Tulsa 79, Nevada 73

Sunday, March 9, 2003 | 5:46 a.m.

RENO, Nev. AP) - Dante Swanson scored a career-high 26 points on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range to lead Tulsa to a 79-73 win over Nevada Saturday and clinch the top seed in the Western Athletic Conference's postseason tournament.

Kevin Johnson added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane (19-9, 12-6 in the WAC), who never trailed en route to their seventh straight league victory.

Kirk Snyder had 21 points and nine rebounds for Nevada (16-12, 11 (7)-, which will be the WAC tourney's No. 3 seed as a result of the WAC's regular-season champ, Fresno State, being banned from postseason play.

Tulsa made 10 of 16 from 3-point range as a team, including 7 of 10 in the first half, while Nevada made just 4 of 19 from beyond the arc before a crowd of 11,166, the third largest in school history.

The closest the Wolf Pack came was on Sean Paul's hook just 15 seconds into the second half to pull within 42-41.

Swanson, who shot 10-of-15 from the field, made three 3-pointers in a 5-minute span and Seneca Collins hit one to cap an 8-0 run that put Tulsa ahead 31-19 9 minutes before the half. Tulsa's lead grew to 41-27 on Jason Parker's 3-pointer at 3:46. But Todd Okeson hit a 3-pointer to start a 12-1 Nevada run capped by Matt Ochs' 15-footer to cut the lead to 42-39 at halftime.

Swanson scored Tulsa's first 7 points of the second half to open a 49-41 lead, and hit a 3-pointer to make it 56-47 at 14:32.

Charlie Davis scored inside to extend the lead to 64-53 at 9:46. But Okeson slammed a dunk home off a steal and Jerry Petty made a driving layup in traffic to pull the Wolf Pack to within 68-62 with 6:13 left.

Paul, who had 12 points and nine rebounds, sparked a late 6-0 run with a hook and Snyder scored on a driving layup to close to within 73-68 at 1:01. But Parker, who finished with 13 points, made five free throws and Johnson one in the final minute to seal the win.