Tulsa Hoops Falls To SMU On Senior Night

Nick Russell scored 19 points to lead the SMU Mustangs to a 71-65 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Senior Night in front of 4,710 fans at Donald W. Reynolds Center Wednesday.

Tulsa fell to 15-14 overall and 7-8 in Conference USA standings, while SMU improved to 15-15 and 5-10 in the league. The victory avenged a 48-47 last second Tulsa victory in Dallas two months ago.

Russell's 19 points led four Mustangs in double digits, while Tulsa freshman James Woodard and senior Scottie Haralson scored 17 and 13 points, respectively. Cannen Cunningham had 17, Shawn Williams 13 and Ryan Manuel added 11 points for the Mustangs.

SMU's dominated in the paint as a 40-to-18 point advantage was the key to the victory for the Mustangs. Tulsa connected on 9-of-26 three-pointers, while SMU was 0-of-2 from behind the arc. For the game, SMU shot 51.8 percent from the field to Tulsa's 37.9 percent.

TU coach Danny Manning was disappointed with the loss, but knows TU still has games to prepare for.  "This is a tough way to go out, to take a loss on Senior Night," Manning said.  "Give SMU credit tonight. They had a great game tonight. Coach Brown drew up a great plan, and they executed their offense and made shots. We have to give them credit for that. For us, it's disappointing because we wanted to have a much better showing than we did tonight. We have to go back, watch film, and get prepared for our last game of the season. We have to do whatever it takes to get that last win of the season on the road. Losing tonight, on Senior Night, is a tough pill to swallow."

Tulsa closes out the regular season Saturday night, March 9 in Houston, Texas against the Rice Owls. Game time is 7:00 p.m. The Conference USA Basketball Championships takes place next week, March 13-16, at the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa.