Tulsa
East Carolina
TULSA DOWNS PIRATES 69-58
2/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2015Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Box Score 
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Tulsa's James Woodard poured in 19 points to lead the Golden Hurricane to a 69-58 victory over East Carolina Wednesday night in front of 4,263 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Tulsa improved to 18-7 overall and 11-2 in American Athletic Conference play, while East Carolina fell to 11-15 and 4-9 in league action.
The Hurricane also received a stellar performance from Brandon Swannegan, scoring a career-high with 16 points and adding three rebounds and three blocks in his first career start. Shaquille Harrison added 12 points and had eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks for Tulsa.
Tulsa shot over 50 percent from the field (.510) for the first time in the last eight games, as the Hurricane also knocked down 37-percent of its three-pointers. Tulsa out-scored the Pirates in the paint 30-14.
Terry Whisnant's 15 points led the Pirates, who shot 35-percent from the field and finished the game shooting 40-percent from three-point range, after shooting just 20-percent behind the arc in the first 20 half.
After combining for 21 first-half turnovers, the two teams totaled just six second- half turnovers.
"It was a very important win for us. I thought our guys had really good energy to start the ball game," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "Defensively, I thought we let up a little bit in the second half, but all-in-all it was a really good win. It's good to see us shoot the ball well, share the ball well and execute well against a team that played off of us and played zone primarily the whole game."
Leading 35-19 at intermission, the Hurricane maintained its double-figure lead in the second-half and took its largest lead of the game at 21 points on a Ray layup to make the score 58-37 at the 8:22 mark. Woodard's trey at the 4:56 mark built Tulsa's lead back to 20 points, but the Pirates would not go away, out-scoring the Hurricane 13-4 in the final 4:30 to cut the final margin to 11 points.
Despite a first-half that saw the two teams combine for 21 turnovers, the Hurricane pulled away for a 16-point halftime lead while shooting 52-percent from the field and 44-percent from three-point range.
Tulsa's defense held ECU to just 29-percent from the field and 20-percent from three-point range, while also holding the Pirates scoreless for over seven minutes, from the 14:28 mark to 6:37 of the first half.
East Carolina scored the game's first points on a long three-pointer from Antonio Robinson, and led again at 6-5, 8-5 and 11-10 before the Hurricane would take over the lead. Rashad Ray's three-pointer at the 12:50 mark of the first half gave Tulsa a 13-11 advantage, a lead that the Hurricane would not relinquish for the remainder of the first 20 minutes.
Three straight Woodard free throws with 4:38 remaining in the first half gave Tulsa its first double-digit lead at 25-13. The Hurricane out-scored the Pirates 10-6 over the next four minutes to take a 35-19 lead into halftime.
Tulsa will be back in action this Sunday afternoon against the Temple Owls in a 5:00 p.m. game. The Hurricane will close out its three-game home-stand next Wednesday, Feb. 25 against the Tulane Green Wave in a 7:00 p.m. game.
Tickets for Tulsa home games can be purchased online at TulsaHurricane.com, by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688) or stopping by the Reynolds Center athletic ticket office.
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