Tulsa Falls in Mayor’s Cup Game 87-80

Monday, November 29

Tulsa, OK

7:00 PM

Tulsa

4-3,0-0AAC

Oral Roberts

4-3,0-0Summit League

Tulsa

Oral Roberts

Tulsa Falls in Mayor’s Cup Game 87-80

11/29/2021 9:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa's Jeriah Horne scored a career-high 30 points but it wasn't enough as Oral Roberts claimed an 87-80 victory Monday night in the Mayor's Cup at the ORU Mabee Center.

Horne connected on 11-of-19 from the field, 5-of-8 from behind the arc and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, while also leading the Hurricane in rebounds with eight. ORU ended the game making 19-of-41 three-pointers as Max Abmas had a game-high 38 points, making 9-of-16 from the field, 7-of-13 from three-point range and 13-of-15 from the free throw line.

Darien Jackson added nine points, Sam Griffin, Rey Idowu and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson each had eight points for Tulsa.

ORU's 19 three-pointers is a new Tulsa opponent high, breaking the previous record of 18 set by Houston on January 11, 2018. On the night, only seven of ORU's field goals were two-pointers. Tulsa finished the game shooting 47.7-perent from the field and 50-percent from three-point range (12-of-24), while ORU shot 47-percent overall and 46-percent from behind the arc.

Tulsa fell to 4-3 overall, while ORU improved to 4-3 on the season. The ORU win snapped Tulsa's four-game winning streak in the series.

"We fought hard. In the first half they made all those three's and we were only down five and we missed some bunnies and then missed some in the second half. We've got to make those baskets. Every point matters in a game like this. That was disappointing," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "We scored 36 points in the paint, but we never got in the one-on-one and only shot nine free throws. We have to find a way to get fouled and be better there."

The Hurricane went to the free throw line only nine times, making six, while ORU connected on 16-of-19 free throws. Tulsa out-scored ORU in the paint 36-to-14 and had a 24-to-13 point edge in bench points.

After trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Hurricane didn't take its first lead of the game until the 15:39 mark of the second half. Tulsa took that lead at 47-46 on Horne's fast-break layup, but another ORU three-pointer put the Golden Eagles back ahead 49-47 just 0:15 later.

Tulsa tied the score at 49 on an Idowu jumper and for the next 3:36 the score was tied three more times at 52, 56 and 59 leading up to the 16-minute media timeout that didn't come until 7:45 on the clock. Idowu's dunk at the 7:47 mark gave Tulsa a 63-62 lead.

Trailing 73-69 with 3:25 remaining in the contest, Tulsa's Griffin knocked down two straight three-pointers to put the Hurricane ahead 75-73. ORU responded with the next six points to take a 79-75 lead at the 1:41 mark. Embery-Simpson hit a long two-point shot to bring Tulsa to within two points at 79-77 with 1:05 remaining before the Golden Eagles finished the game out-scoring the Hurricane 8-3, with all eight points coming on Abmas free throws.

Oral Roberts was on fire from behind the arc through the first 20 minutes for a 45-40 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles made 52-percent of its field goals while 11 of those field goals were three-pointers. Tulsa made 6-of-12 treys of its own in the first half and finished with a shooting percentage of 47% from the field.

The Golden Eagles hit 4-of-7 treys in the first four minutes of the contest and took a 14-7 lead at the 15:23 mark. The Hurricane hit 60-percent of its field goals during that same time span but made just 3-of-5 and only one three-pointer.

The Golden Eagles increased its lead to 19-7 and kept hitting from behind the arc to take a 25-14 lead at the 11:49 mark, while hitting 7-of-13 treys and just 2-of-4 from two-point range.

Horne's three-pointer at the 10:36 mark cut Tulsa's deficit to eight points at 25-17 before ORU went on an 8-1 run to take its largest first-half lead of 15 points, 33-18, with just under the nine minutes on the clock. The Golden Eagles went ahead again by 15 at 35-20 before Tulsa cut its deficit to 10 points at 35-25 on a Horne layup.

Horne's second trey of the game cut ORU's lead to 10 points again at 40-30 with 3:59 to play. Jackson's jumper at the 3:24 mark trimmed ORU's advantage to eight points at 40-32.

A traditional three-point play by Horne made it a five-point game at 43-38 with 1:47 before the halftime buzzer. Tim Dalger's layup made it a three-point game, 43-40, but ORU returned the score for its five-point halftime lead.

Horne led Tulsa with 16 first-half points on 6-of-11 from the field and three treys, while Abmas led the Golden Eagles with 11 points. ORU had six players make three-pointers in the first half with Abmas leading the way with three. The Hurricane scored 20 of its first-half points in the paint, while holding just a one-rebound lead on the boards at 17-16.

Tulsa continues its road trip at plays at Boise State on Friday, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. (CT) before returning home for three straight contests at the Donald W. Reynolds Center beginning with Loyola Marymount on Dec. 7.