Reynold Center stunned by Tulsa’s comeback

Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano discusses men’s basketball against Wichita.The Golden Hurricane’s men’s basketball team made a stunning comeback against Wichita State despite trailing behind the Shockers for most of the first half. On Wednesday night, Jan. 31, the Golden Hurricane was able to beat Wichita State at its 141st meeting.
Tulsa Head Coach Eric Konkol was impressed by the overall game environment and the long-time game history between Tulsa and Wichita wrangling in a crowd of over 5,000 people. “I want to thank our Tulsa fans, because even with the earlier start, people just really showed up. To hear the ‘Go TU’ chants and everything else, those are the types of things that we’re really excited about and really thankful for.”
Once again, guards PJ Haggerty and Cobe Williams led the scoring with 23 and 21 points, respectively. Konkol said that Haggerty played a key role in the game, and his and the team’s ability to lock down on defense was the toughness that held Wichita down.
Tulsa came out with a strong lead in the first half but was quickly subdued by the Shockers after a 14-2 run to take a 15-10 lead just four minutes into the game. Its 67 shooting percentage outshined the Golden Hurricane’s 44.
The Golden Hurricane would continue to trail, and Konkol would take Williams out and substitute freshman guard Tyshawn Archie to run the court. Archie started a bit rocky, his bad pass allowing H Beverly to put the Shockers 14-22. He would hit his stride, hitting two three-pointers to keep the Golden Hurricane in the competition 22-28.
At the last minute of the half, a loss seemed inevitable when Wichita’s Quincy Ballard smashed through Tulsa’s defense, his dunk putting the score 28-43 to give the Shockers a 15-point lead. The half would end with Wichita walking off the court with a double-digit lead, the score sitting 32-43.
Halftime seemed to have cooled down the Shockers, and they went the first five minutes of the second half scoreless. Within that time frame, the Golden Hurricane scored seven points to put them only four points behind. Xavier Bell would score a three-pointer to keep Wichita up 39-45. Williams would begin to call the shots for the Golden Hurricane, his offensive strokes bringing the game to a 47-47 tie.
The Shockers would hold the lead for the next six minutes, its highest lead being six points when Colby Rogers sank a three-point shot to bring the score 57-63. Haggerty would begin to shine when he followed a 4-4 free throw performance with a three-point field goal to put the Hurricane in its first lead of the half. The Golden Hurricane would allow one more lead change and tie to occur before they put the Shockers in its tailwind for the remainder of the game.
Jared Garcia would pull them into this lead, his layup and free throw combo putting the Golden Hurricane at a narrow 69-66. Williams would add a single point to this lead, and Isaiah Barnes would come out with his first and only score of the game to put them 73-68. Haggerty would go on another free-throw scoring run, his 6 made free throws putting the Golden Hurricane at a winning score of 79-68 in the last 10 seconds of the game.
Despite the hiccups, Tulsa was happy with the outcome, and now its record has improved 12-8.