The win streak continues! Tulsa’s men’s basketball team remains perfect in conference play with two wins this week, against Tulane and University of South Florida.
On Tuesday night, the Golden Hurricane traveled to New Orleans to face Tulane. The teams traded lead for much of the first half, with the Green Wave holding a one point lead with four minutes remaining in the half, 20–19.
From there, Tulsa held Tulane scoreless for the remainder of the half, and used that to propel an 8-point run that gave them a 27–20 lead heading into halftime.
In the second half, Tulane quickly cut the lead back to three at 31–28 after five minutes of play, but then the defense stepped up again, and Tulsa responded with a 14–4 run that gave them a 45–32 lead. TU then increased the lead to 16, at 55–39 with four minutes left, and appeared to have the game easily in hand.
Junior guard Rashad Smith goes up to the basket against USF on Saturday. Smith led the Golden Hurricane with 21 points, 5 rebounds (including 3 offensive) and 2 steals on the day. This was a season high for Smith.
However, Tulane proceeded to score 11 straight points, to bring the deficit down to 5 points. That was as close as they would come, however, as Tulsa’s defense stood strong and held on to win the game 62–55. The win gave the Golden Hurricane their tenth consecutive victory this season.
Tulsa returned home to play against USF on Saturday morning. The Golden Hurricane started slowly, and USF built an 8–0 lead after three minutes of play. TU then got their first point on a Shaquille Harrison free throw, and the half remained tightly contested.
The first half of the game featured five ties and four lead changes, as neither team was able to gain a large portion of the momentum.
The USF guards caused issues for Tulsa on defense with their speed and dribbling, but TU’s size led to many easy put-backs off of offensive rebounds. USF guard Corey Allen, Jr. made a three-point jumper at the buzzer to give USF a three-point lead heading into the break.
The second half consisted of much of the same play as the first half. Tulsa’s size advantage and the speed of USF’s guards continued to keep the game close, with neither team able to pull away.
The guards for USF seemed unable to miss a shot, while TU’s big men, led by Brandon Swannegan who had a big game with 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks, kept rebounding TU’s missed jump shots for easy layups to keep the game close.
Neither team could pull ahead in the second half either, and after Tulsa guard Rashad Ray tied the game at 62 with 20 seconds remaining, as well as Allen Jr.’s missed three pointer at the buzzer, the game went to overtime.
In overtime, Tulsa won the tip, and proceeded to make all four shots they took from the field, including 3 three-pointers. The Bulls couldn’t keep up with this incredible pace, and TU pulled away for a 78–71 win, remaining undefeated in conference play.
With the wins, Tulsa extends its win streak to 11 games and the conference win streak to 20. They now stand at 16–5 (9–0 American Athletic Conference) on the season.
Their perfect record in conference leaves them standing at first place, one game ahead of second place SMU, with a big matchup when they face off against each other next Saturday at the Reynolds Center. Before that though, they travel to Houston on Thursday.
