Tulsa
Tulane
TULSA CRUISES TO 76-55 WIN OVER TULANE
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2015Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Box Score 
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Tulsa won its 20th game and improved to 13-2 in the American Athletic Conference with a 76-55 victory over Tulane Wednesday night in front of 4,603 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. With the win, Tulsa tied SMU for the top spot in The American.
Tulsa (20-7) was led by James Woodard with 18 points, Rashad Smith with 17 and Rashad Ray added 10 points and a game-high six assists. Tulane's Louis Dabney scored a career-high 32 points, converting 10-of-19 field goals and 5-of-10 three-pointers.
The Hurricane came out in the second half and shot 73-percent (14-of-19) from the field and 70-percent (7-of-10) from three-point range to finish at 56-percent for the game from the field and 44-percent from beyond the arc. Tulsa's defense held the Green Wave to 31-percent overall from the field and 27-percent from three-point range.
Tulsa had a 37-to-29 advantage on the glass, while scoring 30 points in the paint for the game.
Tulsa increased its eight-point halftime lead to 15 points within the first five minutes of the second half at 44-29 with 15:33 on the clock. Ray's layup gave the Hurricane a 16-point lead, 48-32, at the 11:53 mark before Tulane scored the next six points.
After Dylan Osetkowski's layup cut the Tulane deficit to just 10 points at 48-38 with 11:02 remaining in the contest, the Hurricane scored the next 10 points to take a 58-38 lead when Marquel Curtiss knocked down a three-pointer with 7:46 left in the game. Curtis' trey was the second of four straight three-pointers made by the Hurricane, the other three coming from Woodard.
Woodard's final trey, his fourth of the game, came with 5:36 remaining and made the score 64-41.
During a stretch of just over eight minutes, starting with a Ray layup at the 12:12 mark and ending with a D'Andre Wright layup at the 3:28 mark the Hurricane had knocked down seven straight field goals. Wright's basket put Tulsa ahead by 25 points at 68-46 with just over three minutes remaining in the contest.
Tulsa's Ray and Tulane's Dabney exchanged two three-pointers each late in the game as Tulsa claimed the 21-point victory.
There were four ties in the first 5:02 of the game before Tulane went on a 5-1 run in the next two minutes to take a 14-9 lead on a Dabney layup and free throw at the 13:22 mark. Tulsa scored the next six points over a span of four minute and took a 15-14 lead on a Shaquille Harrison layup with 9:14 remaining in the first half.
Dabney's three-pointer put the Green Wave ahead 17-15 at the 8:07 mark. Tulsa tied the game again at 17 and 19, then Woodard's three-pointer at the 3:47 mark put the Hurricane ahead 23-22 with 3:47 on the clock.
Woodard's trey led Tulsa on a 14-4 run to close out the half with an eight-point lead at 34-26.
The Hurricane out-scored Tulane in the paint, 18-6, while shooting 44-percent from the field in the first half. Tulsa made just 1-of-8 three-pointers in the first 20 minutes, while Temple hit on 29-percent from the field and 25-percent from three-point range.
Smith, Swannegan and Woodard each had seven first-half points, while Tulane's Dabney led all scorers with 17 points.
Tulsa goes on the road for another critical match-up this weekend to face the Memphis Tigers on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU. Tulsa closes out the home season next Wednesday for its only meeting of the regular season with the Cincinnati Bearcats. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Tickets still remain next week's home finale against Cincinnati. Tickets can be purchased online at TulsaHurricane.com, by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688) or stopping by the Reynolds Center athletic ticket office.
Follow Tulsa Men's Basketball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TUMBasketball and Instagram at TulsaMBasketball. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. For all news and information about Tulsa Basketball, go to www.TulsaHurricane.com.
