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Photo by: Dave Crenshaw
Balanced Attack Leads Tulsa to 70-63 Win over Central Michigan
12/10/2022 4:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME STATS I PRESS CONFERENCE I SEASON STATS
TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa (3-6) used a balanced attack on Saturday afternoon for a 70-63 win over Central Michigan (4-6) in front of 2,654 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Nine of 10 players scored for the Hurricane as Sam Griffin and Keyshawn Embery- Simpson led the way with 13 points apiece and Tim Dalger added 12 points. Embery-Simpson and Bryant Selebangue led with five rebounds each, while Dalger had a team-high four assists and Griffin led the way with three steals.
"I'm really proud of this group after having the tough one the other night. They've been in final exams and have had to modify and do some different things," said Tulsa Head Coach Eric Konkol. "I thought it was a gritty performance. One that certainly had mistakes, like any game does, but we responded to adversity better this afternoon. And then we pushed it forward into a good performance. I had talked about rebounding last week, and to get one more rebound was just enough."
After CMU's Max Majerle's 3-pointer tied the score at 61-61 with 3:32 to play, the Hurricane played solid down the stretch. Embery-Simpson hit a step-back jumper in the lane for a 63-61 lead, Dalger made two free throws and Anthony Pritchard hit a turnaround jumper on the baseline to put Tulsa ahead 67-61 with just 0:45 on the clock. The Hurricane made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 0:36 to preserve the seven-point victory.
Tulsa closed out the first half on a 15-5 run to take a 31-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
CMU came out in the second half and scored the first six points to knot the score at 31 within the first 1:03. Tulsa's Dalger knocked down a 3-pointer for Tulsa's first points of the second half and a 34-31 lead. The Chippewas took a one-point lead at 37-36, but Griffin answered back with a trey at the 15:45 mark and although the game was tied once more, Central Michigan would not lead again.
Tulsa led by as many as eight points at 57-49 and 59-51 before Central Michigan tied the game at 61.
For the game, Tulsa shot 45-percent from the field, 35-percent from 3-point range and knocked down 12-of-15 free throws for 80-percent. Tulsa held the Central Michigan to 36-percent from the field, but the Chippewas also missed just three free throws for an .864 percentage from the charity stripe.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tulsa jumped out to a 4-0 lead and built its lead to five points at 12-7 before Central Michigan took its first lead of the game, 15-14, at the 7:33 mark of the first half.
CMU had its largest lead of the first half at 20-16 with 4:45 on the clock, but the Hurricane closed out the half on a 15-5 run over the final 4:38 to take a 31-25 lead into halftime.
Tulsa shot 43-percent from the field and Central Michigan 39 percent, with the Hurricane outscored SMU in the paint 18-12 and 13-2 for fastbreak points. Keyshawn Embery-Simpson led Tulsa with seven first-half points.
After intermission, CMU scored the first six points of the second half to knot the score at 31 within the first 1:03. Tulsa's Dalger knocked down a 3-pointer for Tulsa's first points of the second half and a 34-31 lead.
Selebangue picked up two quick second-half fouls within the first 2:13 of the second half and sat for the next 4:41.
After CMU took a one-point lead, 37-36, at the 16:21 mark, Tulsa went on a 14-6 run to take a 50-43 lead with 12:15 remaining in the game. The Chippewas made a run to tie the score at 61-61 before the Hurricane finished strong by outscoring the visitors 9-2 in the final 3:01 of the contest.
Embery-Simpson's step-back jumper to give Tulsa a two-point margin at 63-61 was the first two of six straight points to help the Hurricane close the game.
GAME NOTES
• This was the first meeting on the hardwood between the two teams.
• CMU associate head coach Shane Heirman played at Tulsa from 2008-11 under Doug Wojcik.
• For the second straight game a TU student was awarded $1,000 for hitting the halfcourt shot during a timeout promotion.
• Tulsa snapped a 5-game losing streak and moved to 2-2 at home.
• Tulsa led at halftime for the 4th time this season, 31-25.
• Tulsa had a season-high 13 steals, breaking the previous high game of 10 … Tulsa broke the previous season-high by halftime with 11 steals in the first half.
• Sam Griffin had his 7th double-digit scoring game of the season and his 31st in a Tulsa uniform.
• Tim Dalger had his 4th double-figure scoring game and his first in his last four games played.
Tulsa will close out its four-game homestand next Friday against Mississippi Valley State with a game time of 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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