TCU Hosts Notre Dame: Building on Tournament Success

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, with a record of five and two, head home after winning both games at the Rady Children's Invitational in San Diego on November 27th and 28th.

TCU beat then-No. 10 Florida eighty-four to eighty before dominating Wisconsin seventy-four to sixty-three on Black Friday, building their winning streak to three games. TCU coach Jamie Dixon commented, "We've been playing better and gradually getting better as the season goes along.

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." In the win against Wisconsin, David Punch scored seventeen points, leading a balanced offensive attack.

Brock Harding added sixteen points, while Xavier Edmonds contributed twelve. Liutauras Lelevicius and Jayden Pierre each scored eleven for the Horned Frogs, who never trailed in the win. Harding stated, "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." The Fighting Irish, with a record of six and three, travel to Fort Worth after a seventy-six to seventy-one win at home over Missouri on Tuesday in an ACC/SEC Challenge game.

Cole Certa drained a pair of clutch three-pointers on assists from Markus Burton in the final two minutes to help Notre Dame secure the victory. Burton led the Fighting Irish with eighteen points and a career-high ten assists, while Certa finished with fourteen points, hitting four three-pointers on seven attempts.

Notre Dame's three losses this year have been to Ohio State, Kansas, and then-No. 3 Houston by a combined twenty-one points. Coach Micah Shrewsberry noted, "Our guys have a lot of belief. 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. It can drive you to a lot of places." Burton is playing like one of the best guards in the ACC, averaging nineteen point nine points, three point six assists, and one point seven steals per game while shooting forty-eight point eight percent from the field.