March 3, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas answers media questions after the team’s game against the BYU Cougars at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Image Jayden Pierre scored 18 points and Liutauras Lelevicius added 14 as TCU won a Big 12 game Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (21-10, 11-7 Big 12) jumped out to a 9-0 lead early in the second half and won their fifth straight game.
The Bearcats (17-14, 9-9) had trouble getting on track all day, shooting just 44.2 percent from the floor and turning the ball over 19 times. Cincinnati had won six of its previous seven games.
Day Day Thomas led Cincinnati with 19 points, Jalen Celestine added 12 points and Baba Miller had 14 rebounds.
The Horned Frogs clung to a 36-35 lead when Xavier Edmonds opened the scoring with back-to-back layups to make it 40-35 with 16:47 left.
Pierre followed with a 3-pointer and Tanner Toolson made it 45-35 with a layup with 14:13 left.
Calestine and Thomas cut the lead back to 48-41 with 3-pointers with 11:40 left.
Brock Harding scored on a layup and David Punch nailed an 8-foot hook shot for a 52-41 lead with 9:56 left.
Punch finished with 13 points and 7 assists.
The Bearcats are 0-12 on the season and 10 minutes back.
Jizzle James and Shon Abaev hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to 55-49 with 7:32 left.
TCU responded immediately, but Micah Robinson hit a layup and Lelevicius and Punch each made a pair of free throws for a 61-49 lead with 5:22 left.
Robinson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Horned Frogs a 32-29 halftime lead.
The first half saw eight ties and seven lead changes, with neither leading by more than four.
Pierre led the Horned Frogs with 10 points while making 48.4 percent of his shots from the field. The Bearcats shot 39.3% and had nine turnovers before the break.
Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 3 minutes and 26 seconds left to tie the game at 27 minutes.
Harding put TCU back on top with a 16-foot pull-up shot with 2:38 left.
The Bearcats tied the game again with 38 seconds left when James hit a 12-foot jumper.
Robinson hit a 3-pointer from a corner kick to give TCU a 3-point lead.
–Field level media
