Sports writer Daryl Turner covers all the exciting details of the Hurricane’s exhibition game.
The University of Tulsa basketball fans are coming to a realization: the season is finally here! Fans of the sport around campus feel as if this season is going to be one for the books. One TU sophomore said the excitement surrounding both the women’s and men’s basketball teams is “utterly flabbergasting” and he couldn’t wait to see them play. Luckily for him, TU men’s basketball played and won their first exhibition game decisively on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against Northeastern State.
The men jumped out to a 32-16 lead at the half, and when they returned after halftime they continued to dominate and easily secured the win with a ending score of 84-53. Impacting the game immensely, new transfer from the University of Texas-Arlington, Sam Griffin, had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Sam had made his mark offensively at the start of the game and just continuously kept that same energy throughout till the very end. It was a good showing for him as well as his teammates. Jeriah Horne was the next highest scorer on the team coming in with 15 points and Rey Idowu came right behind him with 12.
Overall the team shot a pretty good .470 percent from the field, but they went an astonishing .381 from the three. Sam Griffin went 3-of-4 while Jeriah Horne went 3-for-6 from three. Also helping out with the three percentage was Tim Dalger who went 1-for-1 and Ladivous Draine who went 1-for-3 from behind the arc. Another solid part of the men’s game was the tremendous rebounding in which they outrebounded the RiverHawks by 17 boards. Ending with 52 rebounds while the other team had 35. The men played hard and were the far superior team that night.
No question about it, Tulsa men’s basketball team is coming out hot and heavy this year, and there is no telling how far coach Frank Haith can or will take this team. With the newly acquired transfers settling in and getting accustomed to Coach Frank’s System, this team could be dangerous come regular season next week. The men’s next game is on Nov. 10 against a talented Northwestern State at the Reynolds Center and this time the game will actually count. TU’s men’s basketball looks to officially get the ball rolling and start the regular season off the right way with a 1-0 record, so tune in for the game and come support the TU men’s basketball squad.
While the men have now officially kicked off their season, University of Tulsa women’s basketball have still been diligently practicing and working for their upcoming game on Nov. 11, the first for their season, against Duquesne. The women seem to be ready to go, and with their new head coach Angie Nelp, it looks that the team has hope of making it far. The season is going to officially start for both of the teams next week, so all the waiting, wishing and hoping is over with. It’s finally time to enjoy some NCAA basketball.
