FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Vladimir Brodziansky had 23 points plus a key assist late as TCU held on for its eighth straight victory, 76-71 over South Dakota on Wednesday night.
The winning streak by the Horned Frogs (3-0) includes their postseason run to the NIT championship last March. They opened this season, coach Jamie Dixon's second at his alma mater, by winning three games in six days.
Brodziansky passed inside the Kouat Noi for a basket with 2:53 left, right after South Dakota had tied the game for the only time after halftime. With a chance to get even after that, Coyotes guard Triston Simpson had his shot blocked by Alex Robinson.
Matt Mooney had 31 points and Tyler Hagedorn 21 for South Dakota (2-1), the defending Summit League champion that was also an NIT team last season.
Noi scored 10 of his 14 points before halftime, and Desmond Bane added 10 points.
The Coyotes also had a chance to take the lead with about 4 minutes left but Simpson's 3-point shot hit the rim and then bounced up and over the backboard. Mooney did hit a jumper with 3:07 left that tied the game at 68-all before Brodziansky's feed to Noi.
BIG PICTURE
South Dakota: Hagedorn and Mooney needed some help if the Coyotes were going to knock off a team that is considered by many to be an upper-half Big 12 opponent. The two combined to shoot 20-of-40, and the rest of the team was 8-of-21.
TCU: While inconsistent at times, and never able to put away the Coyotes, TCU did what it was supposed to do in the opening stretch with three straight wins. The Horned Frogs shot only 39 percent from the field (10 of 26) in the second half.
UP NEXT
South Dakota plays its next two games at home in a three-day span, starting with Grambling State on Saturday night.
TCU next plays Monday night at home against Omaha, in its second game of the Emerald Coast Classic that wraps up with two games in Niceville, Florida, on Thanksgiving weekend.
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