TCU will look to its home court to help it build on impressive wins over two of college basketball’s blue bloods when it hosts battle-tested Notre Dame on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (5-2) head home after winning both games at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego on Nov. 27-28. TCU beat then-No. 10 Florida 84-80 before dominating Wisconsin 74-63 on Black Friday to build its winning streak to three games.
“We’ve been playing better and gradually getting better as the season goes along,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We had to readjust, losing a starter (center Malick Diallo) five minutes into a game (who had) practiced every day of the summer and fall, and then he goes down. We made some adjustments and have gotten better each time out.”
David Punch scored 17 points to lead a balanced offensive attack while Brock Harding added 16 points, Xavier Edmonds had 12 and Liutauras Lelevicius and Jayden Pierre each scored 11 for the Horned Frogs, who never trailed in the win over Wisconsin.
“We know that if we do what we need to do on the court and practice every single day, there are no limits to what this team can do,” Harding said.
The Fighting Irish (6-3) travel to Fort Worth after a 76-71 win at home over Missouri on Tuesday in an ACC/SEC Challenge game. Cole Certa drained a pair of clutch 3-pointers on assists from Markus Burton in the final two minutes to help Notre Dame secure the victory.
Burton led the Fighting Irish with 18 points and a career-high 10 assists while Certa hit for 14 points with four 3-pointers on his seven attempts.
Notre Dame’s three losses this year are to Ohio State, Kansas and then-No. 3 Houston by a combined 21 points.
“Our guys have a lot of belief,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “In order to keep that belief, something good has to happen for them. They earned the right for something good to happen to them. Our guys earned it by doing things the right way.
“Belief is a crazy thing,” Shrewsberry said. “It can drive you to a lot of places.”
Burton is playing like one of the best guards in the ACC, averaging 19.9 points, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 48.8% from the field.
