Jan. 3, 2005

Final Stats

FORT WORTH - Junior guard Nile Murry scored TCU's first 11 points and finished with a game-high 16 as the Horned Frogs defeated Texas State 64-52 here Monday.

TCU improved to 10-4 with its fourth straight win heading into its Conference USA opener at Louisville Saturday. Texas State, now 6-5, opens Southland Conference play on the road Thursday at McNeese State in a game which will be broadcast regionally by FSN-Southwest.

Murry connected on four of his first five shots including a pair of three-pointers, all on assists by Marcus Shropshire, to put TCU out in front 11-3. Murry returned the favor on the Frogs' next basket with an assist on a Shropshire three-pointer.

Texas State rallied from an early 12-point deficit as Matt Canady and Anthony Dill knocked down a pair of short field goals and Josh Naylor drilled a three-pointer to cut TCU's lead to 22-17 with 6:47 to play in the first half. But over the next six-plus minutes the Bobcats were held to just two Naylor free throws and trailed 34-19 at the half.

In addition to shooting just 30 percent for the half, Texas State committed 16 first-half turnovers, two shy of its previous season high for a game. The Bobcats turned the ball over 23 times.

After the break, the inside play of Zach Allison and Dill keyed the start of a Bobcat run which cut TCU's lead to 46-43. Allison made four of his first six field goal attempts in the half while Dill was 2-for-3 in the opening minutes of the period. Back-to-back three-pointers by Rory Green and Markee White culminated the run.

Green, a junior college transfer from Memphis, saw his first action of the season for the `Cats after missing the first 10 games of the year with a foot injury. He scored eight points in his first game.

Cory Santee would make a pair of three-pointers and Shropshire hit another as the Horned Frogs scored the next 11 points to stretch TCU's lead back out to double figures at 57-43 with 5:18 to play. The Frogs made a season high 12-of-30 three-pointers (.400).

Texas State was led by Naylor and Dill who each finished with 13 points. Dill, who had not practiced in the past few days because of back spasms, also recorded his fourth double-double of the year in grabbing 12 rebounds. Allison added eight points and had nine rebounds.

Neither junior swingman Chris Langhorne nor freshman point guard Roderick Adams played for the Bobcats as they served one-game suspensions for breaking team rules.

Shropshire finished with 13 points and had seven assists for TCU.