*TCU F Lee Nailon throws punch, will miss Monday's Tulsa game*
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FORT WORTH, Texas (Ticker) -- Texas Christian forward Lee Nailon
threw a punch 34 seconds into tonight's 95-88 overtime loss
against Nevada-Las Vegas and as a result will have to sit out
Monday's Western Athletic Conference game at Tulsa. 

The 6-9, 230-pound senior forward threw a left-handed punch at
UNLV point guard Mark Dickel after a tug-of-war for the ball and
was ejected.  NCAA rules state that any player throwing a punch
is ejected from that contest and may not dress or sit on the
bench for the following game. 

"I'm reporting Lee Nailon to the league because I thought that
he threw a punch when there was a dead ball," said referee Bill
Gracey. 

TCU coach Billy Tubbs contended his player did nothing wrong. 

"What I saw was Lee pushed out of bounds, then No. 11 (Dickel)
grabbed the ball and Lee spun around," Tubbs said.  "He did not
swing.  We've had people going after us and it's just getting a
little rough out there." 

"I don't remeber what happened," Dickel said.  "I was just
trying to get the ball out of his hands so we could get the ball
out and they couldn't set up the press." 

Without Nailon, forward Marquise Gainous matched his career high
with 41 points, but the Horned Frogs could not manage the lead
in overtime and watched their 18-game home winning streak end. 

Nailon entered the game leading the WAC with 23.9 points per
game, but that average dropped to 22.7 with the scoreless
contest.  Gainous moved up from 18.8 to 19.5. 

Nailon made news in the offseason when he withdrew his name from
the NBA draft and opted to return to TCU for his senior season.
He led the WAC and was third in the nation with 24.9 points per
game last season, winning conference Player of the Year honors. 

Nailon, considered a lottery pick for 1999, made an instant
impact for the Horned Frogs after transferring from Butler
County Community College as TCU reached the NCAA Tournament for
the first time since 1987.  Playing an up-tempo style, TCU led
the nation in scoring at 97.6 points per game. 

Nailon tallied a school-record 53 points and 11 rebounds in a
106-83 victory over Mississippi Valley State on December 12,
1997.  Nailon also scored a team-high 32 points in the Horned
Frogs' loss to Florida State in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament.  He poured in 44 points against Gonzaga on December
30.