Micah Robinson scored 20 points, including 17 in the second half, while carrying TCU to a 90-78 win over up-and-down Arizona State on Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (18-10, 8-7 Big 12) led by three points at halftime before expanding the margin to a dozen points when David Punch hit a hook shot with 11:39 to play.
TCU stretched its lead to 69-50 with 8:03 left before the Sun Devils rallied to within seven points after Maurice Odum’s 3-pointer with 1:56 remaining.
But that was a close as Arizona State would get as the Horned Frogs made 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch.
A combined 52 fouls were called in the game — 29 of those against Arizona State — that led to 63 free throws. TCU forged a 28-17 edge in made free throws in a game that was decided by 12 points.
Xavier Edmonds added 17 points for TCU, with Tanner Toolson scoring 12 points, Brock Harding racking up 10 points and 11 assists and Liutauras Lelevicius also hitting for 10 points. The Horned Frogs have won five of their past six outings to put themselves back in the discussion for an at-large NCAA berth.
Odum led all scorers with 21 points. Anthony Johnson added 18 and Massamba Diop tallied 13 for the Sun Devils (14-14, 5-10), who dropped their second straight game after upsetting then-No. 12 Texas Tech on Feb. 17.
The game went back and forth over the first seven minutes before the Sun Devils went in front on Odum’s second-chance 3-pointer. Arizona State pushed its advantage to 16-12 after Diop’s free throw with 9:31 to play in the first half.
The Horned Frogs leapfrogged back to the top at 21-20 on three-point play by Edmonds with 6:15 left in the half. They expanded the margin to six points when Robinson added a layup and free throw three minutes later before Arizona State culled its deficit to one point on Odum’s layup with 1:11 left.
A pair of free throws by Lelevicius with 46 seconds to play allowed the Horned Frogs to carry a 33-30 lead into the break.
Edmonds’ 14 points paced all scorers before halftime while Johnson’s six points paced the Sun Devils’ balanced attack over the opening 20 minutes.
