Tulsa Pulls Away for 66-51 Win over Mississippi Valley State

Friday, December 16

7:00 PM

Tulsa

4-6,0-0AAC

Mississippi Valley State

1-11,0-0SWAC

Mississippi Val.

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Pulls Away for 66-51 Win over Mississippi Valley State

12/16/2022 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME STATS I PRESS CONFERENCE I SEASON STATS I GAME HIGHLIGHTS

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa pulled away in the second half for a 66-51 win over Mississippi Valley State at the Donald W. Reynolds Center Friday night in front of 3,004 fans.

Brandon Betson led the way for the Hurricane with 15 points on 5-of-8 from three-point range, while Anthony Pritchard tied his career-high with 13 points and Sam Griffin added 11.

Tulsa improved to 4-6 on the season and 3-2 at home, while Mississippi Valley State fell to 1-11 overall and 0-11 away from home.

Tulsa pulled away in the second half with a 12-0 run to make the score 52-37 with 9:44 left in the contest. The Hurricane took its first double-digit lead of the game at the 12:01 mark on a Betson three-pointer to make the score 47-37. Two more Betson treys and a layup by Bryant Selebangue built Tulsa's lead to 56-38 with 9:31 remaining in the contest.

The Hurricane finished the game shooting 47-percent from the field after starting the game making only two of its first 11 field goal attempts. The rebounding edge went to the Delta Devils, 39-28, tying Tulsa's lowest rebounding effort of the season,

"Always pleased to come away with a win. It wasn't a pretty one. It's been a long week for our guys, certainly academically. I wasn't happy with the energy, the effort or the intensity for a good part of the game," said Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol. "Give credit to Mississippi Valley State. I thought their zone slowed us down and made us a little lethargic.

"I thought we had some open looks from time to time, but we were expecting to attack the glass better and get some second chances on the offensive end. It took us awhile to get where we needed to be on the defense end and get some runouts. It was a pretty sloppy game for us and I would like to play a whole lot better."

The two teams started the game slowly as the score was just 11-8 after 10 minutes. Tulsa finished the first half on an 8-4 run to take a 29-25 lead into halftime.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Tulsa got off to a slow start making just two of its first 11 field goal attempts as the visiting Delta Devils led 6-2 and was ahead 7-4 in the first seven minutes. Griffin's jumper at the 11:56 mark cut Tulsa's deficit to one point at 7-6.

The Hurricane took its first lead at 11-8 on a three-pointer by Pritchard at the 10:21 mark.

The game remained close through the first half with a total of five lead changes. The largest lead for Tulsa was six points with 0:27 left on the first-half clock, while MVSU's largest lead was four points with its early 6-2 advantage. The visitors led for 8:54 of the first half, while Tulsa had the edge for 6:43 on the clock.

Tulsa closed out the first half on an 8-4 run and led at halftime 29-25.

After a dismal shooting start, Tulsa got back on track and made its next 10-of-21 from the field to finish the first half at 40-percent. Tulsa outscored MVSU 16-5 off 13 turnovers, but the Delta Devils had a 24-14 advantage on the boards at the intermission.

The first seven minutes of the second half remained close until the Hurricane went on a stretch to put some distance on the scoreboard between them and the Delta Devils.

With Tulsa leading by just three points, 40-37, at the 13:42 mark of the second half, the Hurricane went on a 15-1 run for a 55-38 lead with 9:01 remaining in the contest. During that span, Betson knocked down three treys and Pritchard added four points and Selebangue two for the Hurricane.

Tulsa built its lead to 18 points three times before ending with the 15-point victory.

GAME NOTES
•        This was the third meeting between Tulsa and Mississippi Valley State.
•        Anthony Pritchard made his first three-pointer in the last three games, coming in the first half at the 10:21 mark.
•        Pritchard had his 5^th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 8^th of his career.
•        Pritchard tied his season and career-high with 13 points.•
•     Brandon Betson had a season-high five treys and was two shy of his career-high of six.
• The 15 points was Betson's 5^th double-figure scoring game of the season.
• Sam Griffin had his 8^th double-digit scoring game of the season and his 32^nd in a Tulsa uniform.
•         t was only the second time in seven games that Tulsa won when being out-rebounded on the season for a 2-5 record.

Tulsa will be on the road Wednesday at Loyola Marymount for a 9 p.m. (CT) tipoff. The Hurricane will return to open the American Athletic Conference schedule against defending champ and the nation's 5^th-ranked Houston Cougars on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 8 p.m.