Frogs open MWC tournament action against Colorado State on Tuesday
3/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2006
MWC Tournament: No. 9 seed TCU vs. No. 8 seed Colorado State Game Notes
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FT. WORTH, Texas -- All-conference pick Nile Murry and the ninth seeded Horned Frogs will meet Colorado State, seeded eighth in this week's Mountain Wset Conference Tournament, in the opening round of the league tourney on Tuesday, March 7. The game will be broadcast locally on KTCU 88.7 FM with tip-off set for 8:30 p.m. Central.
TCU and CSU meet on the hardwood for the third time this season. However, it will be first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams.
FIRST ROUND: No. 9 TCU (6-24, 2-14) vs. No. 8 Colorado State (4-12, 15-14)
TIPOFF: Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at 8:30 p.m. (CT)
SITE: Pepsi Center (19,555) in Denver
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: KTCU 88.7 FM in Fort Worth/Dallas
Brian Estridge (PBP) and John Denton (Color) will call the game on the TCU/ESPN Regional Sports Network.
ONLINE: Live Radio Broadcast and Gametracker on www.GoFrogs.com
ABOUT THE GAME
• No. 9 seed TCU takes on No. 8 seed Colorado State for the third time this season, but it will be the first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams. The Frogs and Rams split their regular-season games in 2005-06 with each winning on their home court.
• The Horned Frogs and Rams kick off the 2006 Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament in Tuesday's opening round. TCU makes its first appearance in the MWC championship, while Colorado State won the tournament crown in 2003.
• Getting beyond the first round of a conference tournament hasn't been a problem for TCU in the last two years. The Frogs edged Marquette, 64-62, in the first round of the 2004 C-USA Tournament and then beat Marquette again the following year (2005) in the first round of the league tourney with a 60-57 overtime victory.
• The Frogs have won three of the last five first-round conference tournament games since 2000, while Colorado State is 2-4 in the first round of MWC tournament play. TCU holds an all-time 11-15 record when it comes to first-round tournament action between three conferences (SWC, WAC, C-USA).
• TCU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament seven times (5-7 record) in 94 years of Horned Frog basketball, while CSU has made eight NCAA trips (3-9 record) in 101 campaigns.
MURRY GARNERS ALL-MWC RECOGNITION
Senior Nile Murry earned his first career league accolade as a third-team pick on the 2006 All-Mountain West Conference Basketball team. The 6-foot-4 forward is the first Horned Frog to receive all-conference recognition in TCU's first year of competition in the MWC.
COLORADO STATE AT TCU RECAP: TCU 85-72 (Jan. 21, 2006)
Nile Murry scored 24 points to lead three Horned Frogs in double figures.
Trailing 23-19, TCU (5-14, 1-4) went on a 30-10 run over a 12:33 stretch that covered the final 8:09 of the first half and opening 4:24 of the second half. The spurt, capped by a Chudi Chinweze jumper, gave the Frogs a 49-33 lead with 15:36 remaining.
A Murry 3-pointer from the corner provided TCU with its largest margin of the night at 17 points, 61-44, with 10:59 to play.
Consecutive 3-pointers from Ryan Brown capped 11 straight Ram points as Colorado State (12-6, 1-4) closed within 61-55 with 8:10 left. A pair of Brent Hackett free-throws for TCU ended the run.
Trailing 67-61 with 4:10 remaining, Colorado State had a chance to chip away further at its deficit but TCU's Art Pierce stuffed the Rams' Stephan Gilling on a layup attempt which led to a Neiman Owens bucket on the other end.
Pierce's block keyed an 18-11 game-ending run for the Frogs.
Hackett scored 15 points, while Chinweze added 14 to reach double figures for the third time this season and second straight game. Femi Ibikunle tallied a season-high seven points, coming one shy of a season-best. Judson Stubbs grabbed a game-high nine boards for the Frogs.
TCU AT COLORADO STATE RECAP: CSU 89-74 (Feb. 22, 2006)
Stephan Gilling and Freddy Robinson scored 16 points each as Colorado State avenged an earlier season loss to TCU with an 89-74 victory.
Gilling, 5-for-9 on 3-pointers, had three treys in a two-minute stretch in the second half when Colorado State began pulling away.
Judson Stubbs paced TCU with 18 points. Brent Hackett and Nile Murry had 14 each for the Horned Frogs, who had beaten Colorado State six consecutive times in the series.
Colorado State rode Michael Harrison's points in a 7-0 run to start the second half to lead 50-37, but Stubbs and Allen Taylor contributed four points apiece in an 8-0 run as TCU cut the lead to 65-57 with 8:31 left. Murry's 3-pointer for TCU made it 70-60 ahead of Gilling's three, 3-pointer boosted Colorado State to a 79-60 advantage.
Neiman Owens and Blake Adams hit two free throws each and Art Pierce added an uncontested rebound basket at the buzzer to pull the Horned Frogs to within six points at the break.
