RECAP
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The last time TCU got off to a start like this, the Horned Frogs made the NCAA tournament. That was 17 seasons ago.
Kyan Anderson scored 23 points, including TCU's last 10 before halftime, and the Horned Frogs remained undefeated with a 74-50 victory over Radford on Wednesday night.
The Horned Frogs are 5-0 for the first time since 1997-98, when Billy Tubbs was the coach and they won their first nine games on way to 27 wins overall and their last NCAA appearances.
"We're starting to evolve into a team that's pretty versatile," current coach Trent Johnson said. "I'm excited in my own way because each game we're starting to move up in a class a little bit."
Even Johnson knows it is still a long way from knowing what the Big 12 Frogs will be in March. They haven't left home yet while playing Pac-12 Washington State, New Orleans, a pair of SWAC teams and now a Big South team coming off a 22-win season.
TCU plays Bradley in a tournament this weekend, with either Mississippi State or St. Louis the next day.
"(Radford) is used to winning, and Bradley is used to winning," Johnson said. "The next one is going to be interesting."
Anderson scored 12 points in a first half-ending 16-4 run that took TCU from a one-point deficit to a 31-20 lead. The senior guard then hit a jumper to start the scoring after halftime.
Hudson Price added 14 points for the Frogs.
Jalen Carethers had 11 points and Rashun Davis 10 for Radford (2-3).
The Highlanders led 16-15 with just over eight minutes left in the first half when Carethers penetrated and scored despite being surrounded by two defenders. Trey Zeigler made two free throws less than a minute later to put TCU ahead to stay.
After a Carethers had a slam dunk, Chris Washburn made a strong inside move for the only TCU points not scored by Anderson the last 6 1/2 minutes of the half.
Radford's Lucas Dyer was called for a flagrant foul after an elbow to the chest of Karviar Shepherd, who missed both of his free throws. But Anderson shot the extra free throws, making both of them.
Anderson, the senior guard who was 7-of-8 shooting for 18th career 20-point game, had a pair of 3-pointers after that. The second came on a set play to end the half.
"We knew he could really shoot the ball," Radford coach Mike Jones said. "Our plan was really just make him work a little bit in terms of running the team, and not losing him once the ball got reversed around."
TIP INS
Radford: The Highlanders' 22 wins last year matched their 1990-91 team for the most playing Division I basketball. They also won their first postseason game, beating Oregon State in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.
TCU: The Frogs have out-rebounded all five of their opponents after a 39-34 advantage against Radford.
AMRIC'S RETURN
Injury-plagued TCU senior Amric Fields made his season debut with five points in 11 minutes. The 6-foot-9 forward was the Mountain West Conference sixth man of the year in 2011-12 before the Frogs moved to the Big 12, then tore an ACL only three games into the 2012-13 season before being limited to 18 games last season because of a broken hand. All his points came in 30-second span after halftime when he made consecutive baskets while being fouled and knocked to the floor, making one of the free throws.
O-FER BIG 12
Radford fell to 0-7 against teams from the Big 12 Conference. Five of those losses for the Highlanders of Virginia have come against West Virginia. The other was to Kansas.
UP NEXT
Radford plays North Carolina A&T in the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic on Friday.
TCU hits the road for the first time this season, playing Bradley on the other side of the bracket in Corpus Christi.
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