Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
TCU
TCU Upends Bulldogs, 102-88
2/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2001
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - Bingo Merriex had 22 points, including two 3-pointers and a high-flying dunk in the game-deciding run, as Texas Christian beat No. 20 Fresno State 102-88 on Thursday night.
Merriex's 3-pointer with 12:40 left started a 15-0 run for the Horned Frogs (17-8, 6-5 WAC), who have won 13 of their 14 home games this season.
Fresno State (20-4, 9-2) had a season-worst 30 turnovers. Point guard Tito Maddux had 10 turnovers - the same number of points he had. Backup guard Dennis Nathan had eight turnovers.
The Bulldogs won 28 of their previous 32 games, going back to last season. They still lead the Western Athletic Conference.
The Horned Frogs, the nation's top scoring team (94.1 points), scored more than 100 points for the 11th time this season. Fresno was giving up just 69.5 points a game, the most being 91 points at Hawaii in the Bulldogs' only loss in the previous 17 games.
Merriex was among five players in double figures for TCU. Ryan Carroll had a game-high 26 points, while Greedy Daniels had 15, Nucleus Smith 13 and Thomas McTyer 12.
The Bulldogs, down by 13 just minutes earlier, got within 65-58 on Melvin Ely's putback basket with 13:02 left. Merriex responded with a 3-pointer at the other end to start the 15-0 run, during the middle of which he went flying through the lane to slam home a missed 3-pointer by Daniels.
Ely led the Bulldogs with 25 points and nine rebounds. Demetrius Porter had 24 points and Chris Jefferies 23.
The game matched two of the nation's highest-scoring teams. Fresno State is averaging 84.3 points per game.
TCU led 47-45 at halftime, but quickly extended that lead with a 14-3 run in the first three minutes of the second half. The Frogs had four 3-pointers in that span, two of them by McTyer, who had an assist on a trey by Daniels.
The Horned Frogs actually went ahead to stay when Merriex made a short jumper with 7:20 left in the first half to make it 32-30. That ended his streak of eight straight points for TCU on four inside field goals.
Smith, the TCU freshman, scored three baskets in less than a minute - all after Fresno turnovers - to break a 16-16 tie early in the game. He had two driving layups and a high inside bank shot to put the Frogs ahead 22-16 with 12:18 left in the first half.
TCU avenged a 94-82 loss at Fresno last month.
