Tulsa 82, Texas Christian 66

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Kevin Johnson found his confidence in the second half, just in time to score a career-high 30 points and lead Tulsa to a 82-66 win over Texas Christian.<br><p align="justify">Johnson

Thursday, January 18th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Kevin Johnson found his confidence in the second half, just in time to score a career-high 30 points and lead Tulsa to a 82-66 win over Texas Christian.

Johnson also grabbed 10 rebounds and led his team with eight blocks as Tulsa (11-6, 2-2) beat TCU (13-5, 3-2), their Western Athletic Conference rival, for the sixth straight time.

Derrick Davenport led the Horned Frogs on Wednesday with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Greedy Daniels had 16 points for the Horned Frogs but only 1 steal and that in the closing seconds. Daniels came into the game leading the nation with 4.8 steals an outing.

David Shelton scored 14 for Tulsa and Marcus Hill had 12.

For Tulsa coach Buzz Peterson, it was all about having fun.

Peterson said he thought his players had been putting too much pressure on themselves. Before the game he told them to not compare themselves to last year but "go out there and play basketball and have fun playing it."

"And for one of the first times this season ... I felt like I saw a sign that these kids were having a good time," Peterson said.

TCU coach Billy Tubbs, a former Oklahoma coach, was introduced to a chorus of boos. He replied by blowing the crowd kisses.

"We just got outplayed," Tubbs said afterward. "That's about all you can say. In the second half, they just cleaned us on the boards."

Tulsa led 37-30 at the end of the first half with 18 Hurricane points coming from outside the arc, including two apiece from Shelton and Jason Parker. Hill hit two from long-range during the game.

TCU closed to 39-38 with Davenport's bucket at 17:53 in the second half but Tulsa's defense toughened.

The Hurricane widened the lead to 17 points after Johnson hit two free throws with 4:46 left to put the Hurricane up 74-57.

Johnson hit two more shots in the closing minutes.

Peterson said the series of 3-pointers were the key to opening up the game.

Tulsa's Shelton said it was a big win, coming after a loss to Hawaii, and said the team rallied to boost Johnson's confidence after Johnson missed some first-half shots.

Johnson said his teammates' words finally took hold in the second half.

"The ball went in a few times," Johnson said. "I got comfortable, and I just kept on taking it strong to the rim."