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Horned Frogs open second half of MWC action at Wyoming on Wednesday
Feb. 7, 2006
TCU at Wyoming Game Notes
FT. WORTH, Texas -- TCU men's basketball will travel to Laramie for an 8 p.m. CT showdown with the Wyoming Cowboys on Wednesday. The contest marks the beginning of the second rotation of the Mountain West Conference schedule for the Horned Frogs. TCU and Wyoming met on the hardwood one month ago with the Pokes escaping with a 68-64 win over the Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 7. Both teams enter Wednesday's game with three straight losses as TCU seeks its first road victory of the 2005-06 campaign. GAME 23: TCU (5-17, 1-7) at Wyoming (11-11, 4-5) TIPOFF: Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006 at 8 p.m. (CT) SITE: Arena-Auditorium (15,000) in Laramie, Wyo. TELEVISION: None RADIO: ESPN 103.3 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 TCU will look to exact revenge on Wyoming when the two teams meet for the second time this season. The Horned Frogs hosted Wyoming in their Mountain West Conference debut a little over a month ago with the Cowboys edging TCU by a 68-64 count. Wednesday's contest at Wyoming marks the second half of the MWC schedule for the Horned Frogs. The last time TCU played in Laramie came seven years ago. The Pokes pulled off a 96-93 overtime victory over TCU on Jan. 14, 1999. The Frogs and Cowboys display a similar track record as each have dropped their last three games. The two teams lost in overtime in late January as TCU fell at BYU and Wyoming against San Diego State. In addition, TCU and Wyoming both recently dropped their contests against Utah and UNLV. At the helm of the Wyoming program is Steve McClain, who is in his eighth season. McClain has a connection to TCU, having been an original member of Billy Tubbs' staff from 1994-95 to 1997-98. While the Pokes are 8-6 overall at home this year, they have lost the last two games in Arena-Auditorium. Wyoming fell to San Diego State in overtime (78-77) on Jan. 28, followed by a 71-63 loss against Utah days later on Feb. 1. Four of the six contests in the TCU-Wyoming series have been decided by five points or less with the Frogs and Pokes tied at 2-2 in those games. UP NEXT FOR THE HORNED FROGS TCU returns home for a two-game home stand, hosting New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 11, and then Air Force on Feb. 15. The Frogs will get the chance to avenge their loss to both teams from last month. AGAINST THE LOBOS: ROUND ONE ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Guards Darren Prentice and Ryan Kersten hit key 3-pointers down the stretch and New Mexico held TCU scoreless over the final four minutes to take a 56-54 win Wednesday night. New Mexico (11-5, 2-1 MWC) won its 20th straight game at home, the fifth longest such winning streak in the nation. But the Lobos had to rally from a seven-point deficit late in the second half, then survived a flurry of last second shots by the Horned Frogs (4-12, 0-2 MWC) that could have won the game or forced overtime. Nile Murry led the Frogs with a game-high 18 points, making it the 10th time he has paced the team in scoring. Sophomore Neiman Owens added eight points, tying a season and career-best mark, while senior Judson Stubbs pulled down a game-high 10 boards. TCU nearly pulled off the win by hitting 8 3-pointers. But the Frogs, who shot just 32.7 percent for the game, couldn't get a shot to fall at the end. Kersten, a freshman from Australia, broke a 54-54 tie with a layup with 1:58 left. Kersten rebounded a missed shot by Murry, raced down the court and wedged his way through a couple of TCU players to hit what turned out to be the final points of the night. Owens missed a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left but the Frogs rebounded the miss and called a time-out. When play resumed Murry misfired on a 2-point shot and teammate Judson Stubbs got another offensive board for the Frogs. As the final seconds ticked away Brent Hackett missed a 3-pointer and Murry's off-balance rebound and attempt at the buzzer came up short. David Chiotti led New Mexico in scoring with 12 points, nine of them in the first half. Walters scored 10. LAST TIME OUT: UNLV 73, at TCU 60 Nile Murry and Brent Hackett scored in double figures. Murry finished with a game-high 18 points, while Hackett tallied 15. It marks the 18th time this year that TCU got at least two players in double-digit points in a game. Murry tied the single-season high mark in the Neil Dougherty era for leading the team in points. He has paced the team in scoring in 14 of his 19 double-figure scoring performances this year. Hackett's double-digit scoring performance was the 13th of the season and a career best for the sophomore guard. Senior Judson Stubbs pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, all defensive grabs. The senior forward has led the team in boards 12 times this season. TCU shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field, making it the third time in the last four games the Horned Frogs have eclipsed the 40 mark in 2005-06.
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