Creighton 86, Tulsa 76

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ When it looked like Tulsa was about to overtake Creighton, Bluejays coach Dana Altman called a timeout and had a word or two with his players. <br><br>They responded well to the talk,

Wednesday, December 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ When it looked like Tulsa was about to overtake Creighton, Bluejays coach Dana Altman called a timeout and had a word or two with his players.

They responded well to the talk, going on a 16-0 second-half run to break open the game and beat the Golden Hurricane 86-76 Tuesday night.

``They came out and didn't give Tulsa any good looks at the basket for several possessions,'' Altman said after the game.

Ryan Sears scored 21 points for Creighton (7-2), which shot 53.6 percent from the field and committed just 11 turnovers. Tulsa committed 19 turnovers, including seven in a second-half collapse.

Trailing 44-36 at halftime, Tulsa (6-4) climbed within 51-49 at the 15:55 mark. Kyle Korver turned it around for Creighton with consecutive baskets and the Bluejays were cruising toward the largest victory at Tulsa since an 88-75 win by Southern Illinois on Dec. 30, 1997.

Ben Walker added 20 points, Korver had 19 points and Taylor Terrell had 13 for Creighton.

The Bluejays dominated the first half, making 8-of-15 3-pointers, outrebounding Tulsa by 10 and getting off 10 more shots from the field.

Korver, continually left open on the wing, hit 4-of-5 3-pointers in scoring 14 in the half.

Tulsa shot a season-high 57.8 percent from the field, but was outrebounded 27-22, including 12-5 on the offensive boards.

Greg Harrington led Tulsa with 17 points, followed by Dante Swanson with 12, and Marcus Hill and Kevin Johnson with 10 points each.

Tulsa coach Buzz Peterson described the loss as not just the low point of the season but of his coaching career.

``I hope this as low as it gets,'' Peterson said. ``We're really searching right now.''

Tulsa is coming off a 92-69 loss to No. 9 Kansas on Saturday. Tuesday's loss was Tulsa's first non-conference defeat in more than two seasons at the Reynolds Center.