David Punch continues hot streak, leads TCU to easy win over Oral Roberts
Since a narrow loss to Michigan, now ranked No. 2 in the country, TCU men’s basketball has won six of its past seven games, including Thursday’s 72-53 win over Oral Roberts at Schollmaier Arena.
David Punch has been on a scoring tear for TCU (8-3), starting with 19 points in an upset win over No. 23 Florida, and he continued his hot streak against Oral Roberts (5-9). He’s shooting 55% from the field in four of his last five games.
Punch talked about what’s led to his recent scoring run.
“It’s my job to score. I mean, it’s what I work on, so I have to continue to show it and just continue to tap into my motor,” he said. “I mean, that’s been the biggest thing that’s got me here, so why stop using it?”
Punch punished Oral Roberts in the post early with 12 points and two blocks, leading both teams, in the first half. Punch ended the game with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
For the season, the sophomore forward is averaging 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
TCU head coach Jamie Dixon talked about Punch’s scoring but emphasized the overall offense must improve for the Horned Frogs.
“He posts up pretty strong, and he’s a good presence down there, and he had been making free throws, didn’t shoot as well tonight, I think that’s part of it too. But, I think the guys are confident throwing it into him,” Dixon said of Punch. “He’s a good passer, too, and he hasn’t been double-teamed too often. We’ve been throwing it in there, which is a good part of our offense, but we’ve just become a little sluggish and congested to at the same time, which hasn’t allowed us to space it and get off it quick enough on the perimeter.”
Second-half surge
TCU led by 13 points at halftime and saw its lead balloon to 25 points after a 16-6 run to start the second half.
TCU’s defense continued its stellar outing, holding the Golden Eagles to 36% second half shooting and slowing down Ty Harper (1-for-6), who had been the top scorer for the visitors in the first half.
TCU guard Jayden Pierre talked about how the defense was able to limit the Golden Eagles’ offense, especially at the rim.
“It starts with the perimeter, with our guys trying to stay in front,” Pierre said. “When we got rim protectors like David, Xavier [Edmonds] down there that’s making it hard. Micah [Robinson] ... down there making it hard for these guys, making them shoot over two hands for most part. So, man, it’s all it really is, team effort and collective effort. It goes hand in hand.”
The Golden Eagles reduced the lead to 15 points with a little under three minutes remaining but couldn’t get any closer.
Horned Frogs defense stymies Golden Eagles
TCU’s defense made life difficult for the Golden Eagles, who almost had as many turnovers (nine) as baskets (11) in the first half. Oral Roberts’ Harper had five of the team’s 11 first-half baskets and was one of only two players who made more than one field goal.
The Golden Eagles shot 38.5% from the field and had no luck at the rim against the Horned Frogs, shooting 7-for-20 on layups.
Dixon said he was happy with the defense’s performance.
“Defensively sound, the numbers are good. I mean, under 40% pretty much all our goals, we got our deflections, we got our rebound numbers where we wanted to have them. So that’s a big emphasis for us,” said Dixon.
TCU has two more games until Big 12 play begins and Dixon talked about what he wanted to see out of his team.
“Offensively, we just got to get back to our transition,” he said. “We’ve got to get into our flow. I think we have a problem we have guys playing two different spots, and that’s a thing that just that wasn’t happening before, but with [center Malick Diallo] down now we’ve got to adjust some things. ... I just don’t feel like we’re getting the assist numbers that I thought we’d be getting.”
Next up for the Horned Frogs is Florida A&M at 3 p.m. Sunday at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 9:25 PM.
