Griffin, Horne Combine for 44 as Tulsa Downs South Florida 76-45

Saturday, January 29

7:00 PM

Tulsa

7-12,1-7AAC

South Florida

6-13,1-6AAC

South Fla.

Tulsa

Photo by: Brett Rojo

Griffin, Horne Combine for 44 as Tulsa Downs South Florida 76-45

1/29/2022 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME BOX SCORE | SEASON STATS (PDF)

TULSA, OKLA. –– Jeriah Horne and Sam Griffin combined for 44 points as Tulsa toppled South Florida for a 76-45 win Saturday night in front of 3,012 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Horne knocked in 23 points, 13 coming in the second half, while Griffin totaled 21 points as he paced the Hurricane in the first 20 minutes with 19 points. The duo combined to shoot 55-percent from the field (16-29) and 58-percent from three-point range (7-12).

"Obviously, it was a win needed. We've had a tough stretch starting conference with a bunch of close games. We're learning along the way, but I thought we've grown," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith.

The win improved Tulsa's series record over the Bulls to 11-0 and snapped an overall seven-game losing streak. Tulsa improved to 7-12 overall and 1-7 in American Athletic Conference play, while South Florida fell to 6-13 and 1-6 in the league.

It was a solid defensive effort for the Hurricane, holding the Bulls to a season opponent low of 45 points. The 45 points is the fewest for a Tulsa opponent since holding Memphis to 40 points in the 2019-20 season. USF shot just 30-percent overall and 17-percent from behind the arc, making just 3-of-17 treys.

The 31-point win was the largest of the season for the Hurricane.

Tulsa trailed only once in the contest for a total of only 0:33 on the clock as USF took a 1-0 lead at the 18:56 mark on a Jamir Chaplin free throw. Nikita Konstantynovskyi's layup 33 seconds later put Tulsa ahead for good at 2-1.

"Tonight, we did the things we needed to do. We talked about defense and that's an area we've really struggled with. Offensively, all and all, we've been pretty good, but defensively we've been struggling and tonight we defended. Hopefully, it is something we can build on because defense travels and it will give us a chance to win on the road," added Haith.

Tulsa came out of the locker room and began the second half on a 9-4 run to take a 49-31 lead in the first four minutes. LaDavius Draine's trey with 12:12 on the clock gave the Hurricane it first 20-point lead, making the score 56-36.

From that point, Tulsa's lead never dropped under 20 points as the Hurricane closed out the contest on a 16-5 run. The Bulls were stuck on 40 points for 3:24 of the final nine minutes as the Hurricane kept adding to its lead.

Tulsa jumped out to an early 7-2 lead after USF scored the game's first point on a free throw. The Hurricane maintained the led for the entire half. The Bulls got as close as one point when Caleb Murphy's basket made the score 20-19 with 6:40 left on the clock.

Leading 25-19, Griffin scored 12 straight points to increase Tulsa's lead to 34-25 at the 2:58 mark. The Hurricane closed the first half on a 15-6 run to take a 40-27 lead into halftime.

Tulsa out-scored USF in the paint in the first half 20-6 and an 11-0 edge in points off turnovers, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Griffin led all scorers in the first half with 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

Tulsa goes on the road for a two-game swing against Wichita State on Tuesday (Feb. 1) and next Saturday at Temple (Feb. 5). The Hurricane will return to the Reynolds Center on Tuesday, Feb. 8, to host the East Carolina Pirates.