Men's Basketball Tops New Orleans, 77-68

Saturday, November 19

3 p.m.

Tulsa

1-2

New Orleans

1-2

New Orleans

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Men's Basketball Tops New Orleans, 77-68

11/19/2016 6:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score | Postgame Quotes | HTML Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – Junior forward TK Edogi recorded career highs with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead four players in double figures as the Tulsa basketball team defeated New Orleans, 77-68, Saturday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Edogi's double-double was the first of his career, and he nearly doubled his previous career high of eight points from the 2014-15 season. Junior guard Jaleel Wheeler also tallied 15 points in his first game of the season. Junior forward Junior Etou put up 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, and sophomore guard Sterling Taplin added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Golden Hurricane (1-2) shot 54 percent from the field, including 61 percent in the second half when it made 17-of-28 field goals. TU also hit a season-high six 3-pointers (40 percent) and outrebounded the Privateers (1-2), 40-29. Tulsa scored 46 of its points in the paint, and 35 came from the bench, led by Edogi and Taplin. Christavious Gill led UNO with 23 points, and Erik Thomas scored 20 points.

"That first win is always hard, particularly when your confidence is wavering a little bit," Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith said. "We haven't had all our parts together, so the cohesiveness and chemistry is not there yet. I was glad to see our guys fight through it. Obviously we got some great play out of TK Edogi off the bench. I thought Sterling Taplin was really good too, and gave us a good floor game. We needed to win a game where the guys feel good about themselves. I think this game will help us get ready for a game against a Pac-12 team on Tuesday."

The Golden Hurricane plays host to Oregon State at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Reynolds Center.

Tulsa overcame an early 8-0 deficit to tie the score, 34-34, at halftime on a court-length layup drive by Taplin just under the buzzer.

The Privateers scored the first basket of the second half, but Tulsa took its first lead of the game at the 17:59 mark of the second period on a layup by Edogi off a pass from Etou. After a basket by Jorge Rosa tied the score at 38-all, a Corey Henderson Jr. basket gave the Hurricane the lead for good. His layup sparked a 10-2 run that put Tulsa at a 50-40 advantage with 12:37 remaining.

The Golden Hurricane maintained a double-digit lead for the next six minutes, and took its largest lead at 59-44 with 8:39 to play when Etou made one of two foul shots, then got his own rebound and sunk a jumper. UNO cut it to 61-52 on a Tevin Broyles layup, but Edogi responded with a rebound-dunk on the other end.

Tulsa led 68-58 after a 3-pointer by Jaleel Wheeler with 4:13 remaining, but New Orleans scored five straight to close it to 68-63 with 3:09 left. Taplin knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to extend the lead to 75-66 at the 1:29 mark. Wheeler converted two free throws in the final 18 seconds to reach the 77-68 final.

New Orleans started the game with an 8-0 run, and led 10-3 with 15:54 to play in the first half. Tulsa cut the deficit to 10-7 on a jumper by Edogi, and trailed 13-10 after a 3-pointer by senior guard Pat Birt with 13:49 left in the half. UNO then went on a 10-1 run to extend its lead to 23-11 at the 11:15 mark.

Lawson Korita hit a runner in the lane to spark 9-2 run over the next 2:30 that cut it to 25-20 after a driving layup by Wheeler. After a dunk by Travin Thibodeaux made it 27-20, TU scored the next six points on jumpers by Edogi and Birt, and a dunk by Edogi to make it 27-26 at the 3:57 mark. The teams traded baskets for the next two minutes, but the Hurricane scored the final four points to tie it 34-34 at half. Taplin grabbed a rebound and drove the length of the court in the final seconds for a layup just before the buzzer.

"It's good to see the fruits of his labor," Haith said of TK Edogi's performance Saturday. "He redshirted last year, and he bought in to the fact that he wanted to get better and improve. He's made great improvements, and he deserves to have the kind of career finish he wants. Hopefully he can build on that with his confidence and continue to grow."

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