Hurricane Men’s Basketball Use Balanced Attack To Topple Lions 91-67
TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa men’s basketball team wrapped up exhibition play with a 91-67 victory over University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Sunday evening inside Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Senior Justin Hurtt led an extremely balanced offensive attack for Tulsa with 22 points. He also picked up seven rebounds and drained all four of his three-point attempts.
Junior Steven Idlet scored 15 and grabbed seven boards, junior Glenn Andrews poured in 11 and freshman Jordan Clarkson added 10 to go along with seven assists. Sophomores Scottie Haralson and Bryson Pope each scored nine in the winning effort.
The Golden Hurricane shot 50 percent from the field and nailed 35 of 44 free throws. The Lions were held to just 37 percent shooting and hit just 5 of 26 three-point attempts.
Sophomore Donte Medder played his first game since returning from a knee injury suffered in the C- Tournament last season. He connected on two free throws at the 8:36 mark of the second half for his only points of the game.
Redshirt freshman Kodi Maduka also played his first game since sitting out last year. He finished 3-for-3 and scored seven points (all in the first half), showing promise in the paint in 12 minutes of action.
Tulsa struggled in the early going, falling behind 8-4 heading into the first media timeout. The Hurricane got into a groove following the break and used a balanced scoring attack to outscore the Lions 43-19 to take a 47-27 first-half advantage.
Hurtt and Idlet carried the scoring load in the early going, but Maduka came alive with seven first-half points and Andrews added seven in the last 2:28 of the opening half.
Hurtt led TU with 14 points in the first, and Idlet added 10. Tulsa shot 52 percent from the field and hit 16 of 18 from the free-throw line in the opening half. The Lions were held to just 36 percent shooting, and they connected on just 2 of 10 three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes.
Tulsa emptied its bench in the second half and continued to look sharp in the final 20 minutes.
Kelson Stewart led with 13 points, and Chris Williams added 11 for the road squad.
TU outrebounded the Lions 46-31 in the contest and UA-Fort Smith committed 33 fouls to just 13 for Tulsa.
The Hurricane will officially kick off the 100th season of Tulsa basketball with the regular-season opener at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 against Appalachian State inside Reynolds Center.
Updated 11-08-2010
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