20 for 20: Two Decades of Reynolds Center Magic

The 2017-18 campaign marks the 20^th season for The University of Tulsa men’s and women’s basketball programs in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Ground broke on the $32 million facility that houses Golden Hurricane men’s and women’s basketball, as well as the volleyball program, on April 30, 1997. Twenty months later, the Reynolds Center hosted TU’s mid-year graduation on Dec. 19, 1998, for the first event in the new building. Since then, the Reynolds Center has seen 296 TU men’s games and 254 women’s contests entering its 20th season.

Throughout the 2017-18 season we will look back on 20 memorable moments—10 from the men’s program and 10 from the women’s—inside the Reynolds Center, with a new moment each week. Check back with us each Monday as we take a closer look at some of the most exciting games, student-athletes and moments in TU history.

Jan. 31, 2017 — Tulsa scored the most points in school history with a 100-92 overtime victory against East Carolina on January 31, 2017. Liesl Spoerl (2013-17) hit the 100^th point on a free throw, breaking the previous mark of 98 points against East Central Oklahoma in December 1980.

Feb. 18, 2016 — After dropping a previous meeting during the season with Cincinnati, the Golden Hurricane looked to even the score against the Bearcats and what resulted was one of the most exciting games in Reynolds Center history. Cincinnati led for much of the first half and the visitors looked as though they would take an eight-point lead to intermission, but James Woodard tossed in a 75-footer just before the halftime buzzer. TU scored the first six points of the second half to take the lead and over the final 6:48 of regulation, the contest saw four ties and six lead-changes. The Bearcats forced overtime when Troy Caupain drove in for a layup with just one second left that knotted the score at 62-all. In overtime, Rashad Smith hit a jumper and Shaquille Harrison drained a pair of free throws to give TU the lead. With a 70-67 advantage, the Hurricane fouled to prevent the Bearcats from tying the game with a 3-pointer. Caupain hit the first and missed the second intentionally, but the ball went out of bounds off the Bearcats with three seconds left. A Tulsa turnover gave Cincinnati a look at a 3-pointer to win it, but Shaq Thomas’ shot missed its mark as time expired to give Tulsa a thrilling 70-68 win. The victory was Tulsa’s first against Cincinnati since 2000.

Click the video below for highlights and to hear Bruce Howard's call of the action from that day.

Feb. 13, 2016 — Kelsee Grovey (2012-16) set two school records with a career-high 32 points in Tulsa’s 94-71 victory over UCF on February 13, 2016. She entered the game needing nine three-point baskets to tie the school’s all-time record for three-pointers in a career. She bettered that record by one when she hit her 10^th three-pointer of the contest for a personal-best and school single-game record.
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Nov. 17, 2015 — Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet and the No. 9 Wichita State Shockers came to the Reynolds Center on Nov. 17, 2015, looking to extend a seven-game winning streak against its old Missouri Valley Conference rival, but TU had other plans. After a Baker dunk on the opening tip, Tulsa made four 3-pointers in the first six minutes to take an early lead. However, VanVleet hit three straight triples in the final 90 seconds to lift WSU to a 31-30 edge at halftime.

In the second half, the Shockers had a five-point advantage in the early minutes before a 7-0 TU run gave the home squad a 37-35 lead and the Hurricane would not trail again. A key four-point play from Pat Birt with 9:20 to play stretched the TU cushion to 57-51 and minutes later, an 11-2 Hurricane spurt pushed the lead to 69-57 with just four minutes remaining. WSU got no closer than nine points the rest of the way as TU students rushed the floor after the final buzzer sounded on a 77-67 Tulsa victory. Shaquille Harrison led the way with 20 points, Marquel Curtis and Birt came off the bench to contribute 16 points and 14 points, respectively.

The victory provided an early signature win for the Hurricane as it would go on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament under second-year head coach Frank Haith.

Nov. 29, 2012 — Taleya Mayberry (2009-13) tallied 616 points as a senior, the second most points in a single season in program history. She recorded 32 points, the second-most points that she scored in a single game, against Utah Valley on Nov. 29, 2012. Mayberry concluded her career ranked second in points (1,742) and assists (377), third in field goals made (596) and steals (269), fourth in three-point field goals made (159) and free throws made (391), and sixth in points per game (15.2).

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March 2, 2014 — Tulsa looked to stay in a tie atop the crowded Conference USA standings with Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee when UTSA came to town for Legends Day on March 2, 2014. The Hurricane came out firing on all cylinders and jumped out to an 18-2 lead through six minutes. The home squad held a double-digit advantage for much of the contest, until a late 15-4 run gave the Roadrunners a 60-59 lead with 3:28 left. The game would go to overtime and while TU would not trail in the extra session, the score was knotted at 70 with 33 seconds to go. With less than five seconds left, Shaquille Harrison missed a layup and Brandon Swannegan’s follow jumper also was off the mark. However, D’Andre Wright had just enough time for another offensive rebound and his layup went through the net as time expired to give TU a thrilling 72-70 win. James Woodard finished with 19 points to lead TU, while Stevie Repichowski came off the bench to add 13 points.

The win was the perfect ending to a Legends Day celebration that saw TU honor the 20th anniversary of its 1994 Sweet 16 team. At halftime, the program honored former head coach Tubby Smith and members of that 1994 team, which was the first in program history to advance to the Sweet 16.

The victory also allowed the Hurricane to keep pace in the C-USA race and TU would finish the campaign with a share of the conference title and the No. 2 seed in the league tournament. Tulsa would defeat Tulane, Middle Tennessee and top-seeded Louisiana Tech to win the C-USA Tournament and earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Jan. 3, 2013 — Tulsa’s biggest win in school history was against Langston on January 3, 2013. TU outscored the Lions by 62 points (97-35). Mariah Turner (2011-15) had a double-double in the contest with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Taleya Mayberry (2009-13) had a team-best 20 points.

Dec. 2, 2009 — An undefeated Oklahoma State team came to the Reynolds Center for the first time to take on the 5-1 Golden Hurricane on Dec. 2, 2009, and TU proved more than up to the challenge as it ran away with an 86-65 win to record the largest margin of victory against the Cowboys since 1958. Jerome Jordan scored six of TU’s first nine points to get the home squad rolling and Tulsa went on an 8-0 run late in the first half to gain a double-digit advantage that it would maintain for most of the final 23 minutes in the contest. The Cowboys got within 46-37 with 16:58 to play, but the Hurricane outscored OSU 17-6 over the next six minutes to blow the game open. Oklahoma State would get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way as Tulsa cruised to the 86-65 final. Five players scored in double-figures for the Hurricane, led by 21 points from Justin Hurtt and 17 from Bishop Wheatley. Jordan finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and six blocks before exiting with an injury, while Steven Idlet added 13 points off the bench and Ben Uzoh chipped in with 11 points and six assists.

February 24, 2006 — Tulsa clinched the program’s first-ever conference championship with a 74-63 win over Tulane to claim the Conference USA regular season title on Feb. 24, 2006. TU went on to claim the 2006 Conference USA tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament, also for the first time in program history.

March 2, 2013 — Visiting Tulane jumped out to a 22-point first-half lead on Tulsa in a Conference USA matchup at the Reynolds Center only to watch the Golden Hurricane mount the biggest comeback in program history for a 78-66 win. Kendall Timmons’ layup gave the Green Wave a 37-15 advantage with 5:11 to play in the first half and Tulane took a 43-23 lead to halftime. With just 12:28 to play, the Tulane lead stood at 15 points (52-37), but the Hurricane would outscore the Green Wave 41-14 the rest of the way and turn an almost certain defeat into a double-digit victory. In fact, it took TU less than six minutes to erase that 15-point margin and take a 58-57 lead on a pair of James Woodard free throws with 6:44 remaining. Tulane would grab the advantage again and led 63-60 with 5:04 on the clock before TU closed the game on an 18-3 run for a thrilling win in front of a crowd of 5,089 on Legends Day. Scottie Haralson led the way with 16 points as Tulsa recorded the third-largest comeback in C-USA history. At the time, only 25 college basketball games had seen a team rally for a victory after trailing by as many as 22 points.

February 19, 2005 — Jillian Robbins (2003-07) scored a career-high 38 points against Nevada on February 19, 2005. Robbins’ (2003-07) jersey was retired after the 2007 season finale and it hangs in the rafters today. Robbins was a four-year letterwinner and starter. She was a four-time all-conference first-team selection and three-time all-defensive team performer. Robbins played in 121 games and had career averages of 17.4 (2,108) points, 10.9 (1,313) rebounds, 2.0 (251) blocks and 2.8 steals (347) per game. She holds the school record for points, field goals made (747), free throws made (602), rebounds, steals, blocked shots and double-doubles (66). She is also one of two All-America honorees in program history and is the only women’s basketball Tulsa Hall of Fame inductee (2015).

April 4, 2008 — A run to the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament gave the Tulsa men’s basketball team 20 wins and provided momentum for the squad as it entered the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. With the No. 2 seed in the South Bracket, Tulsa defeated Miami (Ohio), Utah and Houston at the Reynolds Center to make the best-of-three finals against Bradley. As the higher seed, Tulsa hosted the Braves and claimed a 73-68 win in the first game, but saw Bradley defend its home floor with an 83-74 victory two nights later that set up a winner-take-all championship game on April 4 at the Reynolds Center.

Bradley came out on fire in the finale and momentarily quieted a sellout crowd as the visitors jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first five-and-a-half minutes. Rod Earls helped spark a 10-0 TU run to get back in the game, but the Braves led throughout the opening half and took a 34-28 lead to halftime.

The TU defense buckled down in the second half, holding Bradley to just 29.3-percent shooting over the final 20 minutes. The Hurricane took its first lead on a jumper from Ben Uzoh with 14:45 to play and it would be the first of 13 lead-changes in a tight second half. With 2:25 left, Earls made his fourth 3-pointer of the contest to reclaim a 60-59 advantage for TU and the Hurricane would not trail the rest of the night. Tulsa hit 10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the 70-64 victory and claim the first CBI Championship.

Uzoh led the way with 17 points, while Earls and Calvin Walls each added 14 points. Jerome Jordan was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and he neared a triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks. The victory gave Tulsa its third postseason national tournament title after winning the National Invitational Tournament in 1981 and 2001.

2001-03 — Allison Curtin (2001-03) scored a program-best 399 points in conference (Western Athletic Conference) play during the 2002-03 season. She had seven 30+ scoring games, four of which were at the Reynolds Center, including a season-best 34 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

March 15, 2003 — The top-seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team rolled into the 2003 Western Athletic Conference Tournament title game by defeating UTEP and exorcising some demons with a 10-point win over Hawaii, who had defeated TU in the championship game each of the previous two tournaments at the Reynolds Center. This time it was Nevada standing in the way of an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament and the Hurricane fell behind early before Dante Swanson spurred a 21-3 run that helped Tulsa to a 36-30 halftime lead. An early 7-0 spurt in the second half gave TU a double-digit advantage and the Hurricane would go on to claim a 75-64 win for the program’s only WAC Tournament championship. Swanson finished with a game-high 23 points, while Kevin Johnson added 18 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. In the NCAA Tournament, the 13th-seeded Hurricane would upset No. 4-seed Dayton, 84-71, before falling at the buzzer to No. 5-seed Wisconsin two days later. Click on the video below for highlights and Bruce Howard’s radio call from the game.

Dec. 21, 2002 — Tulsa welcomed No. 1 Duke to the Reynolds Center on Dec. 21, 2002. The Golden Hurricane lost to the Blue Devils, 90-36, in front of 4,519 fans. Since then, TU has hosted No. 1 UConn twice (Feb. 21, 2015 and Jan. 27, 2016).

March 5, 2003 — With the 2002-03 regular-season winding down, Tulsa hosted Fresno State in a battle of the top two teams in the Western Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane held a slim 37-35 lead at halftime, but Renaldo Major scored 10 points in the second half for the Bulldogs, who grabbed the advantage for much of the final 20 minutes. The final half featured six ties and eight lead-changes and neither squad held a lead of more than four points. Major’s final points came at the free-throw line, where he hit a pair of shots that gave Fresno State a 59-58 edge with 1:31 to play. Jarius Glenn tied it for the Hurricane at the charity stripe with 59 seconds left and after the Bulldogs’ Terry Pettis missed a jumper with 29 ticks to play, Tulsa could hold for the last shot. Down to just 1.9 seconds on the clock, Jason Parker found Dante Swanson on the wing and the senior pumped once before letting fly a 3-pointer that banked in at the buzzer to give TU a 62-59 win. Click the video below to see the winning shot and hear Bruce Howard’s call of that final play.

Nov. 22-23, 2002 — Tulsa hosted the 2002 Bertha Teague Classic, going 1-1 in the tournament. TU fell to #22 Oklahoma (65-61) and defeated Oklahoma State (75-55). This would be the last year all four in-state Division I programs – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts and Tulsa – all played two games in the tournament. The Bertha Teague Classic was played for eight years (1999-2006).

Dec. 4, 1999 — Eric Coley helped Tulsa move to 6-0 to start the 1999-2000 season as he led the Golden Hurricane to an 88-73 win over UAB with the first recorded triple-double in program history. Coley finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and was just two steals away from a quadruple-double in 35 minutes of action. He went 5-of-8 shooting, contributed four offensive rebounds and had a pair of blocks, while his eight steals in the contest remain a Reynolds Center record. Coley’s big night helped the Golden Hurricane shoot 58.2-percent and all six players that scored finished with at least 11 points in the win.

Jan. 14, 1999 — The women’s basketball team opened at the Reynolds Center on January 14, 1999, with an 89-54 victory over Air Force. Shequinna Dinkens scored the first basket by a TU player and finished the game with 10 points, while Tammy Goyne had a team-best 23 points, Kasie Pittman added 13 and Emily Stagner had 11.

Dec. 29, 1998 — The first athletic event in the $32 million Donald W. Reynolds Center was a men’s basketball matchup between Tulsa and Cleveland State on Dec. 29, 1998. A sellout crowd watched as Brandon Kurtz made TU’s first basket in the new facility, a jumper at the 14:25 mark of the first half. A balanced scoring effort from head coach Bill Self’s squad saw five players score in double figures as the Hurricane recorded a 79-51 victory. Greg Harrington came off the bench to lead the way with 15 points, while Michael Ruffin finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds. It would be the first of seven sellout crowds to watch the Golden Hurricane that season and TU finished the campaign with a 7-1 record in its new building.