Tulsa Takes Over First Place in AAC with 61-51 Win at Temple

Wednesday, March 4

Philadelphia, PA.

6 PM

Tulsa

Temple

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Takes Over First Place in AAC with 61-51 Win at Temple

3/4/2020 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME BOX SCORE I SEASON STATS

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Tulsa (21-9, 13-4 AAC) captured lone possession of first-place in the American Athletic Conference standings with a 61-51 victory over the Temple Owls (14-16, 6-11 AAC) at the Liacouras Center on Wednesday night.

Houston is a half-game back of the Golden Hurricane with a 12-4 record. The Cougars play at UConn Thursday night.

Senior Martins Igbanu led the way for Tulsa with 17 points on 6-of-11 (55%) from the field and 5-of-6 (83%) from the free throw line. Igbanu scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half, adding in 4 rebounds and a block. Brandon Rachal recorded his 4th double-double of the season scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He went 4-of-7 (57%) for the Hurricane and down the stretch scoring 4 of Tulsa's final 8 points.

Tulsa wins is 21st game for its most wins since a 24-11 record in the 2014-15 season, while Tulsa's 13 league wins is the most AAC wins for the Hurricane since a 14-4 record in that same season.

The Hurricane shot 40-percent (21-53) from the field for the game and just 26-percent (6-23) from three-point range and 13-of-19 (68%) from the charity stripe. Tulsa out-rebounded the Owls 30-27, scored more paint points, 28-20, and recorded more bench points 30-15.

Tulsa used an 11-0 run in the first 7 minutes of the second half to extend their 7-point halftime to 18 points at 42-24. The Owls didn't score for the first 7:10 of the second half, getting its first points on a Quinton Rose two-pointer at the 12:50 mark.

Tulsa held the lead for 29 minutes, including the final 26:21 of the game. Tulsa's largest lead of 20 points at 48-28 came at the 10-minute mark of the second half following an Igbanu layup.

"I thought our defense was on point, and we did the things we needed to do like securing the ball on rebounds, "said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith, "We did enough offensively, and defensively we put the clamps on them in the second half creating separation."

Temple, led by senior Damion Moore, jumped out to a quick start in the first half, capturing an 8-5 lead. Tulsa chipped away taking its first lead of the game at the 8:46 mark at 16-15 off a 5-0 run capped off by a Rachal layup. Temple had its largest lead of the first half at 6 points, while Tulsa's largest margin was the halftime margin of 7 points.

Freshman Isaiah Hill led the Hurricane in the first-half scoring 7 straight points, and ended the first 20 minutes with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Owls were led in the game by Quinton Rose who scored 15 points including 5 of the last 8 Temple points in the game. Moore, on senior day for the Owls, recorded one point away from a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hurricane will close out the regular season this Sunday, March 8 by traveling to Wichita, Kansas, to face off against the Shockers at 3:00 p.m. (CT).

QUICK HITS …
•   Picked 10th in the AAC's Preseason Coaches' poll, Tulsa, with a win on Sunday at Wichita State will at least earn a share of the American Athletic Conference Championship… with a win and a Houston loss in either of their 2 remaining games Tulsa would earn the outright title.
•   Tulsa evened its road record to 6-6 this season and improved in the AAC on the road to 5-3.
•   Tulsa won by double-digits for the 8th time in its 13 conference wins this year.
•   Martins Igbanu had his 18th double-figure game of the season, including 11 of the last 13 games.
• Igbanu had a game-high 17 points to lead Tulsa in scoring for the 9th time in the last 13 games.
•   Brandon Rachal had his 20th double-digit scoring game and his 4th double-digit rebounding game, as well as his 4th double-double of the season
• Freshman Isaiah Hill moved into 10th place on the school's all-time freshman assists list, now with 65 assists.
•   In 125 career games, Igbanu now has 1,290 career points to rank 22^nd on the school's career scoring list, while his 621 career rebounds is in 21^st place on the all-time rebounding list … he needs 39 points and 3 rebounds to move into 20th place in both career categories.
•   Tulsa has now held its opponent to under 30-percent from 3-point range for the 15th time this season, and the 8th time under 35-percent from the field.