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TCU would love to make a statement about its inclusion in the Top 25 when it battles Santa Clara on Thursday in the opening round of the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif.

The winner will face the Washington-Colorado State winner on Friday afternoon. Thursday’s losers square off in the third place game on Friday.

The Horned Frogs (4-1) head to the Coachella Valley after a 71-48 home win over Alcorn State on Nov. 19 and a rare nine days off. Trazarien White scored a game-high 14 points and David Punch added 10 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for TCU, which bounced back from a loss at Michigan on Nov. 15.

The Horned Frogs forged a late-first half run spurt that turned a five-point lead into a 39-22 advantage at halftime. TCU’s defense then kept Alcorn State without a field goal over the initial six minutes of the second half while pushing its lead to 20 points.

“We missed some shots and that’s going to happen, but we’ve been pretty consistent on defense and that’s helped us,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We have to do better on the boards, especially at end of possessions. I thought our effort was there, and that’s something that we have to have.”

The Broncos (2-4) travel to the desert after a 71-69 home loss to Stanford on Saturday. Santa Clara led by 10 points at the break and by eight through the majority of the second half before the visitors rallied to take a 69-68 advantage.

The Broncos tied it with a free throw but missed out on chances to take the lead with a miss from the charity stripe and a missed layup, setting the stage for Stanford to hit the decisive shot with 2.1 to play.

Christoph Tilly led Santa Clara with 16 points, with Carlos Stewart Jr. adding 11 and Adama-Alpha Bal scoring 10. The Broncos have dropped four of their past five contests.

TCU and Santa Clara met twice previously and the Broncos are 2-0, including an 85-66 victory on a neutral floor in 2021.

–Field Level Media