at 29.
The Knights would end the run with a jumper from Matt Williams with 49 seconds left as they went into the locker room with the 31-29 lead, but all the momentum was with the Horned Frogs. The drop in shooting percentage for UCF was dramatic, to say the least. After starting the half 6 for 8 shooting 75% from the field, they finished 6 for 21, shooting just 28%. This trend continued into the second half for the Knights.
TCU started the 2nd half with the ball and quickly tied the game up at 31. This was just the start as the Horned Frogs opened up a 7-0 run to start the second half forcing the Knights to use a timeout with 18:21 left in the second half. Out of the timeout, AJ Davis missed a triple, but on their ensuing possession, BJ Taylor hit a triple to cut the deficit to just 2.
Then TCU went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 11 on the Knights with under 16 minutes left to play in the game. This marked a 26-5 run for the Horned Frogs dating back to the first half. BJ Taylor was able to end the run with a jumper to make it 45-36 with the Knights trailing. Then it was Tank Efianayi getting in on the action with a jumper of his own to cut the deficit to 7. A layup from Kenrich Williams from TCU pushed their lead back to 9 with just 12:51 left to play.
After a free throw from BJ Talor had cut the deficit to just 8, TCU’s Kenrich Williams hit a triple to push their lead back to 11. A layup from Taylor and a dunk from Davis would cut the TCU lead to just 7 forcing TCU to call timeout. After the timeout Brodziansky put in a layup, pushing the lead back to 9.
After two minutes of scoreless basketball, it was TCU’s Kenrich Williams putting in another layup to make it an 11-point game again with just 5:41 left to play. The Knights continued to fight and did everything the could to claw their way back into to this one and with 3:21 left to play, the deficit was just 7 points.
However, after that, the Horned Frogs would go on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 15 points with just 1:54 left on the clock. Shortly after UCF head coach, Johnny Dawkins would sub out his starters, conceding defeat as TCU earned a spot in the NIT Championship on Thursday, March 30th at Madison Square Garden.