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Saturday, December 11
Reynolds Center
1:00 PM
Tulsa
5-5,0-0AAC
69
vs
65
Southern Illinois
5-4,1-0MVC
F
Southern Ill.
65
Tulsa
41
28
69
Golden Hurricane Hold off Southern Illinois to Win 69-65
12/11/2021 5:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAMEBOOK (PDF) | SEASON STATS
TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa made big plays down the stretch to beat Southern Illinois 69-65 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Saturday afternoon, snapping a three-game skid.
With the win, the Golden Hurricane moved to 5-5 on the season, while the Salukis dropped to 5-4.
"Great win," head coach Frank Haith said. "We needed it. The thing is, we have scheduled some really good teams. That's (Southern Illinois) a really good team. They beat Colorado, they're tough minded."
The Hurricane found itself in a familiar situation late in the game. Tulsa and Southern Illinois were tied at 60 with 3:13 to play. Sam Griffin and Curtis Haywood II combined to go 5-of-6 from the line to put Tulsa up 65-60 with 0:49 remaining before a corner three cut the lead back to two.
Following a quick timeout, Darien Jackson caught the SIU defense napping as Griffin snuck out of the press and Jackson hit him with a deep pass, leading to a fastbreak layup to bring Tulsa's lead to 67-63. On the ensuing possession, Tim Dalger stripped the ball handler, drew the foul and knocked down both free throws, giving Tulsa a 69-63 advantage. The Hurricane would make one more defensive stop before a consolation bucket in the waning seconds made it 69-65.
"Four of the five losses we've had, we had the lead in the last few minutes," Haith said. "It's good to have a game like this today where we have the lead with less than three minutes left, and we finish the game. We made some big stops, big rebounds and big layups."
Griffin led the Hurricane with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while adding three assists and a pair of rebounds. Jeriah Horne had 15 points, all in the first half, and he pulled down three rebounds and blocked two shots. Dalger tied his career high set against Rhode Island with 12 points to go with six rebounds. Haywood II stuffed the box score, as he scored eight, grabbed nine boards, dished out two assists and had two steals. Jackson also had eight points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Hurricane outshot the Salukis 47-percent to 40-percent, and 50-percent to 44-percent from deep, although SIU hit 15 threes to Tulsa's seven. The rebounding battle was even with both teams grabbing 31, and turnovers were close to even, as SIU turned it over 11 times to Tulsa's nine. However, Tulsa turned those turnovers into 18 points, while the Salukis only scored eight on TU turnovers.
Ben Coupet Jr. paced Southern Illinois and led all scorers with 27 points, 18 of which came on the deep ball. He also had four rebounds, an assist and two steals. Marcus Domask was the other Saluki in double-figures. He scored 16, had six rebounds, dished out seven assists and added a pair of steals with a block.
Tulsa extended its lead to a game-high 10 points twice in the second half, leading 52-42 with 14:01 to play. However, Southern Illinois went on a 15-6 run over the next 9:51 to get the Salukis within one, 58-57. A Dalger layup extended the lead to three before Troy D'Amico tied the game for the final time with a three-pointer.
Southern Illinois hadn't allowed a fastbreak point in two games headed into Saturday's matchup, but Tulsa put an end to that streak less than 25 seconds into the game after a Haywood II steal led to a Horne three-pointer. Tulsa knocked down its first four looks from deep, another from Horne and two from Haywood II. Horne finished the opening 20 minutes a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, including three triples, for 15 points.
The Hurricane shot the ball well from in the first half, knocking down 58-percent of their shots from the floor and were 7-11 (64-percent) on three-pointers.
However, the Salukis also found their rhythm early, led by 15 first half points from Coupet Jr. Southern Illinois knocked down 46-percent of its shots, allowing SIU to keep pace with Tulsa.
The two squads had four ties and six lead changes in the opening 20 minutes. Southern Illinois had an advantage on three-pointers 8-7, but Tulsa outscored the Salukis 8-3 on points off turnovers, and 10-6 in the paint.
Tulsa's hot shooting persisted throughout the opening half. With SIU leading 28-25 with 7:26 to play, the Hurricane closed the half with a 16-5 run to take a 41-33 advantage into the locker room. Jackson fueled the run with six points, while Horne and Griffin each knocked down a three-pointer.
Tulsa returns to action on Thursday when Alcorn State visits the Reynolds Center. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The Hurricane wrap-up the nonconference slate with games against Colorado State in Fort Worth, Texas, and North Texas in the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Dec. 18 and Dec. 21, respectively.
TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa made big plays down the stretch to beat Southern Illinois 69-65 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Saturday afternoon, snapping a three-game skid.
With the win, the Golden Hurricane moved to 5-5 on the season, while the Salukis dropped to 5-4.
"Great win," head coach Frank Haith said. "We needed it. The thing is, we have scheduled some really good teams. That's (Southern Illinois) a really good team. They beat Colorado, they're tough minded."
The Hurricane found itself in a familiar situation late in the game. Tulsa and Southern Illinois were tied at 60 with 3:13 to play. Sam Griffin and Curtis Haywood II combined to go 5-of-6 from the line to put Tulsa up 65-60 with 0:49 remaining before a corner three cut the lead back to two.
Following a quick timeout, Darien Jackson caught the SIU defense napping as Griffin snuck out of the press and Jackson hit him with a deep pass, leading to a fastbreak layup to bring Tulsa's lead to 67-63. On the ensuing possession, Tim Dalger stripped the ball handler, drew the foul and knocked down both free throws, giving Tulsa a 69-63 advantage. The Hurricane would make one more defensive stop before a consolation bucket in the waning seconds made it 69-65.
"Four of the five losses we've had, we had the lead in the last few minutes," Haith said. "It's good to have a game like this today where we have the lead with less than three minutes left, and we finish the game. We made some big stops, big rebounds and big layups."
Griffin led the Hurricane with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while adding three assists and a pair of rebounds. Jeriah Horne had 15 points, all in the first half, and he pulled down three rebounds and blocked two shots. Dalger tied his career high set against Rhode Island with 12 points to go with six rebounds. Haywood II stuffed the box score, as he scored eight, grabbed nine boards, dished out two assists and had two steals. Jackson also had eight points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Hurricane outshot the Salukis 47-percent to 40-percent, and 50-percent to 44-percent from deep, although SIU hit 15 threes to Tulsa's seven. The rebounding battle was even with both teams grabbing 31, and turnovers were close to even, as SIU turned it over 11 times to Tulsa's nine. However, Tulsa turned those turnovers into 18 points, while the Salukis only scored eight on TU turnovers.
Ben Coupet Jr. paced Southern Illinois and led all scorers with 27 points, 18 of which came on the deep ball. He also had four rebounds, an assist and two steals. Marcus Domask was the other Saluki in double-figures. He scored 16, had six rebounds, dished out seven assists and added a pair of steals with a block.
Tulsa extended its lead to a game-high 10 points twice in the second half, leading 52-42 with 14:01 to play. However, Southern Illinois went on a 15-6 run over the next 9:51 to get the Salukis within one, 58-57. A Dalger layup extended the lead to three before Troy D'Amico tied the game for the final time with a three-pointer.
Southern Illinois hadn't allowed a fastbreak point in two games headed into Saturday's matchup, but Tulsa put an end to that streak less than 25 seconds into the game after a Haywood II steal led to a Horne three-pointer. Tulsa knocked down its first four looks from deep, another from Horne and two from Haywood II. Horne finished the opening 20 minutes a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, including three triples, for 15 points.
The Hurricane shot the ball well from in the first half, knocking down 58-percent of their shots from the floor and were 7-11 (64-percent) on three-pointers.
However, the Salukis also found their rhythm early, led by 15 first half points from Coupet Jr. Southern Illinois knocked down 46-percent of its shots, allowing SIU to keep pace with Tulsa.
The two squads had four ties and six lead changes in the opening 20 minutes. Southern Illinois had an advantage on three-pointers 8-7, but Tulsa outscored the Salukis 8-3 on points off turnovers, and 10-6 in the paint.
Tulsa's hot shooting persisted throughout the opening half. With SIU leading 28-25 with 7:26 to play, the Hurricane closed the half with a 16-5 run to take a 41-33 advantage into the locker room. Jackson fueled the run with six points, while Horne and Griffin each knocked down a three-pointer.
Tulsa returns to action on Thursday when Alcorn State visits the Reynolds Center. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The Hurricane wrap-up the nonconference slate with games against Colorado State in Fort Worth, Texas, and North Texas in the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Dec. 18 and Dec. 21, respectively.
Team Stats
SIU
Tulsa
FG%
.404
.468
3FG%
.441
.500
FT%
.571
.750
RB
31
31
TO
11
9
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
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