Tulsa Basketball Falls To Cal State Northridge

Tulsa dropped its final game of the NUCDF Challenge, and its first game of the season, with a 92-76 defeat to Cal State Northridge Saturday evening at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Three players scored in double figures for the Golden Hurricane (3-1), led by Rashad Smith's 15 points. James Woodard scored 14 points and Rashad Ray added 13 points for TU. Josh Greene led the Matadors (5-0) with 28 points.

The Hurricane shot 46 percent from the field, while CSUN shot 44 percent, and the Matadors held a 38-33 advantage in rebounds.

Down 42-26 early in the second half, Tulsa closed the gap to two points, 53-51 with 12:48 remaining with a 25-12 run. The Hurricane kept it close, but could not tie or take the lead, and still trailed by two points, 61-59, with 10:01 remaining.

Cal State Northridge then went on a 15-4 run to extend its lead back to 13 points, 76-63, with 4:09 left in the game. TU used a full-court press following two free throws by James Woodard, and yielded a pair of steals resulting in a dunk by Smith and a three-pointer by Haralson to pull back to a five point-deficit, 76-71, with 2:56 remaining. The Matadors closed the game on a 16-5 run.

Tulsa made the first basket of the game, but found itself trailing 14-5 with 12:30 left in the half. The Golden Hurricane clawed back to retake the lead, 22-21, with 5:25 remaining in the period.

Cal State Northridge went ahead again with a basket at the 5:10 mark, and used a 19-4 run to end the half and take a 40-26 advantage into the intermission.

The Golden Hurricane returns home to the Donald W. Reynolds Center to face Jackson State at 7 p.m. Wednesday.