Lobos can’t keep pace with TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Amric Fields knows how much better things have gotten for Texas Christian in a short time.

Too vividly he remembers the Horned Frogs' 13-game losing streak to end the regular season a year ago.

Fields scored eight consecutive points in a 48-second span during the tiebreaking run as TCU upset another ranked team at home, beating No. 18 New Mexico 83-64 on Saturday.

"It's unreal how it can turn around in a year as long as you just buy into the system and everybody plays hard," Fields said.

TCU (17-11, 7-5 Mountain West Conference) has won eight consecutive home games, the past two over Top 25 teams. The Frogs are guaranteed their first winning season since 2004-05.

"I couldn't be more proud of this team," TCU coach Jim Christian said. "The only thing you want as a coach, you want to see your team grow and grow as the year goes on. And our team, without question, has grown maybe as much as anybody in the country."

J.R. Cadot had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Horned Frogs, leading six TCU scorers in double figures.

Connell Crossland's one-handed slam dunk over a defender, his only basket of the game, broke the eighth and last tie. That put TCU ahead 50-48 with 13:26 left and started a 10-0 run in which Fields scored the rest of the points.

New Mexico (22-6, 8-4) has lost both of its games since a seven-game winning streak that had pushed it to the top of the Mountain West standings and into the latest Top 25 poll.

"We were playing awfully well going into the road trip, and we didn't play very well at all on this road trip," Lobos coach Steve Alford said. "Now it's about getting home and taking care of home."

The Lobos, tied with No. 21 UNLV and No. 24 San Diego State atop the standings, finish the regular season at home against Air Force and Boise State -- the bottom two teams in the league.

In its previous home game 11 days earlier, TCU beat then-No. 11 UNLV 102-97 in overtime. That was its first win over a ranked team in five years.

■ No. 24 San Diego State 74, Colorado State 66 -- At San Diego, Jamaal Franklin matched his career high with 31 points and added a career-high 16 rebounds to lead the Aztecs past the Rams and into a tie for first place in the Mountain West.

Franklin scored 13 of San Diego State's final 16 points.

Xavier Thames scored all 15 of his points in the second half as the Aztecs (22-6, 8-4) picked up their intensity and avenged one of their more painful losses of the season. The Rams routed San Diego State by 17 on Jan. 28, ending the Aztecs' 11-game win streak and beginning a stretch in which they lost four of six.

The Rams (17-10, 6-6) were coming off a home upset of New Mexico.

■ Wyoming 64, Boise State 54 -- At Laramie, Wyo., Francisco Cruz scored 16 points, and Leonard Washington added 15 points and 11 rebounds to help the Cowboys snap a four-game skid.

Luke Martinez had 10 points for Wyoming (19-9, 5-7). Kenny Buckner's 10 points led the Broncos (13-14, 3-9).