UCF Holds Off Tulsa’s Comeback Bid 73-69

Tuesday, March 2

Orlando, FL

6:00 PM

Tulsa

10-11,7-9AAC

UCF

9-11,7-10AAC

Tulsa

UCF

Photo by: Bill Powell

UCF Holds Off Tulsa’s Comeback Bid 73-69

3/2/2021 9:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME STATS I PHOTO GALLERY I SEASON STATS

ORLANDO, Fla. –– Tulsa's furious second-half comeback bid fell short as UCF held on for a 73-69 victory Tuesday night at the Addition Financial Center.

Brandon Rachal led four Tulsa players in double-figures with 16 points and was one rebound shy of his seventh double-double with nine boards. Darien Jackson had 13 points while Keyshawn Embery-Simpson and Elijah Joiner added 11 points apiece. UCF's Isaiah Adams led all scorers with 19 points.

The loss dropped Tulsa to 10-11 on the season and 7-9 in league play, while UCF moved to 9-11 and 7-10 in AAC action.

"Obviously, it was a tough one. We just didn't finish it. We dug ourselves a big hole in the first half. We were real timid and we turned the ball over," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "We had 12 turnovers in the first half and only two in the second half. We executed better in the second half, obviously and defensively we were better in the second half."

"We took a couple tough shots down the stretch, not what we wanted but I can't fault our guys effort and how hard they fought in the second half," added Haith.

Trailing by 16 at halftime, the Hurricane outscored the Knights by 12 points, 48-36, in the second half. Tulsa converted on 60 percent of its shots from the field (18-30) and 54.5 percent from behind the arc (6-11), while making 6-of-7 from the free throw line during the final 20 minutes. Tulsa outscored UCF in the paint, 32-28, 18-14 in fast break points and 19-11 off of turnovers.

Curtis Haywood's 3-pointer to start the second half ignited the Hurricane to a 12-3 run, cutting its deficit to 40-33 in the first three minutes on a Rachal slam dunk. Tulsa's momentum continued as the Hurricane took its first lead of the game at 50-49 on an Embery-Simpson 3-pointer with 11:43 left on the game clock.

The Hurricane built its lead to 61-55 with just over eight minutes remaining while on a 40-18 run in the second half of the contest. Joiner's driving layup gave the Hurricane that six-point cushion at the 8:04 mark and Haywood's trey at 5:47 put Tulsa up by seven points at 66-59.

From that point, the Knights outscored the Hurricane 14-3 over the final 5:24, as Tulsa scored just one field goal and one free throw in those final five-plus minutes. Tulsa missed nine of its last 10 field goals, while UCF made 3-of-7 field goals, including two 3-pointers, and was 6-of-7 from the line.

In the first 12-plus minutes of the second half, Tulsa had converted 15-of-17 field goals in taking the lead.

UCF began the game by hitting two of its first three treys to take a 6-0 lead and another three-pointer put the Knights ahead 9-3. Tulsa cut the lead to 15-12 at the 11:10 mark on a Embery-Simpson fast break layup.

After UCF increased the lead to seven points, Jackson's two free throws cut Tulsa's deficit back to three points at 19-16 with 8:28 left in the first half.

Tulsa got as close as one point, 21-20, on a Rachal layup with 6:34 remaining in the first half. The Knights scored the next 12 points for a 33-20 lead and finished the first 20 minutes on a 16-1 run in the final 5:46 of the half.

UCF went into intermission with a 37-21 lead.

For the half, UCF knocked down 49 percent of its field goals, while Tulsa managed to shoot just 30 percent. Rachal led the Hurricane with eight points, while UCF's Adams had a high of 15 points.

Tulsa will play host to Northeastern State in a 12 p.m. non-conference game this Thursday before beginning play at the American Athletic Conference Championship on March 11.