TU Beats TCU To Advance On

Saturday, March 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- David Shelton, a sparkplug reserve all season for Tulsa, did it again Friday night as the Golden Hurricane captured a spot in the Western Athletic Conference title game.

Shelton scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half as Tulsa (29-3) beat TCU 93-71 in a tournament semifinal. Tulsa, the WAC regular-season champion, will face Fresno State or Hawaii in Saturday night's title game.

"If it was up to David, I'm sure he would be starting and playing 35 minutes a game. But he has accepted his role on this team, even though he deserves the chance to start," Tulsa coach Bill Self said. "He may be the best sixth man in America."

Marcus Hill added 16 points, Eric Coley scored 14 and Brandon Kurtz had 13 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out for Tulsa. Marquise Gainous had 20 points and Estell Laster had 18 for TCU (18-14), which began the week second in the nation in scoring with 88.6 points per game.

Tulsa trailed 17-12 when Shelton entered the game with 7 1/2 minutes gone in the first half. He hit seven of his eight shots in the half, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Hurricane took a 46-36 halftime lead. After entering the game, Shelton immediately set up Tony Heard for a 3-pointer and then tied the game with a steal and lay up. He scored 10 straight points for Tulsa later in the half, including consecutive 3-pointers that built the Hurricane lead to 39-30 with3:07 remaining. Shelton was Tulsa's leading scorer this season, averaging 13.5 points, but made just two starts.

The junior college transfer is playing his first season for the Hurricane.

"The guys make it pretty easy for me, because usually when I come in we're not fighting to get back into the game," he said. "Not starting is not a big issue with me now. It was in the back of my mind earlier in the season."

Tulsa never was threatened in the second half. Shelton and Coley had consecutive lay ups to give the Hurricane a 69-52 lead with11:55 remaining, and TCU didn't get closer than 12 points the rest of the game.

Gainous moved into 10th place on TCU's career scoring list with1,228 points in two seasons with the Horned Frogs after transferring from a junior college in Florida.

"It was a pretty good season," Gainous said. "I wanted to be more aggressive at the start because for some reason I struggled the last three times we played Tulsa."