TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team led wire to wire in an 84-53 win against Northeastern State in an exhibition at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Wednesday evening.
Tulsa's defense held the RiverHawks to 30.9 percent from the field and 13.8 percent on 4-of-29 shooting from beyond the arc, while the Hurricane offense shot 47.0 percent for the evening, boosted by a scorching 61.3 percent second half. TU added seven steals, 21 points off turnovers and 12 points on fast breaks.
Newcomer Sam Griffin led all scorers with 19 points, one of three Hurricane to record double digits alongside Jeriah Horne (15) and Rey Idowu (12). The trio combined to shoot 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) from the field. Griffin was 7-of-12, and Horne and Idowu were both 5-of-9.
Emeka Obukwelu and Dillon Bailey were the high scorers for the visiting RiverHawks with 12 and 11 respectively.
"It was a great opportunity to get out and play in front of fans," head coach Frank Haith said. "First time out I thought we were a little amped up. Our defense was good, that's something we've harped on. We've been wanting to get better, particularly with our man (defense)."
Sam Griffin
Tulsa got on top almost immediately after an Earley fastbreak layup courtesy a Curtis Haywood II steal barely a minute in.
Earley had the first six points for the Golden Hurricane and eight of the first 10 as Tulsa built an early 10-2 lead. A quick 6-0 run from the RiverHawks got them within two, but they would get no closer.
The Hurricane outscored NSU 22-8 over the remaining 13 minutes of the first half to take a 32-16 lead into the break. Tulsa shot at a 34.3 percent clip in the first half and held the RiverHawks to 22.6 percent, including 0-15 from three. Tulsa's bench played a pivotal role, outscoring the opponents 14-0 in the opening half.
Griffin got things underway after the break with a three-pointer, followed by back-to-back layups, part of a 13-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half to put Tulsa up 48-18. Tulsa would go on to grow its lead to as many as 34 (81-50) with 2:41 to play.
The Hurricane held a 41-24 advantage in bench points and controlled the paint with a 36-20 advantage in that area.
"We wanted to establish our post guys," Haith said. "Those guys did a good job scoring in the paint. We started off with Josh (Earley), and then Rey (Idowu) gave us some good minutes. And there at the end, I thought Nikita (Konstantynovskyi) played really well." Anthony Pritchard
The Hurricane return to action next Wednesday as they officially open the season against the Northwestern State Demons. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Reynolds Center, and ESPN+ will carry the game.
