Harrison, Woodard, Birt Combine For 58 Points, Lead Tulsa Past No. 16 SMU

Shaquille Harrison tallied 21 points and eight assists, James Woodard scored 20 points and Pat Birt put up 17 points to lead the Tulsa basketball team to an 82-77 win at No. 16 SMU Wednesday evening at Moody Coliseum.

The trio combined for 58 points, including a 3-pointer by Birt that gave the Golden Hurricane a four-point lead, 78-74, with 33 seconds remaining. Woodard converted all four free throw attempts in the final 17 seconds to seal the win for Tulsa, which improved to 16-8 overall and 8-4 in American Athletic Conference play. SMU fell to 20-3 overall and 9-3 in league play.

The Hurricane trailed by as many as eight points with 9:33 remaining, but outscored the Mustangs, 30-17 for the remainder of the game. In that span, Birt and Woodard each tallied nine points, including 6-of-6 free throws by Woodard, and Harrison scored eight points.

Tulsa’s victory snapped a 15-game home winning streak for SMU, including a 12-0 mark at home this season. The win was also Tulsa’s second over a top-25 team this season, its most since the 1999-2000 team won three games against top-25 opponents. It was also Tulsa’s first true road win against a top-25 opponent since it beat No. 5 UCLA in the 1996-97 season opener.

“Obviously it was a huge win for us and our program,” Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith said. “I have so much respect for SMU and their team. I think they are one of the best teams in the country, so I’m really proud of our guys and how we competed. We showed a lot of resiliency. In the second half we went down eight, and they (SMU) went down nine, so I am just really proud of our guys in how they competed and gave us a chance to win that ball game.”

The Hurricane shot 59 percent from the field and made 6-of-15 3-pointers and 14-of-17 free throws, while the Mustangs shot 44 percent from the field, made 11-of-23 threes and 10-of-18 foul shots. Tulsa tallied 19 assists and eight steals, and scored 42 points in the paint. Brandon Swannegan and D’Andre Wright each scored eight points for TU, and Nic Moore scored 27 points to lead SMU, which finished with a 35-26 rebounding advantage.

Tulsa led 36-33 at the break, but SMU tied the score with a 3-pointer by Moore at the start of the second half. The Hurricane then went on a 9-0 run to take a 45-36 lead at the 17:06 mark, on a dunk by Wright. The Mustangs then scored 11 straight points to move ahead, 47-45, with 13:29 remaining. The SMU lead grew as large as eight points, 60-52, after a foul shot by Moore with 9:33 left.

Trailing, 62-55 with 7:43 remaining, Harrison drove for consecutive layups to cut it to 62-59. Jarrey Foster made a 3-pointer to extend SMU’s lead to 65-59, but the Hurricane responded with a pair of free throws by Curtis and 3-pointer by Woodard around an SMU foul shot to make the score 66-64 with 5:25 to play. After two free throws by Markus Kennedy made the score 68-64, Harrison made a layup and Birt sunk one of his four treys in the game to give the Hurricane the 69-68 lead.

SMU’s Sterling Brown made a 3-pointer to give the home team a 71-69 advantage with 3:10 left. Birt then made a runner to tie the score, 71-71, and a dunk by Wright gave TU the 73-71 lead with 1:57 left. Woodard’s two foul shots extended the lead to 75-71, and Moore followed with a three to cut it to 75-74. Birt’s 3-pointer from the right wing made it a two-possession game once again, as Tulsa led 78-74 with :33 on the clock. After another trey by Moore with :20 left made it 78-77, Woodard converted four free throws in the last 17 seconds to seal the 82-77 victory for Tulsa.

Tulsa jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in the game on a jumper by Swannegan and a pair of baskets by Harrison. The Hurricane led 12-6 by the first media timeout at the 15:56 mark, but the Mustangs came back to tie the score, 14-14, and take a 19-14 lead with 10:43 to go in the half.

In a first half with four ties and four lead changes, Tulsa scored six straight points to turn a 25-22 deficit into a 28-25 lead. Birt sunk TU’s first 3-pointer of the game to tie the score at the 6:24 mark, then Woodard converted a fastbreak layup with the free throw to make it 28-25. TU had 10 fastbreak points to SMU’s zero in the first half, and the Hurricane scored 24 of its 36 first-period points in the paint.

The Mustangs then scored six straight, capped by a jumper by Foster to move ahead, 31-28, with 3:59 left in the half. Woodard then made a free throw, followed by a layup by Harrison on the next possession to tie the score. Woodard sunk a trey with 1:21 left to give Tulsa the 34-31 lead, and the Hurricane held the advantage into the intermission, leading 36-33.

Tulsa shot 58 percent in the first half, making 2-of-7 3-pointers, and 4-of-5 foul shots. SMU shot 35 percent, while making 5-of-12 threes and 2-of-5 free throws. The Mustangs had a 24-12 advantage in rebounds.

The Golden Hurricane continues its two-game road swing with a game at UConn Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2.