Tulsa Grounds the Riverhawks 84-52 in Final Exhibition Tune-up

Monday, November 7

7 p.m.

Tulsa

Northeastern State

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Grounds the Riverhawks 84-52 in Final Exhibition Tune-up

11/7/2016 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Don Tomkalski

Tulsa, Oklahoma –– Tulsa cruised to an 84-52 victory over the Northeastern State RiverHawks in the final exhibition game as three Golden Hurricane players scored in double-digits Monday night in front of 3,332 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Freshman Travis Atson scored a team-high 14 points, followed by 13 each from another freshman Martins Igbanu and senior Pat Birt with 13 points apiece

Tulsa will open the 2016-17 season Friday night against Jacksonville State with a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Reynolds Center.

"We got done what we wanted to get done in the exhibitions. We saw a lot of young guys do a lot of good things. Now it's for real on Friday," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "This was a different team than we played the other day. It was a team that obviously tried to scrap the game up. They're small, they're quick, and we had some turnovers there. But I thought we improved from last game to this game."

Tonight, Tulsa scored the opening three points and took its first double-digit lead at the 11:27 mark. The Hurricane expanded that 10-point lead to 24 with just over six minutes remaining on the first-half clock and took a 29-point lead at 46-17 into halftime.

Tulsa opened the second half like it did in the first 30-minute session with a three pointer, as Birt knocked down the trey to put Tulsa ahead by 32 points. NSU kept its deficit within 30 to 34 points in the first six minutes. Igbanu's layup at the 14:33 mark put the Hurricane ahead by 36 points.

Tulsa expanded its lead to as many as 39 points at 75-36 with 7:41 to play, and 80-41 at the 3:56 mark.

For the game, the Hurricane scored 40 points in the paint, 20 in each half, and shot 49 percent from the field and 73.7 percent from the free throw line. Tulsa out-rebounded the RiverHawks 58-37 and held the visitors to 26-percent shooting from the field and 23-percent from three-point range. The only blemish for the Hurricane on this night was 29 turnovers.

Tulsa led from start to finish as Atson's three-pointer from the left corner put the Hurricane ahead 3-0 within the first 15 seconds of the contest. NSU cut an early lead to 5-4 before the Hurricane responded by scoring the next seven points to take a 12-4 lead at the 14:12 mark.

The RiverHawks cut a 10-point Tulsa lead to eight points, 16-8, with 10:50 left in the first half. However, the Hurricane proceeded to go on a 16-0 run in the next six minutes, taking a 32-8 lead with 6:43 remaining on the first-half clock. NSU's Karon Waller knocked down a three-pointer with 6:07 on the clock bringing the score to 32-11.

Tulsa closed out the first 20 minutes outscoring the RiverHawks 14-6 to take a 46-17 lead into the intermission.

In the first half, the Hurricane shot 62.5 percent from the field, 50-percent from three-point range and 76.5 percent from the free throw line, while out-rebounding NSU 27-15. Tulsa scored 20 of its first-half points in the paint, while another 13 came from the free throw line.

Nine of Tulsa's 12 players that saw action in the first half scored points, led by Jaleel Wheeler's nine with Birt and Atson adding eight points apiece.

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.