Tulsa
Nevada
Tulsa Defeats Nevada, 74-69
3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2001
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Kevin Johnson scored 18 points and Tulsa made all eight of its free throws in the final 2:26 to hold off Nevada 74-69 Thursday night.
David Shelton added 17 points for the Golden Hurricane (19-9, 10-5 WAC), which clinched the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament that it hosts next week.
Garry Hill-Thomas scored 16 points and Terrance Green had 12 for Nevada (9-17, 2-13), which lost its fifth straight and will finish last in the regular-season standings in its first WAC season.
Although Nevada never led in the second half, the Wolf Pack never fell behind by more than eight, and tied the game twice before Antonio Reed made two free throws with 2:26 remaining to put Tulsa ahead for good, 64-62. Greg Harrington, who scored 13 points, made two free throws with 1:25 to go to extend the Golden Hurricane's lead to 66-62.
Nevada three times pulled within two points in the final 1:18, the last time on Hill-Thomas' tip-in with 35 seconds left, but Tulsa responded with two points each time.
Harrington's two free throws with 19 seconds to play made the score 72-68, and after a Nevada miss, Charlie Davis clinched the game with a dunk with nine seconds to go.
Tulsa made only two 3-point shots - its lowest total of the season - in 10 tries, but the Golden Hurricane was 20-of-22 from the foul line in the game while Nevada was 20-for-30.
With Shelton scoring nine of his 11 first-half points during a 6:18 span, Tulsa pulled ahead 35-25 with 3:17 left in the first half before Nevada scored seven of the last nine points of the half to pull within 37-32 at the break. Johnson finished with a game-high 11 rebounds as Tulsa outrebounded Nevada 39-28.
