Tulane University
TCU
Tulane Loses 53-51 to TCU on Buzzer-Beater
Dec 9, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas - Tulane's David Gomez led all scorers with a career-high 31 points, but his efforts were overshadowed by Kevin Langford's game-winning, fade-away jumper from the left corner with 0.4 remaining that snapped a 51-51 tie and gave the Horned Frogs a 53-51 victory over the Green Wave in front of 3,396 fans at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
Tulane (5-4) staged a furious comeback in the second half and rallied from 11-down to take a one-point lead with 5:16 remaining in the game. Gomez rebounded a missed lay-up in mid-air and slammed down a thunderous dunk to put the Green Wave ahead, 45-44. From there, TU extended its lead to three points on a second straight dunk by Gomez, but Langford broke loose in the lane and pulled the Horned Frogs (6-3) to within a point, 47-46, with 4:21 remaining.
Sophomore Daniel Puckett extended the lead back to three points with his jumper in the lane at the 3:57 mark. However, Brent Hackett hit a lay-up for TCU to cut the Green Wave lead to 49-48 with under two and half minutes remaining. On the ensuing possession, Gomez was called for a foul that sent Langford to the free-throw line with 1:47 on the clock and the chance to give his team a one-point advantage. Langford misfired on each attempt and TU gathered the rebound and looked to put the game out of reach. Following a missed lay-up by Gomez, the ball was knocked out of bounds off a TCU player and Tulane retained possession.
On the in-bounds play, Andrew Garcia heaved a pass near center court to Puckett, who easily caught the ball. However, Puckett was whistled for over-and-back, giving TCU new life. TCU missed its first shot, but chased down the rebound and Keion Mitchem's three-pointer with 0:52 on the clock gave the Horned Frogs a two-point lead.
Following a timeout, Puckett drove into the lane and tied the game at 51-apiece with a running jumper with just 0:23 remaining in the contest. TCU took its time on what proved to be the winning possession and it appeared for a moment the Horned Frogs would not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded. Langford received the ball by the low block and backed away toward the corner before turning and launching his game-winner with just a little over a second remaining.
Gomez his 12 of 18 field goals and connected on 7-of-9 free throw attempts, and was the lone Green Wave player to reach double figures. He and Puckett each grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.
Hackett led the Horned Frogs with 15 points, while Mitchem came off the bench to add 13 points. Both players combined for TCU's six total three-point field goals.
The first half featured four lead changes and three ties. TCU led for a majority of the opening period and built its largest lead near halftime when Hackett hit a lay-up with 0:04 remaining before the break. TU held its largest lead of three points on back-to-back lay-ups by sophomore Robinson Louisme and Stith midway through the period.
Although Tulane out-rebounded TCU, 17-16, in the opening stanza, the Horned Frogs forced the Wave into 12 turnovers and nailed three treys to lead 28-20 at intermission.
