Tulsa Downs Alcorn State 83-62

Thursday, December 16

Reynolds Center

7:00 PM

Tulsa

6-5,0-0AAC

Alcorn State

1-9,0-0SWAC

Alcorn

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Downs Alcorn State 83-62

12/16/2021 10:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. –– Two Tulsa players finished with double-doubles and nine Golden Hurricane scored en route to an 83-62 victory over Alcorn State on Thursday evening in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Jeriah Horne scored 15 and grabbed 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season, while Curtis Haywood II earned the first of his career with a 12-point, 11-rebound performance. Tim Dalger came close to making it three Hurricane as he put up 13 points and pulled down seven boards. Sam Griffin led the team with 19 points and had a team-high four steals.

With the win, Tulsa moves to 6-5 on the season as the team heads into the final two games of the nonconference slate. The loss drops Alcorn to 1-9 with Baylor and Oklahoma looming on the horizon of a tough opening schedule.

Tulsa's defense stifled the Braves, holding Alcorn State to 39 percent shooting, the lowest by a TU opponent this season. Horne was busy on defense, swatting a career-high four shots. The Hurricane also scored 16 points off turnovers and had 15 fastbreak points. Alcorn did shoot above its average from beyond the arc, knocking down eight of its 22 three pointers (36.4 percent).

Paul King led all scorers with 21 points, hitting on nine of his 21 attempts (42.9 percent) and had three threes. Oddyst Walker finished with 16 and Darrious Agnew put up 12 points and six rebounds to round out Braves in double figures.

For the second time this season, the Hurricane knocked down more than half of its shots, as Tulsa finished 28-54 (51.9 percent) for the evening and shot 9-19 (47.4 percent) from three-point range.

The Hurricane led by double-digits for the majority of the second half, but there was no major run that broke the game open. Instead, Tulsa increased its advantage over time, not allowing Alcorn to get back in the game. Tulsa led 37-28 at the break and had the lead up to 13 at the first media timeout of the second half, 48-35. The lead would get no closer than 12 for the rest of the game.

Tulsa's lead reached 19 a couple of times before the Braves made one last push to get it to 75-62 with 3:31 remaining, but Tulsa would score the final eight points to put it away.

Alcorn State took an early one-point lead in the opening minutes of the game off a three-pointer from Walker to make it 3-2. However, Griffin responded with a three of his own on the next possession. Tulsa went on a quick 8-3 run to push the lead out to 13-6, highlighted by a three-pointer from LaDavius Draine, and an old-fashioned three-point play from Horne. Alcorn State went on a 7-0 run of its own to tie the game at 13 with 12:25 to play in the opening half.

On the ensuing possession, Keyshawn Embery-Simpson converted on a layup to put Tulsa up 15-13, and the Hurricane didn't trail again. A driving layup from Dalger with 5:22 remaining in the half gave TU its first double-digit lead, 29-18. Tulsa's lead remained above 10 points until a buzzer-beating three from King brought Alcorn State back within nine.

Tulsa has a quick turnaround as the Hurricane head to Ft. Worth, Texas to take part in the Hoops Hype XL | College Basketball Showcase on Saturday afternoon. Tulsa will face the No. 23 and undefeated Colorado State Rams. Tipoff is set for 3:30 PM on ESPN+.