TCU downs Bradley 53-49 behind Collins

By foxsports
Published

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) TCU coach Trent Johnson shook his head and grimaced Wednesday as his Horned Frogs watched their 11-point lead over Bradley shrink to three with 10 seconds left.

Johnson had seen this before - eight times in a row, to be precise. But TCU held on for a rare road win, beating Bradley 53-49.

TCU (7-4) is now 6-28 in road games since joining the Big 12 Conference in 2012, and had lost eight straight away games going back to last season before Wednesday's win.

The Horned Frogs were led by sophomore guard Chauncey Collins' 14 points and eight rebounds.

''We had some problems taking care of the ball,'' Johnson said. ''I could make a ton of excuses, but (Bradley) gets a lot of credit. They have energy and they play hard. They're very young, but they are going to get a lot better by the end of the season.''

The Braves outshot TCU 36 percent to 30 percent.

''We just haven't been playing well,'' Johnson said. ''I can't tell you how many chances we had tonight, and we just couldn't get there. Still, it's nice to have this one in the books.''

Vladimir Brodziansky and Michael Williams scored 10 apiece for TCU, whose largest lead was 11 points.

Luuk van Bree scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Bradley (2-11), while Ronnie Suggs added 12 points.

''All losses hurt,'' said Bradley coach Brian Wardle. ''And I hate losing, but this one, I really wanted for these guys. They played hard, and we thought we could get there, but we fell short at the end.''

Five Braves players fouled out in a game that saw Bradley called for 37 fouls and TCU shoot 21 of 40 free throws. The Braves also committed 23 turnovers, which led to 19 TCU points. The Horned Frogs turned it over 14 times.

Bradley has dropped 11 straight games against Division I competition since defeating Ball State to open the season.

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TIP-INS

The Braves entered the season under first-year head coach Brian Wardle as the youngest team in all of college basketball. Wardle's group features 10 freshmen to go alongside with just three returning players - sophomore Donte Thomas and seniors Ka'Darryl Bell and Mike Shaw.

A HISTORY

Wednesday's game was the tenth meeting between the two teams. TCU evened the series at 5-5.

STAYING HOME

This was only the second true road game of the season for TCU, following a Dec. 8 loss at Washington.

UP NEXT

TCU hosts Delaware State on Monday before opening Big 12 play Jan. 2 at Oklahoma State.

Bradley next plays Dec. 30 at UNI.