TU Pulls Away From Buffalo Late To Earn Win

Freshman James Woodard scored seven of his game-high 22 points in the final three minutes as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane pulled away from the University of Buffalo for a 63-57 victory in front of 3,894 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Wednesday night.

Pat Swilling added 11 points and Scottie Haralson had 10 points for the Hurricane. Woodard also led Tulsa with eight rebounds, while Haralson had a team-high four assists. Buffalo's Javon McCrea had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bulls, while Auraum Nuiriankh also grabbed 11 boards. The two teams each grabbed 41 rebounds.

"Today was a game of offensive struggle from both teams in terms of shooting the basketball. I think you can give both teams a little credit defensively, but on both sides of the court players missed shots they would normally make, or should have made, or shot a lower percentage than normal," said Tulsa's Danny Manning.

Tulsa (8-6) scored nine straight points, seven by Woodard, to break a 51-51 tie and pull away from Buffalo (5-8).

Tulsa hits the road to open Conference USA play against the SMU Mustangs this Sunday, Jan. 6. The game pits TU coach Danny Manning against his college coach at Kansas, Larry Brown.