College basketball: Desmond Bane rallies No. 20 TCU to 66-61 win over Cal State Bakersfield

Desmond Bane scored 13 of his 14 points after halftime when No. 20 TCU rallied for a 66-61 victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday night.

Bane’s tiebreaking driving layup with 2:48 left finally put TCU ahead to stay. The Horned Frogs had trailed by as many as 11 points before halftime.

TCU played an opener as a ranked team for the first time in 20 seasons, since 1998-99. That was after the Horned Frogs had gone to the 1998 NCAA Tournament, their last one before making it last March in the second season for coach Jamie Dixon at his alma mater.

Jarkel Joiner had 18 points and Damiyne Durham 11 for Bakersfield. Both had three 3-pointers.

JD Miller had 13 points for TCU, while Alex Robinson had 12 points and nine assists. Yuat Alok had 11 points.

Bane, who also had 10 rebounds, and Alex Robinson each had five points in a 19-6 run in the second half that pushed TCU ahead for the first time since less than seven minutes into the game. The Frogs led 49-47 when Bane drove for a layup and made the free throw after being fouled.

Durham and Lee had all of the points for the Roadrunners in a 10-1 run in the first half that pushed them ahead 23-15. Durham had a layup and Lee a jumper, then after a TCU free throw they each had a 3-pointer in a 34-second span that prompted Dixon to call timeout.

Bakersfield led 37-28 at halftime.

SOUTHLAND

at Pepperdine 100, Cal St. Dominguez Hills 66: Eric Cooper Jr. scored 20 points and Pepperdine welcomed back coach Lorenzo Romar with a 100-66 victory over Division II Cal State Dominguez Hill on Wednesday night.

Romar began his second stint as coach of the Waves after posting a 391-284 record in 21 seasons as head coach, including 15 at Washington (2002-17) and three at Saint Louis (1999-2002). Romar was 42-44 in his first three seasons (1997-99) at Pepperdine. He spent last season on Sean Miller’s staff at Arizona.

Cooper was 6 of 8 from 3-point range. Jade’ Smith added 18 points, Darnell Dunn had 17 and Colbey Ross chipped in 15 for the Waves. Freshman Kessler Edwards grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and finished with 10 points.

Gabriel Hicks scored 14 points and Mikey Hatfield had 10 to lead Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Toros stayed within single digits until Cooper’s 3-pointer with six minutes left in the first half sparked a 17-10 surge to give the Waves a 51-33 halftime lead. Pepperdine opened the second half on a 21-6 run, capped by Hicks’ 3-pointer and cruised from there.