For the second time in three seasons, TCU will be playing in Madison Square Garden.

The Frogs swept through three home games in the NIT, culminating with a 71-58 victory against Creighton to punch their ticket to New York.

“That was fun and I loved how we played in that second half. As good as we could have played,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “Building that lead against a good team and guarding the way we wanted to and make them take tough shots. I’m very proud of our guys.”

TCU trailed by three at halftime, but opened the second half on a 13-0 run highlighted by an emphatic Kevin Samuel dunk and six points from Kouat Noi to put the game out of reach.

“The first four minutes were really important to us. We played great defense the whole second half and that was probably our best half the whole season,” TCU senior guard Alex Robinson said. “We just knew we had to focus in the second half, play harder and make sure they aren’t getting any easy buckets.”

Noi stole the show by hitting six three-pointers in the game to lead all scorers with 25 points. He also had seven rebounds and two assists.

“The last few games I wasn’t shooting it the way I wanted to,” Noi said. “I just came in with a better mindset.”

Creighton lived and died by the three. They were 5-10 in the first half, but just 4-21 from deep in the second half. That coupled with TCU getting 23 rebounds in the second half helped the Frogs pull away late.

“I emphasized over and over again that this is a team we have to outbound,” Dixon said. “We are a good rebounding team, not as good as I would like us to be, but we had to win that battle.”

TCU seniors Robinson and JD Miller got to play in their fourth “senior night” at Schollmaier Arena. Robinson capped his career in purple with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go with three assists. Miller had 15 points, five rebounds and two assists.

The seniors still feel like they belonged in the NCAA Tournament and instead of sulking about it, they are doing something about it.

“We’re sending the perfect message,” Miller said. “We got left out of the tournament so we want to go to New York and win this whole thing.”

TCU (23-13) will have to wait until Wednesday to find out their opponent. It will either be Colorado (23-12) or Texas (18-16). The Frogs beat the Longhorns twice during Big 12 play this year. TCU is the lone remaining No. 1-seed in the NIT.