TCU Comeback Falls Short at Hawai'i
2/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HONOLULU (Jan. 15) - Trailing by as much as 21 points in the second half, TCU battled back to within a point late in the game but was unable to overtake Hawaii as the Horned Frogs fell to the Rainbows, 90-86, Saturday night in men's college basketball.
TCU (10-9 overall; 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference) lost for the first time in six meetings with the Rainbows while Hawai'i (12-4; 1-2) bounced back from a home loss three nights earlier to SMU. TCU forward Marquise Gainous led all scorers with a season-high 38 points to lead all scorers, hitting 14-of-16 free throws and 11 of 18 shots from the field. Gainouss former high school teammate, UH's Johnny White, led the Rainbows with 20 points to lead five UH players in double figures.
Other leading scorers for TCU were Estell Laster with 18 and Thomas McTyer with 13. For Hawai'i, Predrag Savovic scored 14 points, Marquette Alexander had 14, Troy Ostler scored 12 and Geremy Robinson added 11. UH made a season-high eight three-pointers, including seven in the first half alone. TCU outrebounded UH, 36-32, but UH outshot TCU hitting 57.1 percent while the Horned Frogs made just 41.4 percent of their shots.
With 14:09 remaining, Hawai'i held a 66-45 lead and seemingly was on the verge of breaking away to a big victory before a raucous home crowd of 7,322 at the Stan Sherriff Center on the UH campus. But TCU forged a rally behind a monster scoring effort by senior forward Marquise Gainous, who ended the game with a season-high 38 points, 22 as the Horned Frogs narrowed the lead to one at 84-83 on a Gainous layup with 1:02 remaining.
But Hawai'i responded with a 14-foot jumper by Scott Ostler with 32 seconds left for an 86-83 edge. After a missed TCU shot, Hawaii's Johnny White made two free throws with 15 seconds remaining for an 88-83 UH lead. But Gainous wasn't finished as he nailed a three-point shot from the top of the key with eight seconds to go to pull the Frogs to within 88-86. But UH's Predrag Savovic made two free throws on the ensuing possession to close out the scoring.
