Las Vegas Sun

May 6, 2024

TCU 106, Fresno State 81

Jones and Fresno State's Chris Herren put on a scoring show, but it was Jones and TCU scoring more easily and more often in advancing to a semifinal game against Tulsa.

Herren had 34 points and kept Fresno State in the game early, but TCU opened the game up in the second half to win its second straight tournament game.

Fresno State (20-11) played the game only hours after the Fresno Bee reported the FBI was investigating rumors of point-shaving by the team.

The reported target of the rumors, guard Dominick Young, scored nine points and had seven assists.

Jones, who also had 12 rebounds and 12 assists, broke the WAC tournament scoring record of 36 points set last year by David Evans of Colorado State. He also broke the tournament record for most field goals, hitting 17, including 4 3-pointers.

Teammate Malcolm Johnson added 31 for TCU in a game that at times resembled more a playground contest than a tournament game. The 106 points by TCU also broke the tournament record of 104 set last year by New Mexico.

TCU shot 56 percent for the game, including 12 of 24 3-pointers.

The game started with both teams scoring almost at will, with Herren getting 16 of his team's first 22 points and Jones 19 of his teams' first 27.

TCU (20-11) built a 55-48 halftime lead and the second half resumed much the same way. Jones and Johnson combined for the first 13 points for TCU, which led 74-63 midway through the second half before going on a 14-2 run to make it 88-65 with 7 minutes left.

Jones was again the spark in the run, scoring nine of the 14 points, then hitting Damion Walker with a pass underneath for a 3-point play that capped the scoring spree.

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