No. 14 Tulsa 71, Rice 51

(Fresno, California-AP) -- Eric Coley and the Tulsa basketball team had no problem with Rice, beating them 71-51 in the first game<br>of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament this afternoon.<br><br>Coley

Thursday, March 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Fresno, California-AP) -- Eric Coley and the Tulsa basketball team had no problem with Rice, beating them 71-51 in the first game
of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament this afternoon.

Coley had a block, an assist, a steal and reverse layup in an early spurt for Number 14 Tulsa, which faces Texas Christian in a second-round game tomorrow night. T-C-U beat San Jose State 84-71 in the first round.

Tulsa's sixth-man David Shelton scored 20 points and Brandon Kurtz had 14 to carry Tulsa most of the way. At 28-and-3, top-seeded Tulsa was expected to have little trouble with the Owls, a team they twice beat handily during the regular season.

Rice finished its season at 5-and-22, despite 14 second-half points from Erik Cooper. Mike Wilks added 10 points.

Tulsa led the game 38-18 at halftime