TU Falls Just Short Against No. 23 Creighton

The Tulsa basketball team, led by 21 points from Rashad Smith and 18 points from Pat Swilling Jr., fought hard at No. 23 Creighton, but ultimately fell, 82-72, Saturday afternoon at CenturyLink Center Omaha.

The Golden Hurricane (0-4) trailed by five points, 73-68, with just more than two minutes remaining in the game, but the Bluejays (4-0) outscored TU, 9-4, the rest of the way. Smith scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, and Swilling buoyed the TU first-half run with 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

TU shot 43 percent from the field, while Creighton shot 52 percent from the field. The teams finished with equal rebounds – 37 apiece. CU's Doug McDermott led all scorers with 33 points, and Austin Chatman added 19 points.

Tulsa fell behind as many as nine points in the first half, 17-8, and trailed 21-14 with 8:55 remaining before the break, but a 10-3 run knotted the game at 24-24 at the 6:33 mark. The spread was no more than four points for the remainder of the half.

Harrison drove in for a layup to give the Hurricane a 37-36 lead with 2:14 left in the half. It was the first TU lead since the first basket of the game.

The Golden Hurricane went up by three, 39-36, on a Swilling layup, before a 3-pointer by Chatman tied the score. TU led once again, 41-39, on a layup by Swilling, and Chatman made a 3-pointer in the final seconds as Creighton took a 42-41 lead into the half.

The Bluejays opened the second half with a 13-4 run to extend its lead to 10 points, 55-45, at the 17:18 mark. Tulsa cut the deficit to below 10 points five times before the Creighton lead grew to 13 points at 71-58 with 6:14 remaining.

The Hurricane fought back to close the gap to five points with 2:10 on the clock with a layup by Smith, but McDermott hit a 3-pointer and Creighton went on for the 82-72 win.

The Golden Hurricane returns to action next week at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. TU opens the tournament against Indiana State at 10:30 p.m.