Tulsa Takes Out Kansas State on Saturday, 61-54

Saturday, December 9

Wichita, Kan.

7 PM

Tulsa

5-4

Kansas State

8-2

Tulsa

Kansas State

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Takes Out Kansas State on Saturday, 61-54

12/9/2017 10:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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WICHITA, Kan. — Junior Etou scored a game-high 22 points and the Tulsa defense limited Kansas State to just 32.1-percent shooting to register a 61-54 win in the Wichita Wildcat Classic on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Etou went 7-of-14 from the floor, including a season-high five 3-pointers, to lead the Golden Hurricane (5-4) to its first win over a Big 12 Conference opponent since a victory at Oklahoma State in 2015. It was the fourth 20-point performance this season for Etou, who scored 13 in the second half.

Martins Igbanu also reached double-figures with 10 points, to go along with seven rebounds, behind a career-best 8-for-8 effort at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Sterling Taplin contributed nine points, a career-high eight rebounds and six assists.

The Tulsa defense smothered the Wildcats (8-2), who were held to season-lows in points (54), field-goal percentage (.321) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.129). TU held a 40-30 rebounding advantage and outscored K-State 18-14 in the paint.

"I thought our guys played with great toughness," head coach Frank Haith said. "We made some big shots down the stretch, but our defense was outstanding all night. We had great performances from a lot of guys. It was a great team win. Obviously Junior (Etou) made some big buckets but I thought everybody that played contributed and gave us a chance down the stretch and we made big plays down the stretch."

Xavier Sneed led four players in double-figures with 15 points for Kansas State, which saw its 23-game winning streak in home venues against non-conference opponents come to an end.

The second half featured seven ties and 11 lead changes as the teams went back-and-forth in front of 7,180 fans and neither team led by more than three points until TU pulled away in the final minutes.

Kamau Stokes tied the game at 49-all with 6:15 left by hitting a pair of free throws. However, freshman Elijah Joiner wasted little time in getting the lead back for the Hurricane with the first of two key 3-pointers. The Wildcats again tied the score at the charity stripe, this time by Dean Wade, but Joiner drilled another triple with 3:15 left that put Tulsa ahead 56-53, and the visitors would not trail again.

The Tulsa defense dug in and forced seven consecutive missed shots in the final three minutes. In all, TU pressured Kansas State into misses on 11-of-12 shots over the final 8:03.

Igbanu and Corey Henderson Jr. each made a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to help Tulsa salt away the 61-54 final.

Etou and Igbanu got the Tulsa offense going early as the duo combined to score the first 10 points for the Hurricane. Igbanu was able to draw fouls inside and convert at the free-throw line, while Etou hit a 3-pointer and converted an old-fashioned three-point play.

Geno Artison had an offensive rebound and basket before Curran Scott's layup that capped a 9-0 run for a 14-8 lead. TU would hold the advantage for much of the first half, answering each time the Wildcats threatened to take the lead.

After Wade's triple knotted the score at 16-all, Etou hit a trey and found Sterling Taplin cutting to the bucket for a layup. Another Taplin layup gave TU a 23-18 lead, but K-State outscored Tulsa 12-8 over the final eight minutes to take a 30-27 cushion to halftime.

Tulsa will return home for a pair of games at the Donald W. Reynolds Center next week, beginning with a 7 p.m. matchup on Thursday, Dec. 14 against Prairie View A&M (2-7).