TCU
2-0
Cal State Northridge
0-2
Ruzgas Ties Career-High; Frogs Roll Matadors, 83-65
11/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. - Edvinas Ruzgas (Vilnius, Lithuania | Weatherford College) tied a career-high with 24 points en route to leading the Horned Frogs to an 83-65 victory over Cal State Northridge in the first round of the Preseason NIT on Monday at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
The TCU senior finished with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including five three-pointers, to go along with four rebounds, three steals and one assist in 31 minutes of action.
The sharp-shooting of Ruzgas allowed the Frogs to jump out to a 17-5 lead at the 15:56 mark in the first half where the 6-6 guard scored 10 of those points, including a pair of three-pointers. The Frogs also used an 11-2 run over the final 4:23 of the first half to take a 23-point advantage at 48-23 heading into the locker room.
Despite a slow start in the second half, the Frogs never allowed the Matadors to get within 13 points as TCU posted its second straight victory en route to advancing to the finals of the West Bracket.
Zvonko Buljan (Split, Croatia | Vincennes University) collected his second consecutive double-double following a 14-point and career-high 17 rebound performance. The TCU forward has averaged 16.5 rebounds per game in his first two games of the 2009-10 campaign.
Ronnie Moss (Fort Worth, Texas | Christian Life Academy) finished with 17 points to go along with five assists, two rebounds and one steal in 24 minutes of action. Keion Mitchem (Rochester, N.Y. | Rochester East H.S.) finished with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with three assists and two rebounds in 30 minutes of court time.
The Frogs finished the game connecting on 45.9 percent (28-of-61) of their field goal attempts, including 52.9 percent (18-of-34) in the first half of action. TCU also connected on 12 three-pointers compared to three for the Matadors and held a 19-9 advantage in assists.
The Frogs will square-off against the host-program Arizona State at 10:30 p.m. Central Time in the finals of the West Bracket. The game will be shown live on ESPN2.
