Tulsa
Memphis
TULSA TAMES MEMPHIS TIGERS 73-55
1/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2015
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| Box Score 
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Shaquille Harrison led three players in double-figures with 18 points as Tulsa won its eighth consecutive game with a 73-55 win over Memphis Wednesday night in front of 5,303 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The Hurricane led by double-digits most of the final 20 minutes and held its largest lead of 28 points at the mid-way point of the second half.
Tulsa improved to 13-5 overall and stayed undefeated in American Athletic Conference play with a 6-0 record. Memphis fell to 11-7 overall and 4-3 in league play, while the loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Tigers.
Harrison also led the Hurricane with a career-high 10 rebounds, while adding team-highs of six assists and four steals in 30 minutes. James Woodard added 16 points and five boards, while Rashad Smith had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Hurricane. The Tigers receive double-digit points from Avery Woodson with 15 and Austin Nichols with 12 points.
The win was the first for the Hurricane in the last 11 games played in Tulsa against the Tigers, with the last Tulsa home victory coming on January 16, 1971. The conference win was also the 17th straight league win for the Hurricane dating back to last year when as a member of Conference USA Tulsa won its last 11 games, including the C-USA Tournament.
"Obviously it was a great win for us. I thought our guys played extremely hard and played extremely well," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "Defensively we were really good. We had active hands. I thought our energy, on both ends of the court, was really, really good. We just weren't making shots early in the game. I thought we got good looks. Then in the second half, we got out in transition and we made some shots. All-in-all it was a great win for us. I thought our guys played with great tenacity the whole game."
Leading 30-23 at halftime, Tulsa sprinted out on 20-4 run in the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 52-27 lead at the 12:08 mark, as the Hurricane held the Tigers scoreless for more than five minutes in that stretch. Tulsa scored the first four points, then Memphis equaled Tulsa's four-point run before the Hurricane defense put the clamps on the Tiger offense. Leading 34-27, Tulsa scored the next 18 points to stretch the lead to 25 points.
With Tulsa ahead, 52-27, Memphis answered with a 15-4 run of their own to cut Tulsa's lead to 14 points, 56-42, at the 5:34 mark. A Harrison free throw and back-to-back dunks by Smith and Woodard pushed the Tulsa lead back to 19 points with 4:43 left on the game clock. The Hurricane built the lead back to 23 points at 70-47 with 2:49 remaining.
For the game, Tulsa scored 40 points in the paint, 22 points off turnovers and 19 second-chance points. The Hurricane out-rebounded the Tigers 40-36, and had a 16-7 edge on the offensive glass.
The two teams started the game slowly as the game was tied at 5-5 with 14:44 remaining on the first half clock. In the next six minutes, Tulsa took a 15-11 lead on a Harrison layup. Harrison's dunk at the 5:21 mark gave the Hurricane its largest lead of the first half at 22-15.
Shaq Goodwin's two free throws at the two-minute mark cut the Tulsa lead to three points at 26-23. A jumper by Smith and dunk by Brandon Swannegan put the Hurricane ahead again by seven points at 30-23 to close out the first half.
In the first 20 minutes, Tulsa outscored Memphis 20-6 in the paint and had an 11-2 advantage for points off turnovers. Smith led the Hurricane with seven first-half points, while Harrison added six points. Nicholas and Woodson shared the team-high of six points for Memphis at the break.
Tulsa will be back in action this Saturday, January 24th, as the Golden Hurricane continues American Athletic Conference action in Greenville, North Carolina against the East Carolina Pirates in an 11:00 a.m. (CT) tipoff to be aired on ESPNews. After another road game at Tulane (Jan. 27), Tulsa returns to the Reynolds Center to face the USF Bulls on Saturday, Jan. 31st for a 12 noon tip-off.
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