Tulsa 91, Cal State-Northridge 70

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Rod Earls scored a career-high 26 points and Ben Uzoh added 19 as Tulsa outscored Cal State-Northridge 91-70 on Saturday.<br/><br/>Earls, a junior college transfer who missed the 2005-06

Saturday, November 25th 2006, 10:02 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Rod Earls scored a career-high 26 points and Ben Uzoh added 19 as Tulsa outscored Cal State-Northridge 91-70 on Saturday.

Earls, a junior college transfer who missed the 2005-06 season with a broken foot, and the true freshman Uzoh helped Tulsa exceed 90 points for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

Tulsa (3-1) also got a strong outing from senior forward Charles Ramsdell, who made all 4 of his field goal attempts, including 2 jumpers that boosted Tulsa's lead from 66-60 to 71-60. Ramsdell finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Earls scored on a 16-foot jumper, a steal and layup and a 3-pointer in the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half as the Golden Hurricane turned a 46-40 halftime lead into a 55-46 advantage.

Cal State-Northridge (4-3) hung within striking range until the final 4 minutes, but Tulsa made 14 of 15 free throws in the final 4:30 and steadily pulled away. Earls was 13-13 from the line and Tulsa made 32 of 38 while the Matadors hit 16 of 24.

Tulsa, which shot 57.8 from the field (26-45) also got double-figure outings from post players Jamel McLean, who had 12, and Sam Mitchell with 11. The Golden Hurricane outrebounded Cal State-Northridge 35-26.

Calvin Chitwood had 11 points and Jayme Miller 10 for Cal State-Northridge, which shot 41 percent from the field.

The Matadors' aggressive zone defense resulted in 30 personal fouls and Tulsa capitalized throughout. Tulsa made 18 of 22 free throws in the 1st half, attempting more free throws than field goals (20).