Tulsa Tops Indiana State, 67-59 at Paradise Jam

Sunday, November 22

St. Thomas, USVI

5:30 p.m. CT

Tulsa

4-0

Indiana State

2-2

Tulsa

Indiana State

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Tops Indiana State, 67-59 at Paradise Jam

11/22/2015 11:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score

ST. THOMAS, USVI – Shaquille Harrison led all scorers with 24 points and James Woodard recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tulsa basketball team to a 67-59 win over Indiana State Sunday evening at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam at the UVI Sports & Fitness Center.

The Golden Hurricane (4-0) outscored the Sycamores (2-2) 33-16 over the final 15:51, overcoming a nine-point deficit, to advance to the Paradise Jam championship game. Senior forward D'Andre Wright scored back-to-back layups with 2:11 left to break a 58-58 tie, and give TU a lead it would not relinquish. The TU defense held the Sycamores to just 23 points and a .259 field goal percentage in the second half.

Wright finished with nine points and four rebounds, junior Pat Birt scored 10 points, and senior forward Rashad Smith tallied 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Khristian Smith and Devonte Brown each scored 14 points to lead Indiana State.

Tulsa will play South Carolina at 8 p.m. CT Monday in the Paradise Jam title game. The contest will be televised on CBS Sports Network, and broadcast on Big Country 99.5 FM in Tulsa.

"Our defense was outstanding (down the stretch)," Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith said. "The whole second half was really good. We kept them out of the paint – they kept driving us, and they were playing physical. They put the ball on you. I thought we shored up that end, particularly when we needed to, and got consecutive stops, and that was the key to the game. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, we missed a lot of free throws, but we found a way to win. I'm proud of our guys. That was a gritty, tough, hard-nosed win on a neutral court. I'm really proud of our guys."

Indiana State led 36-31 at the half, and scored the first four points of the second half to extend its lead to 40-31. ISU led 43-34 with 15:51 to play, but Tulsa went on a 13-2 run to take a 47-45 lead with 11:41 left. Birt hit a 3-pointer to start the run, and Harrison capped it with five straight points, including a fastbreak layup off the feed from Marquel Curtis to give TU the lead. Curtis finished the game with five assists.

Indiana State hit a 3-pointer, followed by a layup by Harrison as the teams traded the lead. An alley-oop connection from Curtis to Harrison made the score 51-48, before the Sycamores scored four straight points to retake the lead, 52-51. A Woodard jumper, Harrison layup and a Curtis trey sandwiched an ISU basket to make the score 58-54, in favor of the Hurricane, with 6:06 remaining.

After ISU tied the score, 58-58 with 2:38 to play, Wright converted a layup to give TU the lead, then put back an offensive rebound on the next possession to make it 62-58. He followed that sequence by drawing a charging foul on the defensive end. The Tulsa lead grew to six points, 64-58, with 0:28 remaining, and after a free throw by Indiana State, TU made three of four free throws in the final :20 to seal the win.

The Hurricane shot 37 percent from the field (22-59) and made 19-of-36 free throws (.528 percent), and outrebounded the Sycamores, 48-39. Indiana State shot 36 percent from the field (20-56) and made 14-of-27 free throws (.519 percent).

Indiana State made a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game, but Tulsa responded with a layup by D'Andre Wright, starting a run of 10 straight points. The Hurricane held the lead until Indiana State went ahead, 16-15, on a layup by Brenton Scott. The Sycamores extended their lead to 20-15 at the 10:36 mark on a layup by Brown. Tulsa tied the score, 24-24, after a jumper by Harrison, but ISU scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 33-26 advantage. Indiana State led, 36-31 at the break.

Harrison has 12 points by halftime, and TU shot 33 percent with 1-of-7 3-pointers in the first period. ISU shot 45 percent from the field in the first half.

"We'll get a chance to play for a championship," Haith said of his team playing on consecutive days with Monday's game. "That was the goal coming in here, and we're excited about that. We talked about that being a part of this kind of setting. You're competing for championships. It's the same thing in March with conference tournaments, and the same thing if you go to postseason. This is what it's all about."

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