Daniel Faris hit a bank shot from the paint early in the second half to break a tie and start an 11-2 run that helped New Mexico to a 76-62 win over TCU Tuesday night in a Mountain West Conference matchup.
Faris finished with a season-high 20 points, 16 in the second half. He also tied a school record by making all 12 of his free throws. Tony Danridge added 17 points for the Lobos (18-10, 9-4).
Zvonko Buljan and Keion Mitchem each scored 16 for the Horned Frogs (14-14, 5-9).
The game remained close until the early minutes of the second half. Dairese Gary followed Faris' bank shot with a 3-pointer and Chad Toppert capped the run with another from behind the arc to put New Mexico up 47-38 with 12:47 left.
Toppert added another 3-pointer at the 9:15 mark. That gave the Lobos their first double-digit lead, 54-42, and it put Toppert over the 1,000-point mark for his career. He finished with 12 points for the night.
Although the Lobos never trailed, they handed TCU an early opportunity to stay in the game when Will Brown was called for a shooting foul. He followed with an elbow to Buljan after the whistle.
TCU converted three of four from the line to tie the game, but New Mexico quickly regained the momentum. The Lobos got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession and forward Roman Martinez connected on a 3-pointer from the baseline.
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The Lobos held a 32-30 lead heading into the second half.
