NICEVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Mike Miles Jr. scored 23 points and matched a career best with nine rebounds, and TCU beat winless California 59-48 on Friday night to move on to the Emerald Coast Classic championship game.
TCU will face undefeated No. 25 Iowa (5-0), which beat Clemson 74-71 earlier Friday, in Saturday's title game.
Miles, the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, returned after missing the last two games due to a left foot injury. He was 9 of 20 from the floor and has scored 10 or more points in eight-straight games yet ended a string of 10 games with at least one 3-pointer.
TCU (4-1) took the lead for good about five minutes into the game and had a six-point lead at the break. The Horned Frogs used a 13-5 surge for their largest lead of the game, 46-32 with 8:41 remaining. Miles scored four points during the stretch. Back-to-back 3s from Kuany Kuany and Grant Newell pulled Cal to 46-38, but they didn't get closer.
Lars Thiemann and Devin Askew each scored 12 points to lead Cal (0-6), which will play Clemson on Saturday to conclude the tournament.
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