Tulsa
San Jose St
Tulsa Handles San Jose State for Fifth Straight Win
1/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2002
by Ken MacLeod
Tulsa, Oklahoma -
With its top two scorers limited to a combined seven points, a resourceful University of Tulsa still found the firepower to crushSan Jose State 78-54 Thursday for its fifth consecutive win.
Tulsa improved to 6-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, 15-3 overall heading into a Saturday night showdown with WAC co-leader Hawaii.
Center Kevin Johnson scored 20 points and TU's bench combined for 32 points, led by guard Jason Parker with 13 and forward Jarius Glenn with 10. Point guard Antonio Reed added 13 points and five assists.
Guards Greg Harrington and Dante Swanson, who average 14.4 and 14.3 points respectively, scored 2 and 5. Swanson was seeing his first action in three games due to an ankle injury while Harrington settled for the role of distributor, dishing out a game-high eight assists.
Tulsa shot a blistering 56 percent, including 61.5 percent in the second half (16-26). The Hurricane, which leads the WAC in field goal, 3-point and free throw percentage, made 50 percent of its treys (8-16) and all 14 free throw attempts.
"If I was scouting us, I wouldn't know who to guard,'' said TU coach John Phillips. "They're all good shooters and the best thing is they're all unselfish. It doesn't bother Dante or Greg that they only had a few points tonight, and in this day and age, that's amazing.''
"They have so many weapons and there's not a player you can back off of,'' said San Jose State coach Steve Barnes.
"It all starts with the inside guys, Kevin and Charlie Davis,'' Reed said. "They set up everything we do on the perimeter.''
Andre Valentine scored 17 points for San Jose State, 1-7, 6-14. Moises Alvarez had 12 and Marion Thurmond 11.
Tulsa jumped out to a 9-0 lead and built it to 28-8 before settling for a 33-17 halftime lead, the lowest first-half output by San Jose State this season. The Spartans tried to stay patient and work the shot clock each possession, but made just 7 of 27 shots for 25.9 percent. The Spartans heated up in the second half and finished the night at 39.3 percent. They were within 11 at 43-32 with 14:11 to play, but Johnson scored inside and Reed hit consecutive jumpers to make it 51-34. The lead was never less than 14 thereafter.
Tulsa is now 13-0 lifetime against San Jose State.
