Frogs Shock No. 11 UNLV Tuesday at DMC
FORT WORTH—Senior guard Hank Thorns led TCU back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to take down No. 11 UNLV in overtime Tuesday night, 101-97, at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The win extended TCU’s home winning streak to seven games and five straight in Mountain West play.
The victory moved TCU to 15-10 overall and 5-4 in the MW standings. The 15 victories marks the most for the Horned Frogs since the 2004-05 team went 21-14 and reached the NIT quarterfinals, while the squad also moved above the .500 mark in league play for the first time this late in a season since 2003-04. UNLV, which entered the day in a three-way tie for first in the MW, dropped to 22-5 overall and 6-3 in the league.
Thorns was fantastic for TCU, scoring a career-high 32points and making 8-of-12 3-pointers to lead TCU to a 14-of-32 effort from beyond the arc. He became only the fifth player in school history to make eight 3’s in one game with the total, wh ich marked the most for a Frog since the 1999-2000 season.
TCU appeared to be down and out, trailing by as many as 18 points overall in the second half and 15 with only 9:35 remaining before taking the game over. The Frogs went on an 18-4 run to cut the lead to only one point with 3:18 to play. Thorns scored the final points on a 3-pointer that pushed the score to 81-80, then later tied the game by adding his seventh trey with 2:55 remaining as the shot clock wound down.
The two squads traded baskets in the final 2:40 to send the game to overtime, including
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a layup by sophomore forward Amric Fields with just over two minutes left that proved to be the final points of regulation. Senior guard J.R. Cadot nearly ended the game in regulation, collecting a steal in the UNLV end of the court from freshman guard Kyan Anderson, but he was unable to get a shot off prior to the buzzer.
The Frogs controlled the overtime period from start tofinish, leading the entire frame while outscoring the Rebels 17-12. The squad pulled ahead with four quick points straight out of the gate to put pressure on UNLV on its way to making 5-of-7 field-goal attempts in the period. Thorns drilled his final 3-pointer to put TCU on top by five with 1:17 remaining, and Green hit back-to-back free throws with 11 seconds left to push the lead to six points put the victory on ice.
TCU was superb on offense in the second half and overtime, but it was its efforts on defense and the glass that won it the game after UNLV dominated for most of the first 30 minutes. The Frogs finished with a 46-31rebounding advantage and grabbed 19 of the game’s 26 rebounds from the 11:33 mark in the second half on. The Rebels were held to only nine points in thefinal 10 minutes of regulation.
Thorns was the star of the show, leading a group of five Frogs who scored in double figures. The 32 points broke his previous careerhigh of 22 and marked the most for a TCU player in two seasons. Junior guard J.R. Cadot also shined for the Frogs, totaling 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Cadot recorded 10 rebounds alone in the second half and overtime.
Fields finished as TCU’s second-leading scorer with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while he added a career-high seven rebounds. Green scored 13 points, while senior forward Craig Williams totaled 10 in only 13minutes of action before fouling out midway through the second half. Freshman Kyan Anderson
recorded nine points and dished out a game-high seven assists.
Forward Mike Moser led UNLV with 22 points and eight rebounds, while guards Anthony Marshall and Chace Stanback both scored 17 points, while Oscar Bellfield registered 16 points. The foursome combined to hit 12-of-21 shots from 3-point range for UNLV, which finished the evening shooting a blistering 53.3 percent from the field overall.
The two teams played a high-paced first half that saw both squads combined for a 17-for-29 showing from 3-point range. UNLV jumped on top by a double-digit lead late in the half thanks to 11 straight points that pushed the score to 43-30 with just over four minutes remaining. The Frogs were held scoreless for three full minutes during the stretch.
TCU answered back late in the half to cut the Rebel advantage to only five points at halftime, 48-43, thanks in part to a trio of 3-poitners in the final three minutes. Williams hit the first trey, while Thorns accounted for the final two.
TCU returns to the road Saturday when it faces Boise State in at the Broncos’ Taco Bell Arena. Tip-off for the contest, which will be televised live by The MountainWest Sports Network (The Mtn.), is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.
