Rice Owls to overtime

Sports editor Jaraynn Tammi Morellano says the Golden Hurricane defeated Rice again.
The University of Tulsa’s men’s basketball team met with the Rice Owls, and star freshman PJ Haggerty scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Golden Hurricane to a 93-82 victory. The Saturday game went into overtime, and the results put the Golden Hurricane at a 13-12 overall record with a conference record of 4-9. The Owls have been bumped down below the Golden Hurricane with a record of 9-16 (3-9 AAC).
“I was very concerned about playing Rice because of all their movement, their action, and how you have to be so alert all the time,” said Tulsa Head Coach Eric Konkol. “Give Rice credit, they’re one of the toughest covers. The way that they play, it’s so unique. The way that they shoot it and drive it, and how [Max] Fiedler orchestrates everything.”
Jared Garcia sank the game’s first points with a three-pointer. However, the Golden Hurricane was anything but safe, with Rice taking a 5-point lead in the first five minutes to lead 6-11. Rice would gain its largest lead in the last eight minutes, the six-point difference putting the score at 31-25. Haggerty and Isaiah Barnes would collectively bring the Golden Hurricane on a 7-0 run to bridge the gap 32-21.
Rice and Tulsa would exchange blows, but Mohamed Keita would bring the Golden Hurricane back on top. His unassisted layup brought the score to 42-39. Despite Rice taking the lead shortly after, Haggerty’s free throw would tie it 43-43 to send both teams into the halftime deadlocked.
The Owls scored the first four points of the half to take the lead. The back-and-forth battle would carry on, a layup from Matt Reed putting Tulsa back up 48-47. The Owls and the Golden Hurricane continued to exchange leads two more times. Rice would gain another surge of life, going on a 7-0 run to take the lead 56-55. The Owls would hold onto this lead for most of the half.
Cobe Williams would sink a three into the Owls’ net to put the Hurricane 76-72, but Rice would hit another stride to score five points and lead by a single point. In the last minute, Rice would lead 79-77. Haggerty kept the Golden Hurricane alive with a layup at the 0:59 mark to tie the game 79-79 and bring the game into overtime.
Not wasting Haggerty’s efforts, Tulsa would score nine uncontested points to bring itself to an 88-79 lead. The combined effort came from three of the Golden Hurricane’s top scorers, Barnes, Williams and Haggerty. Rice would not score a point until the last two minutes of overtime, its first point coming from 1-of-2 free throw attempts. The Golden Hurricane’s final scoring effort came from Haggerty, with his two made free throws securing the victory over Rice.
“I’m really proud of our team for sticking with it and finding a way. We didn’t defend great, but to see 20 assists and five turnovers is a real big thing for us. We’re really proud of our guys,” said coach Konkol.
Men’s basketball will now go on the road to face Wichita State on Feb. 21.