TCU tops UCF, will face Georgia Tech

Brodziansky leads Horned Frogs’ win with 18 points.

Jamie Dixon was unsure what he had in Kenrich Williams.

Now he knows. So, too, does Central Florida.

“He’s a player,” Dixon said of Williams, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to lift Texas Christian to a 68-53 win over Central Florida in a NIT semifinal game Tuesday night.

Texas Christian will meet Georgia Tech in the championship game Thursday night.

“We love these guys,” Dixon said. “We just want two more days with them. ... We’ll look forward to getting ready for Georgia Tech.”

Williams also grabbed 14 rebounds and had seven assists.

“We’re playing through him in the post,” Dixon said of Williams. “And we’re playing through him on the perimeter.

Vladimir Brodziansky led the Horned Frogs with 18 points.

Trailing by two at halftime, the Horned Frogs opened the second half with a 16-5 run to take a 45-36 lead. JD Miller sparked the run with three layups and a free throw.

“We were just talking about that in the locker room,” Brodziansky said. “We have 20 more minutes, and if we’re going to last 20 more minutes, how about just try to come up with blocks and play our hardest? Try to execute.”

TCU (23-15) was helped by Central Florida, which missed five of its first seven shots from the field in the second half.

For the game, Central Florida shot 33 percent, including missing 19 of 25 3-point attempts.

“I felt we were rushing,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “I felt like we were frantic. Like we were getting fed up.

“We need to have a little more poise, and unfortunately that’s part of growth.”

Despite all of TCU’s strong play, UCF hung around for a bit. A.J. Davis’ driving onehanded jam with nine minutes left sliced the deficit to seven at 52-45.

Davis is the son of former NBA player Antonio Davis, who was in the MSG crowd.

That was as close as Central Florida (24-12) would get.

Williams’ lay-in over AAC Defensive Player of the Year Taco Fall with 5:42 left pushed the lead to 56-45.

From that point, the Horned Frogs outscored Central Florida 12-8 to close out the game.

“We emphasized more driving, penetrating and making decisions,” Dixon said.

TCU shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game 26 of 60 from the field.

“We started (to) hit some guys, getting layups on some dump-offs.”

Matt Williams led the Knights with 15 points. B.J. Taylor had 10. Davis finished with nine.

“We just didn’t make the shots that we normally make,” Taylor said. “Give them credit.”