Tulsa Wrangles in the Mavericks in Home Opening Win

Friday, December 4

Reynolds Center

4:00 PM

Tulsa

1-2,0-0AAC

UT Arlington

1-4,0-0Sun Belt

UT Arlington

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Wrangles in the Mavericks in Home Opening Win

12/4/2020 8:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. –– Senior Brandon Rachal scored 19 points, leading the Hurricane in scoring for the third-straight game, as Tulsa defeated the UT Arlington Mavericks, 79-64, in the home opener at the Reynolds Center.

Elijah Joiner added 14 points and 7 rebounds, while Darien Jackson scored 10 points and led the team in rebounds with 9 for the Hurricane. Junior Curtis Haywood II put in his first points as a Hurricane scoring 8 and added a team high 5 assists.

Tulsa used a 15-5 run to close out the first after UT Arlington grabbed its largest lead of 7 with 6:51 left in the half. Rachal led the charge scoring 9 points on 4-4 shooting during the stretch; the Hurricane did not trail the rest of the game, extending its lead to as many as 25 in the second half.

Rey Idowu and Emmanuel Ugboh were a force inside for the Hurricane. Idowu scored 7 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, as Ugboh scored 6 points, including a three-point play during the TU run to end the first.

The Hurricane defense played a huge part in the victory by forcing the Mavericks into 16 turnovers, scoring 20 points off of them. TU was led in steals by Haywood II and Jackson who each had 2, while freshman Christian Shumate and Haywood II each put in a block to lead the Hurricane.

Tulsa improved to 1-2 on the season, while UT Arlington fell to 1-4.

During the second half, the Hurricane sprinted to a double-digit lead going up by 10 on a Keyshawn Embery-Simpson jumper at the 13:52 mark. Tulsa only needed five more minutes to take a 20-point lead on a dunk by Ugboh.

The Hurricane lived in the paint scoring 48 points, doubling the 24 scored by the Mavericks.

Tulsa played all 14 of its' active roster, as freshmen Peyton Urbancic, Christian Shumate, Bradley Alcime, Ari Seals and sophomore Ryan Gendron all saw their first action of the season.

TU took a quick lead on an Elijah Joiner basket to start the game; however, UTA held the lead for 16:01 of the first half. UT Arlington was led by Sam Griffin and David Azore who had 13 and 11 points respectively.

The Hurricane held the Mavericks leading scorer, Shahada Wells to just 3 points on 1-2 shooting from the field.

Tulsa took a 40-37 points lead into the half, led by Rachal's 11 points at the break.

The Hurricane shot 47-percent (16-34) in the second half from the field, while holding the Mavericks to 27 points in the second half on 40-percent (10-25).

Quick Hitters

The Hurricane for the second time this season shot 50-percent (32-64) from the field and had its best performance from the 3-point line going 8-23 (35%)
Tulsa outrebounded the Mavericks grabbing 41 rebounds compared to UTA's 28 ... TU crashed the offensive boards pulling in 13 offensive rebounds
TU turned its 13 offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points while only allowing UT Arlington to pull in 7 offensive boards
Coach Frank Haith with the win against the Mavericks wins his 117th as the head coach of the Hurricane ... he is now tied for 4th all-time with Ken Hayes in Tulsa history
Junior guard Austin Richie scored his first bucket as a Hurricane, finishing the game with 5 points on 2-6 shooting
Senior guards Brandon Rachal and Elijah Joiner have each scored in double-figures in every contest this season
The Golden Hurricane is 16-6 in season openers at the Reynolds Center since the buildings first full season as Tulsa's home arena in 1999-2000 ... its 5-2 in home openers under Frank Haith
Tulsa has faced five Sun Belt teams in home openers in the Reynolds Center with a 5-0 record
TU captures its first win of the season and moves to 5-1 all-time against UT Arlington
Both Ari Seals and Ryan Gendron's fathers, Shea Seals and Jonnie Gendron, played together at Tulsa from 1995-1997.

Tulsa plays their second straight home game on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6:00 p.m. against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Reynolds Center on ESPN+.

TU fans can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch Golden Hurricane basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball this year. ESPN+ is offered at $5.99/month or $49.99/year. To subscribe, go to: plus.espn.com. Fans will be able to access ESPN+ content only after they have subscribed.

Fans can also subscribe to ESPN+ as part of the Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (ad-supported) for just $12.99/month. A subscription to ESPN+ is available for purchase via ESPN.com or the ESPN App for iOS and Android devices.

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