Tulsa Falls to Colorado State in Wild 3-Overtime Game 111-104 at BOK Center

Saturday, December 21

BOK Center

1:30 pm

Tulsa

8-4,0-0AAC

104

111

Colorado State

8-6,0-2Mountain West

OT 1

OT 2

OT 3

Colorado St.

111

Tulsa

104

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Falls to Colorado State in Wild 3-Overtime Game 111-104 at BOK Center

12/21/2019 6:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GAME STATS | GALLERY I SEASON STATS

Tulsa, Okla. –– It was a game that had the 2,422 fans on the edge of their seats at the BOK Center Saturday afternoon as Tulsa (8-4) and Colorado State (8-6) battled to three overtimes. The Rams captured a 111-104 victory in a game that saw the game tied 21 times with 25 lead changes.

Jeriah Horne led 6 Tulsa players in double-figures with a career-high 29 points, followed by 17 from Martins Igbanu, 16 for Lawson Korita, Elijah Joiner 15 and Brandon Rachal and Darien Jackson with 12 points apiece.

Joiner added team-highs and personal career-bests of 9 rebounds and 9 assists for the Hurricane.

The two teams combined to knock down 26 shots from beyond the arc as CSU converted 14-of-37 and Tulsa hit 12-of-29 treys. The Rams connected on 51-percent of its field goals, while Tulsa knocked down 44 percent. Colorado State held a 55-36 advantage in rebounding, while the Hurricane forced the Rams into 21 turnovers.

"Our guys fought hard. They made some big shots, but our defense wasn't where we needed it to be," said Tulsa head coach Frank Haith. "There were a lot of swings, a lot of momentum back and forth. Both teams showed a lot of fight. Even when they got down, both teams made big shots to get back in it."

AT THE END OF IN REGULATION …
Tulsa forced the first overtime period with a 12-4 run after trailing by 8 points with just under a minute to play in regulation. Joiner's layup started the run, followed by an Igbanu put-back in the lane. Korita knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 78-75, while Joiner hit another layup off a fast-break to make the score 79-77. The Rams made 1-of-2 free throws with 0:21 on the clock for an 80-77 CSU lead, before Horne hit a 3-pointer with 0:13 left to knot the score at 80, as the tie stood to force the OT.

FIRST OVERTIME …
In the first extra period, the Hurricane had a 3-point lead 3 times, but CSU's Kendle Moore hit a trey with 0:21 left on the clock to tie the game at 89. Tulsa's Joiner had a heavily contested layup to win the game, but the ball went in and out thus forcing the second overtime.

SECOND OVERTIME PERIOD …
The second OT began tied 89-89 before the Rams scored the first basket. CSU led by 3 points, 99-96, at the 1:28 mark, before Korita's 3-pointer knotted the score at 99 and he gave Tulsa a one-point lead, 100-99, when he knocked down a free throw. Tied at 100, CSU's Isaiah Stevens gave the Rams a 102-100 lead with 0:02 on the clock, but the Hurricane was not finished. In-bounding from underneath the CSU basket, Rachal heaved a perfect 'Hail Mary' type pass to Igbanu, who took it up for a layup and a 102-102 score at the buzzer.

AND YET AGAIN …
Tulsa, already playing without the fouled-out Horne and Jackson, saw Rachal pick up his 5^th foul at the 4:14 mark. Colorado State jumped out to a 2-point lead before Joiner knocked down 2 freebies to tie the sore at 104. From that point, the Rams went on a 7-0 run to close out the contest.

"We had three guys on the bench and those three guys are important for us, guys who would be in the game for late-game situations. They had their main guys in there late in the game. It was tough. I thought that was the difference in the game," said Haith.

THE FIRST HALF …
Tulsa lead by as many as 5 points in the first half, and trailed by as many as 4 points. The Rams took a 4-point lead at 31-27 into intermission when Kris Martin got a second-chance layup to go through the net with 0:02 on the clock. Horne had 13 of Tulsa's 27 first-half points.

QUICK HITS …

Jeriah Horne scored 13 of Tulsa's 27 points in the first-half by shooting 5-9 (55.5) from the field.
Horne ended the game with a career-high 28 points, beating his previous-best of 27 points last year … it was also his third 20+ scoring game this year.
Elijah Joiner had career-bests of 9 rebounds and 9 assists.
It was the first overtime game for the Hurricane since last season – Feb. 17, 2019 when Tulsa grabbed a 77-73 win over ECU in Greenville, NC.
It was only the 4^th triple-overtime game in school history and the first since Feb. 16, 2013 against Houston ... Tulsa won by a score of 101-92 at the Reynolds Center.
Six Tulsa players scored in double-figures ... the first time this season that the Hurricane has done that.

The Hurricane is back in action on Sunday, Dec. 29, in Manhattan, Kansas, to face the Kansas State Wildcats in a 5:00 p.m. (CT) game. The game can be viewed on the ESPN+ network.