Shaq Attack: Harrison Drops 31 Points In Comeback Win Over Ohio

Senior guard Shaquille Harrison scored a career-high 31 points, including 23 in the second half, to lead the Tulsa basketball team to a 90-88, come-from-behind win over Ohio Friday afternoon in the opening game of U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam at the UVI Sports & Fitness Center.

The Golden Hurricane (3-0) trailed by 19 points with 11:20 remaining in the game, before taking its first lead of the game with 2:24 to play. Harrison also tallied nine rebounds, five assists and five steals – all team highs. Five players finished with double-figure points for TU: senior forward Brandon Swannegan matched his career high with 16 points, senior guard James Woodard scored 15 points, junior guard Pat Birt tallied 11 points and senior guard Marquel Curtis added 10 points.

Trailing 81-72 with 4:41 to play, Woodard hit a 3-pointer and Harrison had consecutive steals and fastbreak dunks to cut the deficit to two points. Woodard made a pair of free throws to tie the game, and a Curtis layup with 2:24 left gave Tulsa its first lead of the game. Birt then knocked down a trey to give the Hurricane an 86-81 lead. Tulsa’s advantage grew as large as 88-82 with 0:28 to play before it held on for the 90-88 win.

“Heck of a comeback. Our guys never quit. I have to give them a lot of credit for their determination, and how we battled, and gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith said. “Shaq was tremendous. It was as good a single performance, in terms of my career, of one guy willing us to win. He put us on his back and made tremendous plays.”

Tulsa’s 19-point comeback win was the largest since March 2, 2013, when it overcame a 22-point deficit against Tulane to win, 78-66.

The Hurricane shot 46 percent for the game, including 52 percent in the second half, and scored 38 points off of 23 Ohio turnovers. TU received a 37-point boost from the bench – the third straight game in which the bench has produced at least 30 points. The Bobcats (2-1) shot 51 percent for the game, but only 38 percent in the second half after shooting 62 percent in the opening period. TU held a 34-31 advantage in rebounding and grabbed 12 offensive boards. Jaaron Simmons scored 30 points, and Kenny Kaminski added 21 points for Ohio.

The Golden Hurricane will play the winner of Indiana State-Norfolk State at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

Ohio led 54-37 at the half, but Tulsa cut the deficit to 54-43 with a six-point run to open the second period. TU trailed 56-45 with 16:43 to play after a layup by Birt. The Bobcats, however, went on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 66-47 with 13:11 remaining. Tulsa cut it to 15 points after a tip-in and pair of free throws by Harrison, but four straight points gave Ohio a 70-51 advantage with 11:20 left.

Tulsa quickly cut the deficit to 10 points in the next 1:22, as Harrison scored seven straight points, Woodard made a jumper, and Harrison converted a layup, making the score 70-60. Ohio increased its lead back to 13 points, 76-63, with 8:59 remaining, but the Hurricane outscored the Bobcats 27-14 over the remainder of the game.

From the 81-72 deficit at the 4:41 mark, Tulsa used a 14-0 run to take an 86-81 lead. TU forced five turnovers during that 3:07 run, and forced 10 turnovers from the 11:20 mark until the end of the game.

“Our defense wasn’t what it needed to be. They made a lot of shots, but our defense wasn’t on point, and we gave them some open looks,” Haith said of the first 30 minutes of the game. They’re a good offensive team. They have five guys out there that can make a three, and that’s a tough matchup. Our intensity level wasn’t what it needed to be on that end of the court. Even when we got looks (on offense in the first half), we missed around the basket. I think once we started getting stops in the second half and we got going in transition, it allowed us to get some momentum. We flowed a lot better.”

Ohio shot 62 percent in the first half, making 8-of-10 3-pointers and 14-of-16 free throws while Tulsa shot 39 percent with just one 3-pointer and 14-of-21 foul shots. Swannegan led the Hurricane with 13 points at the break.

The Bobcats scored the first six points of the game, and made three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of play, taking an early 9-3 lead. Curtis knocked down a trey to cut the deficit to 14-10 at the 15:06 mark, but Ohio extended its lead to 28-14 with 9:11 to play in the half. Tulsa was only able to pull as close as 11 points, 35-24 after a Swannegan layup, for the rest of the period. Ohio scored seven of the final 10 points of the half to take a 54-37 lead at the intermission.