TU Ends Losing Streak With Win Over USF

Pat Birt had 16 points and Martins Igbanu added 14 to lead Tulsa to an 82-68 victory over the USF Bulls Thursday night in front of 3,849 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tulsa (13-14, 7-8 AAC) snapped a six-game losing streak, while handing USF (7-20, 1-15 AAC) its third straight loss.

Tulsa built a 14-point lead in the first half, and held off a pesky Bulls team that cut the lead to five points at halftime. In the second half, USF tied the score twice early in the period before the Hurricane was able to take the lead for good on a Corey Henderson trey with 14:32 on the clock to make the score 52-49 and begin a 9-0 run.

The Bulls closed the gap to three points at 65-62 with 6:11 on the clock but that would be as close as USF would get. Tulsa out-scored USF 17-6 over the final six minutes for the 14-point win.

A total of five Tulsa players scored in double-digits as Jaleel Wheeler added 13 points, Henderson 11 and Sterling Taplin 10 points. The Hurricane shot 41.4 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three-point range, and out-rebounded the Bulls by 11 boards, 44 to 33.  

Tulsa scored the first four points of the second half to take a 43-34 lead, but the Bulls responded and tied the score at 47 with 15:04 to play. The score was tied again at 49-49 before the Hurricane scored the next nine points to take a 58-49 lead at the 11:49 mark when Taplin connected on a three-pointer.

Tulsa came out of the gates strong in the first half as the Hurricane connected on its first three-point attempts in the first two minutes and sprinted to an 11-0 lead and an eventual 15-1 advantage at the 16:09 mark. The Bulls scored the next seven points to cut the Hurricane lead to 15-8 with 13:36 to play.

The Hurricane led by 14 points again when TK Edogi’s dunk put the home team ahead 24-10 at the 11:06 mark, but the Bulls would not go away, scoring the next seven points to climb to within seven points at 24-17.

Tulsa took a double-digit lead twice more in the first half, both at 10 points, when Birt’s layup made the score 35-25 with 3:45 to play, and Wheeler’s layup put Tulsa ahead 37-27 at the 2:51 mark. USF scored five points in the final 2:42 to make the halftime score 39-34.

Birt led Tulsa in scoring with 11 first-half points, while Wheeler added nine points and Igbanu seven. USF’s Geno Thorpe had a high 13 points in the first 20 minutes.

Tulsa returns to the Donald W. Reynolds Center for the final regular season home game on Sunday afternoon against the East Carolina Pirates. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Tickets are available online at TulsaHurricane.com, by calling 918.631.GoTU and in person at the Reynolds Center Ticket Office.