This past week, the Tulsa Golden hurricane men’s basketball team played two games on the road. The first game was last Tuesday against Temple, and the second game was last Saturday against East Carolina.
In the Golden Hurricane’s first game of the week, Temple began the game with a 6-0 lead over Tulsa and later expanded this lead to 10-2 four minutes into the game. A few minutes later, after several layups by Rey Idowu, the Golden Hurricane had reduced Temple’s lead to just two points and a score of 14-12. This, however, was the closest they would ever get to Temple for the remainder of the game as the Owls soon bounced out to an eleven-point 23-12 lead.
Despite Tulsa continuing to score, Temple went into the half time break with a 44-25 lead. Elijah Joiner opened the second half scoring but Temple added onto their already large lead. They continued this throughout the rest of the game and, while Tulsa was able to make a small comeback, Temple ultimately won the game by a score of 76-67. Even though the Golden Hurricane was unable to win the game, Rey Idowu scored a career high 20 points and Elijah Joiner scored 15.
In the Golden Hurricane’s second game of the week, an early three-point jumper by Austin Richie gave Tulsa an early 3-2 lead. The lead went back and forth over the next few minutes, but when Austin Richie made another three-point jumper, Tulsa took the lead for the next few minutes. East Carolina once again took the lead, but Tulsa took it right back when Elijah Joiner made a layup putting Tulsa ahead 24-23. Tulsa held the lead going into the halftime break with a score of 37-35. Throughout the beginning of the second half, Tulsa kept the lead with points by Brandon Rachal, Rey Idowu, and Emmanuel Ugboh until East Carolina took the lead ten minutes into half.
Tulsa kept a small lead until East Carolina tied the game at 63 points each with just over four minutes left to play. Two free throws by Elijah Joiner gave the Golden Hurricane the lead again and from this point they never looked back. Tulsa won the game with a final score of 77-68. Brandon Rachal scored the most points for Tulsa with 21 points while also achieving a double-double with his 10 rebounds.
As the week of American Athletic Conference basketball ends, Tulsa moves to 9-6 on the season. Their next game is Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in the Reynolds Center where they will face the Southern Methodist Mustangs. They will also play the University of Central Florida on Saturday at 11 a.m.
