Birt Leads Tulsa Past Central Florida

Pat Birt scored 26 points and Tulsa beat Central Florida 75-67 on Sunday.

Birt was 8 of 16 from the field with four 3-pointers for Tulsa (18-9, 10-5 American). Shaquille Harrison scored 14 points, Marquel Curtis had 10 points with 11 rebounds and James Woodard added 10 points. Tulsa shot over 46 percent.

Tulsa led by 14 at the half, 36-22, but Central Florida chipped away and a 9-2 spurt midway through the second half -- punctuated by Adonys Henriquez' 3-pointer -- drew the Knights within three with 12:15 left.

Tulsa still led by three with 4:09 remaining, but UCF went cold for almost three minutes -- missing six straight shots -- as the Golden Hurricane pulled away.

Central Florida (11-14, 5-9) was led by Matt Williams with 16 points and Chance McSpadden added 12.