Horned Frogs Hold Off UTEP, 80-79
2/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FORT WORTH (Jan. 22) TCU's Larry Allaway stole the ball from UTEP's William Smith in the closing seconds, ending UTEP's final possession and allowing TCU to run out the final seven seconds of game time as the Horned Frogs knocked off the Miners, 80-79, in men's college basketball action Saturday night at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The victory snapped a two-game TCU losing streak and improved the Horned Frogs to 11-10 overall, 2-3 in Western Athletic Conference action, while UTEP fell to 10-7, 1-3 in the WAC.
The Miners, sparked by 11 points from Jarvis Mullahon in the second half, rallied to within a point on a Brandon Wolfram layup, who was fouled on the shot with 36 seconds remaining. Wolfram, an 86 percent free throw shooter entering the game, had a chance to tie it at the free throw line but missed the shot. UTEP's Royce Smallwood rebounded the miss and, after a timeout with 34 seconds remaining, TCU was able to prevent a UTEP shot before Allaway's steal.
TCU's Marquise Gainous and UTEP's Brandon Wolfram led all scorers with 22 points each. Wolfram had a game-high 13 rebounds to lead UTEP to a 40-37 edge on the glass. But TCU, which shot 50 percent from the field in the second period, outshot UTEP 49.2 percent to 43.3 percent. The Horned Frogs blocked 10 UTEP shots, six by TCU forward Derrick Davenport.
Leading by one at halftime, 42-41, TCU survived a slow start in which UTEP lead, 9-0, before the Horned Frogs scored their first points with 14:40 remaining in the first period. UTEP led by as much as 10 (13-3) before the Horned Frogs whittled away at the deficit before taking the halftime lead on a pair of free throws by Marquise Gainous with 36 second left in the half. TCU, which had fallen behind by large margins early in the second half of its last two games, reversed that trend against UTEP by moving to a six-point advantage in the first minute of the second period.
But UTEP came back to lead by two on two occasions in the second half, the final time with 13:34 remaining. The game was tied six times, the final time at 60-60 with 12:36 remaining before TCU moved to a 67-60 lead as a 9-0 Horned Frogs rally was keyed by five points by Estell Laster, whose three-point basket capped the run. The Horned Frogs led by as much as eight, 72-64, before UTEP rallied once more.
