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Horned Frogs stun No. 14 Air Force, 71-66
Feb. 24, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Ryan Wall scored 19 points and TCU shot 75 percent in the second half to snap an 11-game losing streak with a 71-66 upset of No. 14 Air Force on Saturday. TCU (11-15, 3-11 Mountain West) had lost six straight games to ranked opponents dating back to a 71-46 win over Louisville on Feb. 17, 2004. The Horned Frogs had not won since Jan. 6 when they beat Utah 71-68. Over the 11-game slide, TCU had lost by an average of nearly 15 points. Air Force (23-6, 10-5) beat TCU 72-39 on Jan. 23. But the Horned Frogs hit 15-of-20 shots from the floor after halftime against the nation's second-ranked scoring defense. The Falcons have lost five of their last six conference road games. Air Force failed for the second time this week to equal its school record with 24 wins. The Falcons shot a season-low 30 percent in losing 60-50 to UNLV on Tuesday. Alvardo Parker scored 12 points for TCU and Brent Hackett chipped in with 11. Matt McCraw scored 17 points, Nick Welch had 15 and Jacob Burtschi added 14 for the Falcons. The game was tied at 32 early in the second half before Parker started a 16-7 run with a layup. Hackett hit two straight 3-pointers to put TCU ahead 40-35, and Parker capped the spurt with a dunk that gave the Horned Frogs a 48-39 advantage. The Falcons got within 50-45 when Welch hit two free throws with 8:11 remaining. But the Horned Frogs went on a 9-2 run over the next 4:21 which Wall finished when he hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired. This was TCU's most significant win since joining the Mountain West last season. The Horned Frogs improved to 5-25 in conference games over the last two seasons. TCU jumped out to an 18-7 lead in the game's first 10 minutes before Air Force responded. The Falcons answered with a 14-2 run. Nick Welch capped the surge by hitting two free throws to give Air Force a 21-20 lead. Air Force led 24-21 with 2 minutes left in the first half, but Femi Ibikunle and Andre Owens had consecutive baskets to put TCU ahead at halftime.
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