No. 13 Tulsa 75, Rice 33

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- By the time Tulsa's defense finally let up, Rice had more turnovers than points. Eric Coley scored 18 points and had eight steals as the 13th-ranked Golden Hurricane caused 35

Monday, February 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- By the time Tulsa's defense finally let up, Rice had more turnovers than points. Eric Coley scored 18 points and had eight steals as the 13th-ranked Golden Hurricane caused 35 turnovers in a 75-33 win over the Owls on Monday night. "Tulsa played like a hungry basketball team for 40 minutes," Rice coach Willis Wilson said. "As a coach, that's very impressive."

Coley's 263rd career steal, leading to a dunk with 81/2 minutes to play, broke Tim Hardaway's conference record for steals. Hardaway, a star guard for the Miami Heat, set the record for Texas El-Paso from 1986-89.

The Hurricane saved their most dominating game of the season for a national television audience. "Coach told us a lot of people have never seen us play this year, and we want to make a great impact, a good showing, across the country for everybody to see we're not just a fluke or a surprise team in the Top 25," Coley said.

Marcus Hill added 11 points, including a 3-pointer in a 15-0 run in the first-half that gave Tulsa a 19-4 lead. Rice, on its longest losing streak since losing 18 straight in the 1975-76 season, scored only two points in the first 71/2 minutes. The Owls, playing without three injured starters, shot 27 per cent for the game.

Alex Bougaieff led Rice with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Rice's 33 points equals the least allowed by Tulsa since the Golden Hurricane beat the Owls 65-33 in 1997. "We really guarded today," Tulsa coach Bill Self said. "Our offense wasn't great but our defense was outstanding."