TU Runs Away With 79-53 Win Over ECU In Conference Opener

Thursday, December 28

Reynolds Center

4 PM

Tulsa

8-5, 1-0

ECU

6-6, 0-1

ECU

Tulsa

Photo by: John Lew

TU Runs Away With 79-53 Win Over ECU In Conference Opener

12/28/2017 6:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. — Junior Etou registered his second double-double of the season with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and Tulsa went on a 29-4 second half run en route to a 79-53 victory over ECU in its American Athletic Conference opener on Thursday evening.

Etou nearly had the double-double at halftime (10 points/8 rebounds) to lead the Golden Hurricane (8-5, 1-0 The American), which has won four of its last five games. With the big night, Etou moved past 1,000 points for his Division I career with 372 points in two seasons at Rutgers and 639 points in 45 games (14.2 ppg) at TU.

He led four players in double-figures as Lawson Korita tied a career-high with 12 points, all in the second half, while Corey Henderson Jr. had 11 points and Geno Artison added a career-high 10 points.

TU warmed up to shoot 52.8-percent in the second half and 42.3-percent in the game. The Hurricane also held a 49-43 edge on the glass and turned 13 ECU turnovers into 19 points.

"First half, I thought we were playing extremely hard," head coach Frank Haith said. "We scored a couple baskets early that were easy, and I think we got caught up and took some tough shots, but we still competed hard, which was good to see. In the second half, I thought we played for each other, but our defense was outstanding all night, and it was good to see some other guys like Lawson (Korita) and Geno (Artison) step up on the offensive end."

Meanwhile, B.J. Tyson led the Pirates (6-6, 0-1 The American) with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. ECU was held to a season-low 31.8-percent shooting, including just 21.4-percent over the final 20 minutes.

Korita and the TU press ignited the Hurricane to start the second half as the sophomore scored eight points during a 10-2 run for the home squad to start the second half. After Martins Igbanu scored inside, Korita sandwiched a layup off a steal from Sterling Taplin between a pair of 3-pointers for a 41-29 lead.

Tyson's jumper pulled the Pirates within 46-37 with 13:18 to play, but the Hurricane put the game away with its 29-4 run over the next nine minutes. Etou scored eight points during the run, which was capped by a 3-pointer from Elijah Joiner that extended the lead to 75-41 with just four minutes left.

From there, the Hurricane coasted to the 79-53 final that was sealed with a bucket from walk-on Alex Foree.

ECU got on the board first with a basket in the first minute, but Tulsa rattled off a 12-2 run for an early cushion while its defense held the visitors to just 2-of-12 shooting over the first six minutes.

Taplin got the scoring started for TU with a long jumper before three straight 3-pointers, two from Corey Henderson Jr. and one from Etou, gave the Hurricane a 12-4 advantage. Minutes later, Etou found Artison for a layup and TU got four consecutive free throws for an 18-8 lead, it's largest of the half.

Artison put an end to an 8-0 run for ECU that knotted the score at 22 with a 3-pointer and the Hurricane took a 31-27 lead to halftime.

Conference play continues for Tulsa at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31, when it will head to New Orleans for a matchup at Tulane (9-3, 0-0 The American).

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