Tulsa’s Comeback Bid Falls Short at UConn, 75-73

Saturday, February 13

Storrs, Conn.

7:00 p.m.

Tulsa

(16-9, 8-5)

UConn

(18-7, 8-4)

Team	1	2	F
Tulsa	21	52	73
UConn	34	41	75

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa’s Comeback Bid Falls Short at UConn, 75-73

2/13/2016 10:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. – Tulsa nearly erased a 20-point second half deficit, but the Golden Hurricane fell short at UConn, 75-73, Saturday evening at Gampel Pavilion.

Pat Birt scored 24 points to lead the Hurricane, which fell to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in American Athletic Conference play. He scored 21 points and five of his six 3-pointers in the second half. Marquel Curtis tallied 14 points and six rebounds, and Shaquille Harrison added 12 points and seven rebounds. Sterling Gibbs and Omar Calhoun each scored 14 points to lead the Huskies, which improved to 18-7 and 8-4.

Tulsa trailed by 20 points with 17:10 remaining, and cut the deficit to five points with 4:25 left. The Hurricane closed to 67-64 with 1:40 to play, but was unable to pull closer until Rashad Ray's 3-pointer at the buzzer that reached the final margin.

UConn led 34-21 at the half, and extended its lead to 46-26 with 17:10 left in the game. Tulsa then went on a 23-10 run to cut the deficit to 56-49 with 7:49 to play. Curtis scored four points and Birt converted a three-point play as TU outscored the Huskies 10-8 over 4:38, but the Hurricane trailed, 54-36, with 12:32 left.

D'Andre Wright then made a layup, followed by a 3-pointer from Birt to cut the deficit to 54-41 with 10:56 left, sparking a 13-2 spurt. After a UConn layup, Birt sandwiched a trey and a jumper around a Harrison layup, then added a free throw to make the score, 56-49.

After falling behind by 11 once again, 65-54, with 5:24 left, Curtis and Birt hit back-to-back threes to make it 65-60 with 4:25 to play. Jalen Adams made two free throws to extend the lead back to 67-60, but James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison converted layups to shrink the deficit to 67-64 with 1:40 on the clock. The three-point deficit was Tulsa's smallest since the 9:37 mark of the first half.

UConn's Rodney Purvis hit a floater in the lane to make it a two possession game again, 69-64, with :42 left, and a pair of free throws made it 71-64 with :23 on the clock. Curtis had a tip-in off a missed 3-pointer, and Harrison and Brandon Swannegan made layups to counter UConn free throws, but TU could not pull closer than five points until Ray's trey at the buzzer.

Tulsa shot 60 percent in the second half, including 7-of-11 on 3-pointers, and ended the game with a .481 field goal percentage and a .409 3-point percentage, but made just 14-of-25 free throws. UConn shot 53 percent for the game, including 11-of-24 from beyond the arc, and made 10-of-11 foul shots. The Hurricane finished with a 32-28 rebounding advantage, along with 12 assists and 15 turnovers. TU tallied nine assists and committed just five miscues in the second period, while forcing UConn into 16 turnovers in the game.

UConn started the game with a 5-0 burst, but the Hurricane outscored the Huskies, 14-8, over the next eight minutes to take a 14-13 lead. Birt's 3-pointer at the 17:13 mark provided Tulsa's first points. The home team then went on a 17-2 run to move ahead, 30-16, with 5:18 left in the period.

The Hurricane trailed, 34-21, at the break after posting its lowest first half scoring total of the season. TU shot 32 percent from the field, and made 2-of-11 3-pointers and 5-of-11 free throws, while UConn shot 59 percent, and made 6-of-9 threes. The Hurricane held a 16-13 advantage in rebounds, but committed 10 turnovers to UConn's nine misuces.

The Golden Hurricane returns home to play host to Cincinnati at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

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