Tulsa
UTEP (WAC Tourn.)
Tulsa Edges UTEP
3/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2001
By OWEN CANFIELD
AP Sports Writer
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Tulsa held Texas-El Paso scoreless in the final 1:50 and overcame its worst shooting night of the year to beat the Miners 59-56 in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament Friday night.
No. 2 seed Tulsa (21-10) shot just 31.7 percent, but made the big points at the end to advance to Saturday's final against Hawaii, a 76-67 winner over No. 25 Fresno State.
Third-seeded UTEP (22-8) had two chances to tie the score at the end of regulation, but 3-point tries by Eugene Costello and Chris Neal were off the mark.
Kevin Johnson scored 20 for Tulsa, including a turnaround jumper over Brandon Wolfram that tied the score at 56 with 1:30 remaining. Wolfram led the Miners with 17 points, but had four fouls and couldn't afford to aggressively defend the inside in the late going.
Wolfram missed a jumper with about 1:15 to play and David Shelton got fouled. He made the first to give Tulsa a 57-56 lead.
The teams traded turnovers - Greg Harrington threw the ball away for Tulsa and Costello got called for a charge for UTEP - before Greg Harrington sank two free throws with 24.4 seconds remaining to give Tulsa a three-point lead.
Costello and Neal each got good looks on UTEP's last possession, but the shots didn't fall.
The Miners outscored Tulsa 8-3 to start the second half and take a 36-30 lead. A three-point play by Johnson got Tulsa within three a few minutes later and the game stayed tight the rest of the way.
Johnson had 11 rebounds, and Shelton had 13 points and nine rebounds. Harrington finished with 11 points.
Wolfram was the only UTEP player in double figures. The Miners only shot 40 percent and committed 21 turnovers.
