Tulsa Holds Off Southeastern Louisiana for 73-66 Win

Wednesday, November 20

Reynolds Center

7 PM

Tulsa

4-1,0-0AAC

Southeastern Louisiana

2-3,0-0Southland

Southeastern La.

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Holds Off Southeastern Louisiana for 73-66 Win

11/20/2019 10:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE I PRESS CONFERENCE I SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. –– Brandon Rachal had his second double-double of the year with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Tulsa (4-1) to a 73-66 win over Southeastern Louisiana (2-3) Wednesday night in front of 3,036 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Darien Jackson added a career-high 18 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jeriah Horne had 10 points with 7 of those coming in the final 2:57 of the game.

The win extended Tulsa's home winning streak in non-conference action to 17 games, as the contest was the 500^th career game as a collegiate head coach for Tulsa's Frank Haith.

"Obviously, we struggled handling the ball in the first half and Isaiah was put in a tough spot. About an hour before the game Elijah said his knee was sore and he couldn't play, so that made it very difficult for us (in terms of) preparing," said Haith. "I'm proud of our guys and how we were able to finish the game."

"Between now and Wednesday we'll work on it to make sure we don't have that happen again. I think Reggie can help us with ball handling and I think some other guys, too, so we will be more prepared," added Haith. "With that said, I thought Darien and Brandon were outstanding again. I think those guys have taken on leadership roles in terms of what they're doing night in and night out, just doing what they can do to help us win."

After Tulsa sprinted out to a 12-point lead in the first 5 minutes of the game, it became a nip-and-tuck contest most of the way with 7 ties and 10 lead changes. Southeastern Louisiana climbed back into the game in the first half and took a one-point lead three times in the final 7:11 of the first stanza.

In the second half, Tulsa opened the scoring with a Rachal dunk for a 36-34 lead. The Lions retook the lead on a Brandon Gonzalez 3-pointer with 18:22 on the second-half clock, and kept that lead for the next 5:43.

Another Rachal basket tied the game at 44-44 with 12:39 on the clock, but again the Lions hit a 3-pointer and stretched its lead to 4 points at 50-46, and that's when a layup by Rachal and a traditional 3-point play by Jackson put Tulsa back out front at 52-50.

The Lions showed no quit, going back ahead and holding a 2-point, 59-57, lead with 4:59 to play. That's when Horne stepped up with his heroics. His layup with 4:24 on the clock knotted the score at 59, which was the first two points in a 10-0 run that pushed Tulsa's lead to 67-59 at the 2:09 mark.

Horne's 3-pointer gave Tulsa a 65-59 lead and his 4 free throws in the final 0:27 distanced the Hurricane from the Lions for the 7-point victory.

For the game, Tulsa shot 45-percent from the field, while holding a 42-to-22 edge for points in the paint and a 22-10 advantage on fast-break points.

To start the contest, Tulsa jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the first 5 minutes as 6 Hurricane players scored in that span. SE Louisiana went on a 21-8 to take its first lead of the game at 27-26 at the 7:11 mark.

The Hurricane tied the score at 27 on two Rachal free throws, but trailed again by one-point twice in the last 5:08. Josh Earley's layup gave Tulsa a 33-30 lead at the 3:09 mark, which proved to be the last field goal of the first 30 minutes for the Hurricane.

The first half ended tied at 34-34. At the half, Jackson led Tulsa with 9 points, while Rachal has 5 rebounds and Isaiah Hill tallied 4 assists. The Hurricane had a 22-14 edge in the paint, but Southeastern led in rebounding 21-16

Tulsa returns to the Donald W. Reynolds Center next Wednesday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff against South Carolina State.