After surprising wins over Florida and Wisconsin en route to the Rady Children’s Invitational title in San Diego, the Horned Frogs returned home for a week-long break before hosting another power-conference opponent—Notre Dame—at Schollmaier Arena. TCU had faced the Fighting Irish five previous times and had never come away with a win. On Friday night, that trend continued, as Notre Dame edged the Frogs 87–85 in a hard-fought battle.
Both teams opened the game hot, each hitting double figures before
the first media timeout. Three of TCU’s first four field goals came from beyond the arc—two of them by Jayden Pierre. After a Braeden Shrewsberry triple tied the game at 11, the teams traded buckets until Notre Dame star Markus Burton exited with an ankle injury at the 10-minute mark. In the aftermath, TCU surged on an 11–2 run, capped by a Brock Harding three, its seventh triple of the half.
After TCU pushed its lead to 11, the Fighting Irish cut into the margin but never got closer than seven. Liutauras Lelevicius and Jace Posey each scored in the final minute of the half, but a Carson Towt lay-in at the buzzer kept the deficit under 10 points heading into the break—45-36.
Despite holding a nine-point halftime lead, TCU saw its cushion evaporate quickly as sophomore guard Cole Certa caught fire. Certa buried four threes in a three-minute burst, giving Notre Dame its first lead of the night, 50–47, with 15:25 remaining.
Notre Dame held its lead for the next five minutes before a Tanner Toolson three briefly put TCU back in front. But the advantage didn’t last long. Certa answered with another three, giving the Irish a 59–58 lead as the clock dipped under the 10-minute mark. From there, the teams traded blows, producing five lead changes over the next few minutes. Finally, a Micah Robinson fastbreak slam gave the Horned Frogs a four-point lead as the clock hit 7:00.
Notre Dame answered with five straight points before a chaotic sequence resulted in Xavier Edmonds being ejected. From there, the back-and-forth battle resumed. TCU held firm defensively but faltered at the line, missing two of its final four free throws and giving the Irish a chance to tie the game as the clock wound down. Freshman Jalen Haralson delivered, sinking a tough fadeaway with three seconds left to knot the score at 76 and send the game to overtime.
Both teams opened overtime by scoring exclusively at the line before another Certa three gave Notre Dame a four-point cushion with under three minutes remaining. TCU trimmed the deficit to two after David Punch went 1-for-2 at the stripe, but two Certa free throws pushed the Irish lead back to four with 27 seconds left. Robinson nearly cut it to one, but his three rimmed out.
Notre Dame then missed a pair of free throws, giving TCU new life. Brock Harding buried a quick three to pull the Frogs within one. After a quick foul, Shrewsberry hit 1 -0f-2 at the line, setting up TCU’s final chance. Punch got a relatively clean look at the buzzer but couldn’t convert, sealing Notre Dame’s two-point win.
After shooting 63.0 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three in the first half, TCU cooled off, finishing the night at 48.3 percent from the floor and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. Although the Frogs shot a higher percentage at the line than the Fighting Irish (45.0), they still left plenty of points behind, going 15-for-23 at the stripe. Notre Dame, despite its own uneven free-throw performance, countered by hitting 55.0 percent of its field goals and 46.2 percent of its threes.
Punch and Pierre led TCU with 20 and 17 points, respectively. Harding and Robinson also reached double figures—Harding posting 12 points and eight assists, while Robinson added 13 points and four steals. Notre Dame was paced by Certa and Haralson, who each scored 20. Haralson pulled down five rebounds and dished out nine assists, while Certa tied his career-high with six made three-pointers.
Next up, the Horned Frogs face North Texas in the US LBM Coast-to-Coast Classic on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
