Tulsa
Colorado
Tulsa Downs Colorado 84-59
1/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2010
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TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The Hurricane improved to 10-0 at the Reynolds Center and 10-3 overall with an 84-59 mauling of Colorado Saturday. It was Tulsa's 18th consecutive win at home and the 21st consecutive road loss for the Buffaloes, 8-5. If Tulsa's confidence was dented by its road failures with two losses at the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic last week, it regrouped quickly. After the first 10 minutes, it dominated a Colorado unit that had taken Gonzaga and Arizona to the wire.
Justin Hurtt pumped in 21 points, tying his career high for the fourth time. The inside combo of Jerome Jordan (14 points and eight rebounds) and Stephen Idlet (12 points, 11 rebounds) was overpowering, and point guard Ben Uzoh carved up the Colorado 1-3-1 and matchup zone defenses with 13 points, seven assists and two steals.
"This was a good, solid win for us," said Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik. "We were very unhappy with what happened against Nebraska and Nevada but we had a good week of spirited practice and really executed well today."
Tulsa shot 54 percent (30-56) while limiting their Big 12 visitors to 37 percent (20 of 54). Tulsa outrebounded the shorter Buffs 38-30 and had 16 assists against just seven turnovers.
"Tulsa is a good solid team that's comfortable at home," said Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik. "We still lack some toughness to play against good teams on the road. We stop getting to loose balls and stop getting through the picks and they just wear us down."
Alec Burks led Colorado, 8-5, with 17 points and Cory Higgins had 13, making just 3 of 12 field goals.
Tulsa led 36-29 at the break, then executed its offense efficiently at the outset of the second half to pull away. Hurtt had three treys and a slam as Tulsa widened the lead to 62-44 with 10:27 left. Tulsa made it 70-49 on a jumper by Bryson Pope with 6:31 left.
Hurtt made four 3-pointers overall and finished 7-of-15 from the field in tying his career high for the fourth time.
Joe Richard added 10 points and six rebounds for Tulsa.
"Give Ben credit for recognizing what zone they were in and what to do against it," Wojcik said. "Stephen wound up the beneficiary of that with a lot of good looks from the corner."
Uzoh, Idlet and Jordan sparked an 11-0 run that broke open a close game through the first 10 minutes, giving Tulsa a 24-14 lead and the Hurricane managed a 36-29 halftime advantage despite giving away numerous chances to stretch the lead by making just 11 of 18 first-half free throws.
"We had to sit down when we got back and talk to ourselves and get back to business," Idlet said.
Tulsa scored on five of its first six possessions in the second half, starting with a trey from the left corner by Hurtt. A trey by Donte Medder stretched the lead to 57-42 and Tulsa continued to overpower the Buffs inside or get wide open shots from the perimeter. Colorado, meanwhile, struggled to find any offensive rhythm against the Hurricane man-to-man defense.
Tulsa opens Conference USA action on Wednesday night with a 7 pm contest against the Tulane Green Wave at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
