Golden Hurricane Blasts WKU In Opening Round

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane opened up the Charleston Classic in dominant fashion Thursday with a 65-49 win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Western Kentucky started the game quickly and jumped out to a 9-4 lead, but that was pushed out to a 14-10 lead, but that was essentially the last time they held the lead.

Scottie Haralson knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to take the lead, sparking an 11-0 run to put the advantage to 21-10. The Hilltoppers put together a run of their own, outscoring the Golden Hurricane 9-4 to close the deficit to25-19.

Over the next five minutes, Tulsa went to work, more than doubling up Western Kentucky's output to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room. The Hilltoppers' scoreless run extended for the first four minutes of the second half, while Tulsa tacked on seven more to take a dominating 45-25 lead.

Sophomore center Kodi Maduka led the charge for Tulsa, scoring 16 and grabbing seven boards in his 24 minutes of playing time. Jordan Clarkson and Scottie Haralson both finished with nine, while Clarkson grabbed four boards and dished out three assists.

Khalil McDonald led the charge for Western Kentucky, scoring 13 and grabbing three rebounds, with Nigel Snipes adding in 10 points and two assists.

Tulsa will now await the winner of LSU and Northwestern for its semifinal matchup, which will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday.