Tulsa
UC Irvine
Tulsa Edges UC Irvine
3/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2001
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Greg Harrington scored 20 points as Tulsa held off UC Irvine 75-71 on Wednesday night in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Kevin Johnson added 17 points and eight rebounds for Tulsa (22-11), and Dante Swanson had 10 points, including a 15-foot jumper with 1:09 to play that gave the Golden Hurricane a 73-67 advantage.
Tulsa led 68-54 with 5:37 to play but Irvine (25-5) made three conventional 3-point plays over the next four minutes to pull to 71-67 with 1:40 remaining.
Tulsa give the Anteaters a chance to get back into the game by missing three free throws down the stretch, but Irvine couldn't take advantage.
Jerry Green led Irvine with 15 points. Malachi Edmond, J.R. Christ and Ben Jones had 13 each and Adam Parada added 10.
Irvine took to an 18-9 lead as Parada and Jones helped the Anteaters dominate the opening 10 minutes.
A rebound slam by Parada gave Irvine a 22-14 lead, and Jones' two free throws at the 4:22 mark made it 31-24 lead.
But Tulsa would take the lead on a driving basket and free throw by Harrington that made it 37-36 with 1:26 to play in the half, part of a 17-7 run by the Golden Hurricane.
Harrington scored again on a drive with 37 seconds left in the half, giving Tulsa a 41-38 advantage at the break. The junior guard had 11 first-half points.
Tulsa scored the first seven points of the second to go up 48-38. After Irvine cut it 50-47, the Golden Hurricane steadily pulled away until the late charge by the Anteaters.
