Golden Hurricane Drop To 4-2 After Loss To Little Rock

Little Rock overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and controlled the second half en route to a 64-60 victory over Tulsa Saturday afternoon in front of 3,821 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Little Rock outscored the Golden Hurricane by 13 points in the second half, 40-27, and improved to 5-0, as Tulsa fell to 4-2 on the season.

Josh Hagins scored a game-high 17 points and had 10 assists to pace the Trojans. Tulsa had four players in double-digit points, led by 16 from James Woodard followed by D’Andre Wright with 14, Rashad Ray with 11 and Marquel Curtis with 10 points. Woodard, Wright and Curtis each had six rebounds.

Tulsa’s Shaquille Harrison, averaging 23.4 points in the first five games, was held to four points, all coming via the free throw line.

“Our shots just weren’t going down, and we also didn’t shoot free throws very well. They have proven they are a good team when they beat San Diego State. The way they play the game is to shrink the clock and the game. Possessions are very important in a game like tonight, and when you get opportunities at the free throw line you have to go and make them,” said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith.

Little Rock erased a nine-point halftime deficit with a 10-0 run in the first four minutes of the second half, taking a 34-33 lead at the 16:21 mark when Kemy Osse knocked down a three-pointer from the right corner. Tulsa went nearly the first seven minutes scoreless before Rashad Ray snapped the drought with a three-pointer at the 13:10 mark to tie the score at 36-36.

Ray hit another trey to put the Hurricane ahead 42-38 at the 11:32 mark. Osse put Little Rock ahead 49-47 with a three-pointer before Wright knocked down two free throws to tie the score at 49. Little Rock’s Hagins broke the tie with a layup on the next possession down the floor for a 51-49 advantage, a lead that the Trojans would never relinquish.

Little Rock took its largest lead of the game at 59-52 with 3:19 left on the clock, as Tulsa could get only as close as three points with 1:24 to play when Woodard connected on a three-pointer to make the score 62-59. Tulsa got off only two more field goals in the final minute of play.

Tulsa began the game by hitting four of its first nine three-pointers, then missed its next 11 treys and ended the game just 9-of-31. The Trojans shot 50-percent from the field and 53-percent from three-point range for the game, including 64-percent on 14-of-22 field goals and 86-percent from behind the arc, connecting on 6-of-7 treys in the final 20 minutes.

After Little Rock took a 4-3 lead within the first four minutes of the game, Tulsa scored the next seven points for a 10-4 lead at the 14:33 mark of the first half. The Hurricane took its first double-digit lead in the first half, 22-11, on a D’Andre Wright layup with 8:20 left in the first half.

Tulsa kept the double-digit margin, which climbed to as high as 15 points (26-11) at the 6:58 mark, until a Little Rock three-pointer made it the nine-point margin at halftime. Wright had 10 first-half points to lead Tulsa while the Hurricane had a 13-to-0 edge in points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Tulsa will travel up the Turner Turnpike for a Wednesday night game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game will be carried live on FOX Sports Oklahoma.