TCU's historic season ends with thud in NCAA tournament

TCU men's basketball accomplished plenty of historic milestones this season but the biggest slipped through the Horned Frogs' grasp Friday night.

No. 11 Syracuse held on to upset No. 6 TCU 57-52 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Syracuse advances to play No. 3 Michigan State (30-4) at 1:40 p.m. Sunday in Detroit. The winner of that game advances to the Sweet 16.

The Orange (22-13), which had to win a play-in game Wednesday night to meet TCU, took a 38-37 lead with 11:18 remaining and never trailed again.

The Horned Frogs (21-12), in the tournament for the first time since 1998, led at the half. TCU pulled to within one with 3:30 left on Kenrich Williams put back on a missed 3-pointer by Desmond Bane. But the Frogs never pulled closer and Syracuse built a five-point lead with just over a minute to go.

Williams led the Frogs with 14 points and eight rebounds. TCU saved one of their worst 3-point shooting games of the season for Friday night. The Frogs were 3 of 17 after make three of their first five 3-point attempts.

"I thought our defense was real good tonight the whole game," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "They're one of the best 3-point shooting teams and our guys didn't give them any good shots the whole game."

There were 10 lead changes in the game and neither team led by more than seven. Both times it was Syracuse, who build a seven-point lead in the first half before the Frogs scored the last eight points of the first half to take a 28-27 lead into the break.

TCU was playing in its first NCAA tournament since 1998. It last won a tournament game when head coach Jamie Dixon was the starting point guard on March 12, 1987. Syracuse has been to the tournament 38 times and 15 times since 1998.

TCU senior Vladimir Brodziansky, playing in his last game along with Williams and Ahmed Hamdy, scored 13 points, including 11 in the second half. Hamdy came off the bench to grab six rebounds.

Except for Kouat Noi, who was 2 of 3 from the arc, TCU's shooters struggled to hit shots. Desmond Bane, Alex Robinson and Kenrich Williams combined to make 1 of 13 3-point attempts. TCU's 17.6 percent from the arc is the lowest of the season. The Frogs have shot 25 percent or below in three their final four games of the season.

"We've played really good defensive teams," Dixon said. "They want low-scoring games and it obviously effected our offense."

The trio of scholarship seniors Williams, Ahmed Hamdy and Brodziansky joined Dixon for the press conference after the game. All three, visibly upset from the loss, were a part of something special at TCU.

"It's a special thing to break a 20-year drought," Dixon said. "That's hard to do and they did that. And they should be proud of that. They're not going to feel that right now but they will."

Syracuse forward Marek Dolezaj led all scorers with 17 points, including 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting in the first half. He fouled out with over five minutes left in the game. Oshae Brissett had 15 points, including nine in the second half.

SYRACUSE 57, TCU 52

This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 11:18 PM with the headline "TCU's historic season ends with thud in NCAA tournament."