Tulsa Suffers First Loss of the Season at Missouri State

Originally Published: Nov 28, 2009 10:40 PM CDT

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri -- Tulsa's comeback bid against Missouri State fell short as the Bears posted an 83-75 victory in front of 7,389 fans at JQH Arena on Saturday night. The loss dropped the Hurricane to 5-1, while MSU improved to 5-0.

It was the first time the Bears won on their home court against the Hurricane in the last six games in Springfield, and broke a five-game Tulsa winning streak in the series.

Tulsa's Jerome Jordan finished the game with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Ben Uzoh totaled 20 points for the Hurricane. MSU's Adam Leonard scored a game-high 24 points, while center Caleb Patterson added 17 points.

The Bears jumped on the Hurricane early and continued it's strong shooting throughout the game and finished at 52-percent from the field and 56-percent from three-point range. After Tulsa scored the first two points of the game, MSU built its first double-digit lead, 14-4, at the 16:05 mark, while the Hurricane took only its second lead of the entire game at 23-21 on a Donte Medder three-pointer at the 8:54 mark.

MSU closed out the half with a 19-9 run to take a 42-30 lead into halftime. For the Hurricane, Medder and Justin Hurtt shared the first-half scoring lead for Tulsa with 8 points. Patterson led the first-half attack for the Bears with 10 points as the Bears shot 54-percent from the field.

In the second half, the Bears started out strong again, but the Hurricane battled back as the seniors Uzoh and Jordan combined for 35 of Tulsa's 45 second-half points. Tulsa cut the Bears lead which reached 21 points to three points with 2:17 left in the contest. But, MSU connected on 11-of-14 free throws in the final 1:44 to hold onto the victory. Leonard hit 7-of-8 free throws and Will Creekmore, a Tulsa native, hit 4-of-6 freebies.

Tulsa returns home to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a Wednesday night contest at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 pm. The game has been billed "Hurricane Hoops for Hunger", in which fans are asked to bring non-perishable food items to the game to help benefit the Community Food bank of Eastern Oklahoma.