Five Score In Double Figures As TU Rolls Past Owls, 75-64
TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa men’s basketball team picked up its first Conference victory of the season in a 75-64 triumph over Rice University Saturday night inside Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Senior guard Justin Hurtt led all scorers with 16 points, and junior forward Steven Idlet and freshman guard Jordan Clarkson each added 15. Hurtt pulled down eight rebounds and dished out three assists in a game-high 34 minutes.
Sophomore guard Scottie Haralson chipped in 12 points, and fellow sophomore guard Bryson Pope added 11. Tulsa had five players reach double figures in scoring for the first time this year.
Arsalan Kazemi led Rice with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Suleiman Braimoh added an efficient 12 points in just 11 minutes.
Tulsa (8-7, 1-1 C-) exploded out of the gates with a 15-0 run to start the game. Pope scored the first five points of the contest, and Haralson added seven during the run to put the home team up big early.
Pope entered the contest with five steals in the first 14 games of the year, but he ratcheted up the defense and recorded four in the first 1:39 of action. He finished the game with five.
Nate Schwarze hit a three at the 14:07 mark to put Rice (8-8, 0-2 C-) on the board, but the Golden Hurricane held the Owls at bay for the entire opening 20 minutes.
Braimoh hit a bucket at the 8:56 mark to give the road side a 21-12 deficit, but Haralson drained a trey on TU’s next possession and Tulsa maintained a double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the opening half.
Tulsa pushed its lead to 35-17 with 2:22 to play in the first, and the home team entered intermission with a 35-21 advantage after a short-lived 4-0 run to end the half by Rice.
The Owls opened the second half with a 10-3 run on the strength of four free throws and two three-point buckets. After an Idlet layup gave Tulsa a 40-31 advantage, Trey Stanton answered on the other end with a deuce at the 16:43 mark.
That was when Tulsa took control of the contest.
Idlet banked home a layup on TU’s next possession to spark a 14-0 run that spanned 4:30, and the Golden Hurricane found itself with a 54-33 lead with 12 minutes to play.
The Owls would not go away, however, and they were able to chip the lead down to 73-64 with a minute to play. Two final free throws from Clarkson sealed the deal, and Tulsa left with its first conference victory of the 2010-11 campaign.
The Golden Hurricane tied its season high with 12 steals in the contest, and Rice won the rebound battle 40-29.
TU shot 48 percent from the field and knocked down five shots from behind the arc, and Tulsa converted 30 of 36 from the free-throw line.
Rice was held to just 38 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from three-point land. The visiting Owls hit just 57 percent of their free throws (13-for-23).
The Golden Hurricane will step out of conference for the last time during the regular season with a 7:05 p.m. tilt at Arizona State University Jan. 12. The game will be broadcast live on Arizona.
Updated 01-09-2011
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