Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano says Tulsa only won one of its two road games last week.
The University of Tulsa men’s basketball team had a reunion with one of its former players, a meeting that would only bring despair to the team as another close match fell out of its grip. The Golden Hurricane was on the road last week where it faced Memphis. The team encountered former Golden Hurricane PJ Haggerty, who led the Tigers with 23 points.
The game had a slow start, the first shot taking two minutes to be made. The first points of the game came from a tip-in layup for the Tigers. Despite Memphis taking the first points, Tulsa would keep the game tight and trail the Tigers for the next few minutes. With 13:31 left in the half, Dwon Odom would make a jumper off a Memphis turnover.
Unfortunately for Tulsa, Memphis retook the lead, and it would hold it for most of the half. Tulsa would right its coattails, not allowing the Tigers to lead by more than six points. At some point in the half, the Golden Hurricane was trailing 27-21. The audience was on edge when Tulsa went on a 7-0 run to claim the lead once more. Tyshawn Archie would make back-to-back layups, one of which was made off a steal and assist from Odom. This series of plays would be topped off by Jared Garcia, this being his second three-pointer of the night. The score sat at 28-27.
Memphis would quickly tie the game up (29-29). The Tigers’ PJ Carter fueled an 8-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers. Despite this, Tulsa would continue to cling onto the Tigers’ behind. The Golden Hurricane would hit the locker rooms down 39-34.
The Tigers came out roaring in the second half, extending its lead to 52-43 after some back-to-back three-pointers. The play came from Haggerty, who connected with Tyrese Hunter for a three-pointer. This play forced Tulsa to take a timeout.
The timeout did nothing to slow down Memphis, the team going on a 9-0 run after another steal and three-pointer from Hunter. Its scoring run was ended by Archie and Odom, the sophomore guard found the Georgia State transfer sprinting down the court to cut down the Memphis lead to 55-45.
With just under 10 minutes left in the game, the Tigers started to pull away towards victory. Haggerty extended its lead to 12 with a three-pointer. Both teams would hit each other with back-to-back three-pointers, but in the end, Memphis would hit a six-point streak to hold a strong lead. Following this, the Golden Hurricane would outscore Memphis 14-6. However, the Tigers’ lead was so great, this effort would not be enough. In the end, the Tigers triumphed 83-71.
After this road game, the Golden Hurricane returned home and hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday. The breakfast burritos did little to nothing in helping the Golden Hurricane bounce back after its road loss. The team would trail the Owls for most of the game. Despite multiple timeouts in an attempt to slow FAU down, it would continue to widen the gap in score. Tulsa would lose this match 55-79. This game pushed its conference record down 3-8 (9-15 overall) Its next home game will be on Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. against UTSA.
