Tulsa 70, Boise St. 56

<br>BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Kevin Johnson scored 20 points and Charlie Davis added 17 as Tulsa remained in contention for the Western Athletic Conference lead with a 70-56 victory over Boise State Thursday.

Friday, February 8th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Kevin Johnson scored 20 points and Charlie Davis added 17 as Tulsa remained in contention for the Western Athletic Conference lead with a 70-56 victory over Boise State Thursday.

The Golden Hurricane (19-4, 10-2) is battling Hawaii, which beat Southern Methodist 85-76 Thursday to remain one game ahead in the WAC standings with six games remaining before the conference tournament.

The loss extended Boise State's (8-14, 2-10) losing streak to seven games, the longest winless period for the Broncos in 20 years.

Boise State was led by senior Abe Jackson with 13 points, six below his season average. The Broncos were cold from the field, hitting only 39 percent of their field goals and were just 2-for-15 from 3-point range.

Boise State trailed 38-36 with 15:44 left when Johnson led a 22-5 Tulsa scoring run that put the Hurricane up 58-41 with 7:25 left and BSU was never able to recover.

Tulsa senior guard Greg Harrington brought his career assists to 500 on the button. He is the 14th player in WAC history to reach that mark.

Tulsa entered the game as one of the nation's leading free-throw shooting teams averaging nearly 77 percent, but was able to convert on only 13 of 22 for 59 percent.