UNLV 89, TCU 88

3/13/2008 9:38 PM

By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) -UNLV answered TCU's record onslaught of 3-pointers with a three-point play by Wink Adams in the closing seconds that gave the Runnin' Rebels an 89-88 win over the Horned Frogs in a Mountain West Conference quarterfinal Thursday night.

The Horned Frogs sank an incredible 17-of-23 shots from beyond the arc, including six by Brent Hackett, whose final 3-pointer with Joe Darger all over him put TCU ahead 88-86 with 30 seconds left.

The 17 3-pointers were the most ever in a Mountain West Conference tournament game, as were the 28 combined.

After two timeouts, Adams got the ball beyond the arc and drove to the hoop. His shot fell through as he was fouled by Kevin Langford with 3.4 seconds left, and his bonus made it 89-88, the 16th lead change to go with 15 ties in a thrilling seesaw game at the rocking Thomas & Mack Center.

The second-seeded Horned Frogs (14-16) had one more shot at the upset of the second-seeded Rebels (25-7), who won this tournament a year ago on their home court. But Hackett's running jumper at the buzzer hit the front of the iron.

Nobody would have been surprised had he pulled up and fired up another 3-pointer.

Hackett led the Frogs with 26 points and was 6-of-8 from long-range. Langford had 21 points, including two 3-pointers, and Ryan Wall scored all 15 of his points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Horned Frogs actually were much sharper from beyond the arc than inside of it, making 74 percent from 3-point range and just 37 percent (10-of-27) on regular field goal attempts.

The Rebels, who won this tournament a year ago, joined the fun in the final seven minutes, sinking four 3-pointers of their own, two of them by Adams, who led UNLV with 29 points.

UNLV, which allowed more than 74 points just once this season, in an 81-73 loss at Utah, tied its season high for 3-pointers, sinking 11 in 25 tries.

Adams was 10-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-5 on 3s and 6-of-8 from the line. Rene Rougeau made all seven of his shots for 17 points, Curtis Terry scored 15 and Darger and Matt Shaw had 11 each.

Of the Horned Frogs' dozen first-half baskets, 10 of them were 3-pointers, and they trailed the second-seeded Runnin' Rebels 40-38 at halftime.

TCU used a 15-2 run to take a 61-56 lead, a run fueled by 3-pointers from Langford and Wall.