FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Henry Salter couldn’t take it any longer. The constant reminder of his team’s inability to win on the road was killing the TCU junior.
“I was sick of hearing it,” Salter said. “Everywhere I went on campus I was reminded of our long road losing streak and I wanted to do something about it.”
He did.
Salter hit a critical 3-pointer late in the game and scored 14 points as TCU ended a 12-game road losing streak with a 70-58 victory over Colorado State on Saturday.
“Let’s say I felt relieved,” Salter said.
Jason Ebie had 12 points and Kevin Langford had 10 points for TCU (11-6, 3-1 Mountain West). The Horned Frogs hadn’t won a road game since Jan. 6, 2007, at Utah.
“We’d been close, but never seemed to be able to get over the hump,” TCU coach Neil Dougherty said. “We would see the end of the tunnel, not make some stops and allow the other team to make baskets.
“Tonight we got those stops and we made plays down the stretch,” Dougherty said.
Marcus Walker had 25 points for Colorado State (6-11, 0-3). The Rams missed their last six shots as they matched their longest losing streak of the year with four losses.
Colorado State played without 7-foot center Stuart Creason, who was out with a foot injury. It forced the Rams to play with 7-footer Ronnie Aguilar, who was hampered with foul trouble and no other player taller than 6-6.
The teams exchanged leads early in the second half and the Horned Frogs went up 50-45 on a 3-pointer by Salter, but Walker’s two free throws with 6:17 left gave Colorado State a 54-52 lead. The Rams went scoreless on their next three possessions and TCU took the lead, 58-54, with a layup by Ebie and two free throws by Brent Hackett with 3:50 to play.
“We didn’t get to Salter enough,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. “Too many times we let Salter get wide open shots.”
Colorado State closed to within 58-56 on two free throws from Willis Gardner with 3:16 left. The Horned Frogs got a layup from Langford and a 3-pointer from Salter on their next two possessions and outscored the Rams 12-2 the rest of the way.
Walker scored 17 points, hitting all eight free throw attempts as Colorado State led 32-31 at halftime. The Rams led by as much as eight points late in the period, but TCU chipped away and Mike Scott made it a 1-point game with an off-balance shot at the buzzer.
“We walked out of here feeling a lot better about ourselves,” Salter said. “And feeling better about winning our next road game.”
