On Thursday, Tulsa’s men’s basketball team nearly pulled off a road victory against conference for Temple, but fell short in overtime, 83–79.
In the first half, neither team was able to pull away for much of a lead. Each time one team had a run, the other would counter with a run of their own. At halftime, the score was knotted at 27 each.
Tulsa came out hot in the second half, and opened up a lead with a 15–3 run. Until five minutes left in the game, the Golden Hurricane were able to keep the lead over five, coming up with some clutch three-pointers after short Owl spurts. Temple kept fighting back, though, and managed to tie the score at 61 with two minutes remaining. Devin Coleman knocked down a three-pointer for the Owls with three seconds remaining, and that tied the score at 70 as it headed into overtime.
In the extra period, Tulsa had trouble getting momentum. The teams traded a few buckets, but then Temple closed the game on a 9–4 run to seal the victory.
On Sunday, the Golden Hurricane hosted Houston looking to avenge their earlier loss to the Cougars on the road. On the strength of Pat Birt’s best game as a Golden Hurricane—27 points including 5 three-pointers—Tulsa beat Houston by 14, 77–63.
The Golden Hurricane drop from their tie for second in the conference, and now sit tied for 4th in the crowded American Athletic Conference with a record of 15–8 (7–4 AAC).
