Tulsa Wins AAC Opener in Dominating Fashion with 70-44 Win over Temple

Friday, January 3

Reynolds Center

8 PM

Tulsa

9-5,1-0AAC

Temple

9-4,1-1AAC

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Wins AAC Opener in Dominating Fashion with 70-44 Win over Temple

1/3/2020 11:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GAME STATS I PHOTO GALLERY I SEASON STATS I PRESS CONFERENCE

TULSA, Okla. –– Jeriah Horne and Brandon Rachal combined for 42 points as Tulsa opened American Athletic Conference play with a 70-44 win over Temple Friday night in front of 3,405 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa improved to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in league play, while Temple fell to 9-4 and 1-1 in The American.

"Our guys really had good focus today. We didn't make shots early in the game, but then Jeriah and Brandon got going. It was all about our defense and I was really proud of how we competed on that end of the floor," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith.

Horne had his 4^th 20-point game this season with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-16 from the field and 4 three-pointers and added a team-high 7 rebounds, while Rachal added 19 points on 8-of-13 overall and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Martins Igbanu scored 14 points on 6-of-8 from the field.

The Hurricane connected on 51-percent of its field goals and made 8 three-pointers on the night, while scoring 32 points in the paint. Nine of Tulsa's 10 players grabbed a rebound and 7 players dished out at least one assist, led by Darien Jackson's 5.

Tulsa's defense was stifling on the night as the Hurricane held the Owls to season opponent lows of 27.7-percent from the field and 20-percent on 3-pointers. Tulsa had season-highs of 13 steals, led by Elijah Joiner's 4, and 5 blocks, led by Emmanuel Ugboh's 2. The Owls didn't reach its 30^th point until the 10:21 mark of the second half and its 40^th point with 4:49 remaining in the contest.

It was the fewest points allowed by the Hurricane in an American Athletic Conference matchup since limiting Tulane to 48 points on January 30, 2016. The 44 points allowed is also the 6^th time Tulsa has limited an AAC opponent to under 50 points since joining the league in 2014-15.

Leading by 18 points at halftime, Tulsa's second-half lead stayed at 15 points or above for the entire period, capping out at 27 points twice. Rachal's layup at the 5:07 mark made the score 66-39 and Igbanu's jumper in the paint with 3:18 to play gave Tulsa its second 27-point lead of the game at 68-41.

After scoring just 8 points in the paint for the first 20 minutes, the Hurricane tallied 24 paint points in the second half. "We didn't want to settle. We wanted to play inside out and that was a focus in the second half," added Haith.

The two teams began slowly battling to a 2-2 tie in the first 4:31 of the game. A Martins Igbanu layup gave Tulsa a 4-2 lead at the 15:29 mark and from that point the Hurricane sprinted out to a 15-9 lead at the 10:26 mark. In the next 10 minutes of the 1^st half, the Hurricane outscored the Owls 20-8 to take a 35-17 lead into intermission.

Tulsa scored 12 straight points to increase its lead from 20-14 to a 32-14 advantage over a span of 4:15.

The Hurricane shot 46-percent from both the field and 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, as Rachal led the way with 13 points followed by Horne's 11 points. Tulsa made 7 of its 15 treys, while Temple was just 2-of-17 from behind the arc for the first half.

Both teams failed to score on second-chance points in the first half as Temple had only 6 opportunities. The Hurricane did not have a first-half offensive rebound but still held an 18-point lead at halftime.

QUICK HITS …

Tulsa improved to 6-0 in home games against Temple.
Tulsa had its 7^th different starting lineup in its first 14 games.
Tulsa improved to 4-2 in American Athletic Conference openers.
In all 9 wins this year Tulsa has now held each opponent to 40-percent or less in field goal percentage.
Jeriah Horne had his 4^th 20-point scoring game of the season to lead the team in that category.
Temple's 44 points was the fewest points allowed by the Hurricane in an American Athletic Conference matchup since limiting Tulane to 48 points on January 30, 2016.
The 44 points allowed is also the 6^th time Tulsa has limited an AAC opponent to under 50 points since joining the league in 2014-15.

Tulsa takes to the road to face the Cincinnati Bearcats next Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 6:00 p.m. (CT). The game will be aired on ESPNU. The Hurricane will be back at the Reynolds Center to face the Houston Cougars on Saturday, Jan. 11, in a 3:00 p.m. game.