FORT WORTH, Texas – Hank Thorns scored eight of his 32 points in overtime for TCU, which overcame an 18-point deficit after halftime for a 102-97 victory over No. 11 UNLV on Tuesday night.
It was the first win for TCU (15-10, 5-4 Mountain West) over a ranked team since February 2007.
The Horned Frogs hadn't led since the opening minutes of the game when Thorns started overtime with a layup to break the 85-all tie, and they didn't give the lead up. Thorns made his eighth 3-pointer with 1:21 left, dribbling through several defenders and shooting over another one to make it 96-91.
Thorns, a Las Vegas native who first went to Virginia Tech before going to TCU, led five Horned Frogs in double figures. TCU had won seven in a row at home.
Mike Moser had 22 points and all five starters scored in double figures for UNLV (22-5, 6-3).
TCU had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation after Oscar Bellfield had a turnover, but Thorns made one pass too many.
Kyan Anderson stole the ball and got it to Thorns, who was driving toward the basket. Instead of taking the shot, he dished it to J.R. Cadot, who made the layup — except the clock ran out before the ball got out of his hand.
Just four weeks ago in Las Vegas, the Runnin' Rebels opened the game with an 18-2 run and led by at least 13 points the rest of the game.
Not this time.
Cadot had 17 points and 16 rebounds for TCU, while Garlon Green had 13 and Craig Williams 10.
Marshall and Chace Stanback each had 17 points for UNLV, while Bellfield had 16 and Brice Massamba 12.
Bellfield put the Rebels up 66-48 with 14:57 left in regulation. They were still up by 15 about five minutes later when Moser scored five quick points.
After making a nifty basket at one end, Moser grabbed a long rebound on the other and drove for a layup while being fouled. His free throw made it 76-61 with 9:54 left.
The Horned Frogs didn't get even until consecutive 3-pointers that sandwiched a layup by Moser. Thorns' second 3 in that spurt tied the game at 83-all with 2:58 left.
A dunk by Moser put the Rebels back in front.
Amric Fields missed a long jumper for TCU that was rebounded by Anthony Marshall. But Marshall was falling down and threw the ball down the court right to Fields, who then drove for a tying layup.
Fields, who finished with 17 points, missed two 3-pointers after that. The last was rebounded by Bellfield with 17 seconds left. UNLV called timeout to set up a final play in regulation, but Bellfield lost the ball with 2 seconds remaining.
TCU's last win over a ranked team had been 71-66 over No. 14 Air Force.
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