FORT WORTH, Tex. (ABC4 Sports) – The BYU basketball team has hit a funk at the beginning of the Big 12 Conference season.
In a back-and-forth battle in Fort Worth, the Cougars fell 71-67 to TCU for its third straight loss.
Noah Reynolds scored 21 points including the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds left and TCU ended its 17-game losing streak to BYU (10-5, 1-3).
Richie Saunders scored a game-high 26 points in a contest that had 17 lead changes and 12 ties. The junior went 9-of-13 from the field, 5-of-7 from three and 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the setback. Dallin Hall came off the bench to finish with six points and a team-high six assists.
Vasean Allette scored 11 points and Micah Robinson 10 for the Horned Frogs (9-6, 2-2) who entered Saturday having lost two of its last three games.
Out of a TCU timeout with 36 seconds left, TCU put the ball in Reynolds’ hands. The left-hander drove to his strong side and shot high off the glass over the outstretched arms of BYU’s Mawot Mag for a 69-67 lead. BYU freshman Egor Demin hoisted an off-balance 3-point attempt at the other end that missed. BYU’s Keba Keita intentionally fouled the freshman, Robinson, who made two free throws with nine seconds left to seal it.
The first half was punctuated by runs by both teams. After BYU’s Trevin Knell made a 3 to tie it at 23-all with 7:46 before halftime, the Horned Frogs went on a 10-0 run fueled by 3s from Brendan Wenzel and Reynolds, who also added a jump shot, and Ernest Udeh Jr. added a dunk all in less than two minutes.
BYU countered with a 14-0 run that saw Saunders make a pair of 3s and a layup for a 37-33 advantage. TCU’s lone point in the last five minutes came from Trazarien White who sank 1 of 2 foul shots with two seconds left before the break.
Before Saturday, TCU’s last win the series came in 1997, a season where BYU finished 1-25.
The Cougars shot 47.8 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three and 73.7 percent from the free throw line. The Cougars owned the boards, 35-24, but saw 16 turnovers turn into 13 more shots for the Horned Frogs.
BYU next hosts Oklahoma State on Tuesday.
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