DRC TCU game article with stats

OldTimer · December 5, 2004

Win over UNT lleaves TCU coach with a foul taste

11:44 PM CST on Saturday, December 4, 2004

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

DENTON – TCU coach Neil Dougherty decided it was time to speak out after the Horned Frogs' 88-78 win over North Texas at The Super Pit on Saturday night.

TCU recovered from a slow start and posted its third straight win over the Mean Green but was forced to fight its way through a choppy game that featured 67 fouls.

"These two teams were at each other pretty hard tonight," Dougherty said. "I think the officials need to adjust to how the kids were playing. The kids today have got more talent and they're quicker, so they [officials] need to adjust to that to be able to enjoy these kids and how athletic they are."

TCU (5-2) shot 55 percent from the field but didn't find its rhythm until putting together a decisive run at the beginning of the second half. UNT led, 38-37, at intermission before the Horned Frogs turned the tide with a 14-4 spurt.

The Horned Frogs struggled early and fell behind, 21-9, with 10:29 left in the first half.

"We knew they would come out fired up for this game," TCU guard Corey Santee said. "We just wanted to be able to withstand that opening punch."

Santee helped TCU rally by scoring 18 points to lead five Horned Frogs in double figures.

UNT (3-2), led by Leonard Hopkins' 21 points, saw its lead dwindle after starting point guard Isaac Hines was forced to miss the final 10 minutes of the first half after being poked in the eye.

Hines returned in the second half but was unable to rally the Mean Green.

After the Horned Frogs' run, UNT was never closer than five points the rest of the way.

"It was a hard-fought game, but with 67 foul calls, neither team was able to get into a rhythm," UNT coach Johnny Jones said. "Neither team was able to get into a flow."

E-mail bvito@dentonrc.com

TCU 88, North Texas 78

TCU (5-2)–Sloan 0-1 1-4 1, Ibikunle 5-5 1-4 11, Santee 5-12 6-11 18, Murry 5-8 0-0 14, Shropshire 1-5 5-5 8, Reese-Hackett 2-3 2-5 7, Owens 1-3 0-0 2, Stubbs 0-2 1-4 1, Curtis 3-5 4-6 10, Chinweze 5-8 3-7 13, Adams 1-1 0-0 3, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 23-46 88.

NORTH TEXAS (3-2)–Jones 2-3 0-0 5, Barnett 0-1 0-0 0, Hopkins 7-21 6-9 21, Hines 5-6 0-3 12, Watson 3-9 6-9 14, Harris 4-8 2-4 10, Mitchell 1-1 0-0 2, Sturns 2-7 0-4 5, Thomas 1-6 1-2 4, Williams 1-5 2-2 4, Simpson 0-0 1-4 1. Totals 26-67 18-37 78.

Halftime–North Texas 38, TCU 37. 3-point goals– TCU 9-17 (Murry 4-5, Santee 2-6, Adams 1-1, Reese-Hackett 1-1, Shropshire 1-3, Stubbs 0-1), North Texas 8-23 (Hines 2-2, Watson 2-6, Thomas 1-2, Sturns 1-2, Jones 1-2, Hopkins 1-7, Williams 0-1, Harris 0-1). Fouled out–Sloan, Murry, Curtis, Chinweze, Jones, Watson. Rebounds–TCU 41 (Ibikunle 10), North Texas 49 (Williams 13). Assists–TCU 12 (Santee 5), North Texas 10 (Hopkins 3). Total fouls–TCU 35, North Texas 32. Technicals–TCU, team; North Texas, none. A–3,633.