Senior guard Kerwin Roach II scored a game-high 22 points to lead The University of Texas Men's Basketball team (20-16) to a 58-44 win against TCU (23-14) in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. With the win, the Longhorns advance to the NIT Championship Game and face Lipscomb (29-7) on Thursday, April 4 (6 p.m. Central, ESPN).

The Texas defense proved to be the main catalyst in the victory. The Longhorns held TCU to 44 points on 28.3-percent field goal shooting (17-60), including a 19.0-percent mark (4-21) from three-point range. UT limited TCU to just seven assists while forcing 11 turnovers.

Roach converted 9-of-14 field goals while adding 3 assists in 28 minutes. Senior forward Dylan Osetkowski added 13 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes.

Roach accounted for seven straight points as Texas built a 12-8 lead at the 14:02 mark. Sophomore guard Jase Febres connected on his second 3-pointer of the half to cap a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to nine (23-14) with 5:59 remaining.

The Longhorns held TCU to just one point over the final 5:13 of the first half, sending Texas into the locker room with a 14-point cushion (31-17) at the break. UT held the Horned Frogs to their lowest scoring half (17 points) of the season.

TCU used a 10-2 spurt to trim the deficit to five points (38-33) at the 11:24 mark after a Kouat Noi layup. Texas answered with a 6-0 run to stretch the lead back to 11 (44-33) on an Osetkowski basket with 7:19 left. The lead did not dip below eight points for the remainder of the contest and remained in double figures for the final 5:38.