Tulsa Claims 72-65 Win Over Austin Peay Behind Rachal’s 30 Points

Saturday, November 16

Reynolds Center

2 PM

Tulsa

3-1,0-0AAC

Austin Peay

1-2,0-0OVC

Austin Peay

Tulsa

Tulsa Claims 72-65 Win Over Austin Peay Behind Rachal’s 30 Points

11/16/2019 5:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE I PRESS CONFERENCE I HIGHLIGHTS I SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. –– Brandon Rachal scored a career-high 30 points to lead Tulsa (3-1) to a 72-65 win over Austin Peay (1-2) Saturday afternoon in front of 3,105 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Rachal scored 18 of his points in the first half, including Tulsa's first 14 points. He also added team-highs of 7 rebounds and 5 steals in 32 minutes. Fellow junior Darien Jackson added 16 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds for the Hurricane. The 30 points for Rachal was the first 30-point game for a Tulsa player since Sterling Taplin tallied 30 against UConn on February 15, 2018.

Ohio Valley Conference's preseason player of the year Terry Taylor led the Governors with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

"It was a hard fought game. I thought our guys showed some moxie down the stretch in the second half,:" said Tulsa head coach Frank Haith. "We struggled in the first half. We had the nice run in the first 7-8 minutes of the game then we missed some bunnies around the basket and we let that affect us on the defensive end of the floor. They got momentum and got a little confidence and then all of a sudden it's a game. Game on. I thought in the second half we battled back and forth."

"Darien gave us great, great minutes in the second half with his energy and, obviously, Brandon was outstanding the whole game," added Haith.

Tulsa turned up the intensity in the second half when the Hurricane held APU to 31-percent from the field as compared to 48-percent in the first half, accounted for 8 second-half steals and overturned APU's 18-8 edge for points in the paint to a 32-22 advantage at the end of the game.

Trailing by 2 at halftime, the Hurricane scored the first 4 points out of the locker room and took an 8-point lead three times before the Governors took a one-point lead at 56-55 and again led 59-57 at the 5:27 mark. Rachal's jumper to tie the score at 59 started a 9-2 run that put the Hurricane ahead 66-61 with 2:01 left to play.

Lawson Korita scored his only 2 points on a reverse layup with 0:55 on the clock to put Tulsa back ahead by 5 points at 68-63. Rachal made 2 free throws in the last 0:31 for a 7-point lead and after the Governors cut its deficit back to 5, Jackson had a breakaway layup on the inbounds play that gave Tulsa its final margin of victory at 7 points, 72-65.

Rachal scored Tulsa's first 14 points of the game as the Hurricane marched out to a 14-4 lead, including a 7-0 start.

Austin Peay responded with a 13-4 run of their own to make the score 18-17 at the 9:10 mark. Reggie Jones 3-pointer put Tulsa ahead 21-17, then the Governors took their first lead of the game at 25-23 with 5:49 remaining in the first half.

APU extended that lead to 36-27 before Tulsa closed out the first 30 minutes on a 7-0 run as Elijah Joiner knocked down a 3-pointer and Isaiah Hill added a jumper and layup to make the halftime score 36-34.

In the first half, the Monarchs out-scored the Hurricane 30-13 from the 14:26 to the 1:41 mark, and that's when Tulsa went on its seven-point run to close out the half.

At halftime, Austin Peay had knocked down 48-percent of its field goals, while Tulsa was at 40-percent. The Hurricane held a 20-14 edge in rebounding, but the Governors had an 18-8 advantage in points in the paint.

Rachal was 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from behind the arc and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in 14 minutes for his 18 first-half points.

Tulsa returns to the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game against Southeastern Louisiana.