TU Opens Season With Win Over Central Arkansas

Six players scored in double figures, led by 23 points from James Woodard and 22 points from Shaquille Harrison, as the Tulsa basketball team opened the 2015-16 season with a 98-81 win over Central Arkansas Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

TU’s dynamic senior guard duo totaled 45 points, 11 rebounds, eight steals and five assists, while combining to make 18 of 30 shots for a .600 shooting average. The Golden Hurricane (1-0) shot 59 percent from the field (38-for-65) as a team, knocked down 10 3-pointers and tallied 20 assists to 11 turnovers. TU recorded nine steals, and forced 18 turnovers by the Bears (0-1), who shot 51 percent from the field (29-for-57) and made 11 threes.

Senior forward Brandon Swannegan and junior guard Pat Birt each scored 12 points, senior forward D’Andre Wright scored 11 points, and senior guard Marquel Curtis added 10 points. Woodard connected on 5-of-7 3-pointers, and Birt hit three treys.

“I thought our players were outstanding offensively, and defensively, give Central Arkansas credit – they made some shots,” Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith said. “Central Arkansas has some good offensive players in (Derreck) Brooks and (Jordan) Howard. I thought execution-wise we were really good, and we had 38 field goals with 20 assists, and that comes from sharing the ball. It was good to see some of our guys that hadn’t played well in the exhibitions get out and play well – Shaq being one and Pat Birt being another. I thought D’Andre got off to a great start, and he got in foul trouble, but he has been playing well too. All in all it was a great win for us.”

Wright scored six of Tulsa’s first eight points to propel the Hurricane to an early 8-2 lead. Freshman guard Sterling Taplin made a 3-pointer at the 15:36 mark to give TU a 13-6 lead, and after UCA cut the advantage to two points, a fastbreak layup by Harrison with 9:15 left in the half made the score 22-15. The Hurricane led by as many as nine points, 44-35, after a layup by Curtis with 0:24 left in the period. A 3-pointer by UCA’s Jordan Howard made the score 44-38 at the half.

UCA cut the Tulsa lead to one point, 44-43, to open the second half, on a three by Justin Foreman and a jumper by Howard. Tulsa responded with a 10-0 run, sparked by a layup from Wright, and capped by a trey from Woodard. A layup by Swannegan with 13:55 remaining extended the run to 17-2, and made the score 61-45. The only UCA points in that span came on a pair of free throws, and TU did not allow a field goal in nearly five minutes during the run.

Harrison slammed home a dunk with 12:09 left to make the score 67-50. Tulsa led 78-63 with 9:31 remaining, but the Bears scored six straight points to cut the lead to 78-69 with 6:28 left in the game. The Hurricane once again responded with a big run, scoring 10 straight points to extend the lead to 88-69 with 4:36 left. Birt knocked down two 3-pointers, and Woodard hit a trey during the spurt.

Birt and Harrison slammed consecutive dunks, and Birt converted a free throw for a three-point play on his dunk, to extend the lead to 95-71 with 2:53 left. Birt then made a three to give TU its largest lead at 25 points, 98-73, with 1:49 remaining in the game. A 3-pointer by Brooks in the final seconds made the final score, 98-81.

Tulsa scored 54 points in the paint, 28 points off turnovers, and received a 37-point contribution from the bench. UCA held a slight, 32-30, rebounding advantage.

UCA guard Derreck Brooks scored 25 points, making five 3-pointers to lead the Bears. Howard added 16 points, and Justin Foreman scored 14 points for UCA.

With his 22 points in the game, Harrison became the 37th player in Tulsa basketball history to score 1,000 points. He now has 1,020 career points, joining teammate James Woodard in the club.

The Golden Hurricane plays host to No. 10 Wichita State at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Reynolds Center.