Tulsa Falls to South Carolina, 83-75, in Paradise Jam Finals

Monday, November 23

St. Thomas, USVI

8:00 p.m. CT

Tulsa

4-1

South Carolina

5-0

Tulsa

South Carolina

Tulsa Falls to South Carolina, 83-75, in Paradise Jam Finals

11/24/2015 12:04:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score

ST. THOMAS, USVI – Shaquille Harrison scored 20 points and James Woodard added 18 points, but the Tulsa basketball team fell to South Carolina, 83-75, Monday night in the finals of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam at the UVI Sports & Fitness Center.

The Golden Hurricane took its first loss of the season, falling to 4-1, while the Gamecocks improved to 5-0. Marquel Curtis tallied 11 points and D'Andre Wright put up eight points and a team-high seven rebounds for TU. Laimonas Chatkevicius scored 17 points, and Michael Carrera and Sindarius Thornwell each tallied 16 points to lead USC.

Harrison was named to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament team after averaging 25 points over the three tournament games.

The Hurricane faced a second-half deficit for the third straight game, but could not pull off a third straight comeback win. TU came back from down 19 points on Friday to beat Ohio, 90-88, and nine points on Sunday to beat Indiana State, 67-59.

Tulsa used a 14-2 run to cut South Carolina's 16-point lead to four, 52-48, with 14:29 remaining in the game. TU trailed, 54-50, with 12:36 to play, but would not get any closer. USC went on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 61-50, and kept its lead between five and 10 points for the remainder of the game.

Tulsa shot 44 percent from the field, made 5-of-16 3-point attempts and converted 22-of-31 free throws. South Carolina shot 50 percent from the field, made 7-of-14 threes, and 22-of-28 free throws. For the first time since the opener, TU did not outrebound its opponent, as SC held a 34-31 advantage on the boards, and the Hurricane finished with a season-high 15 turnovers.

The Gamecocks started the game with an early 12-2 lead. Tulsa got a dunk from Wright and a jumper from Woodard to cut the deficit to 12-8 at the 13:07 mark. USC, however, extended their lead to 22-10 with a 10-2 run with 11:02 to go in the half.

South Carolina led 29-12, before the Hurricane went on a 10-1 run, including eight straight points, to make the score, 30-22, with 3:16 remaining in the half. Birt hit a jumper to spark the 8-0 spurt, and Woodard drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to cap the run. Carolina led by as many as 11 points again, 35-24, but Wright converted a pair of free throws in the final second to make the score 38-29 at the half.

Tulsa shot 31 percent from the field and made 1-of-7 3-point attempts in the first half, while South Carolina shot 50 percent and made 5-of-9 threes in the opening period.

South Carolina extended its nine-point halftime lead to 50-34 at the 17:18 mark with a 12-5 run to open the second half. After TU pulled within four points twice and USC extended its lead to 61-50, the Hurricane again went on a run to close the gap. An 8-2 spurt that included five free throws by Harrison and a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Rashad Smith made the score 63-58 with 8:16 remaining.

The Gamecocks extended the lead to 70-60 at the 5:29 mark, and led 76-66 with 2:51 to play. Woodard converted a layup and the foul shot for a three-point play, and Curtis drove for a layup to make the score 76-71 with 1:53 left. The teams traded baskets, and with the score 80-75 with :34 left, USC converted three free throws down the stretch for the 83-75 final

The Golden Hurricane returns to action Saturday, Nov. 28, when it plays host to Little Rock at 3 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Follow Tulsa Men's Basketball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TUMBasketball, Instagram at https://instagram.com/tulsambasketball/ and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaMBasketball. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane, Instagram at www.instagram.com/tulsahurricanepics and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. For all news and information about Tulsa Basketball, go to www.TulsaHurricane.com.