Golden Hurricane Corrals Bulls 65-57 on the Road

Saturday, February 19

Tampa, FL

11:00 AM

Tulsa

9-16,3-11AAC

South Florida

7-19,2-12AAC

Tulsa

South Fla.

Photo by: Mary Holt/South Florida Athletics

Golden Hurricane Corrals Bulls 65-57 on the Road

2/19/2022 3:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME BOOK | Season Stats (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. –– The University of Tulsa recorded its first true road win of the season 65-57 over South Florida on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,085 fans in the Yuengling Center.

The Golden Hurricane moved to 9-16 (3-11 American Athletic Conference) with the win, while the Bulls fell to 7-19 (2-12 AAC).

Sam Griffin led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also dished out three assists and recorded a pair of steals. Rey Idowu finished with 13 points and paced the Hurricane with eight rebounds.

The Bulls were carried by three players in double figures. Javon Greene paced South Florida, recording 15 points, nine of which came in the second half. Russel Tchewa had 10 of his 13 points in the first half and led the team with seven rebounds. Caleb Murphy added 10 points of his own.

The Hurricane shot 52 percent from the field and 44 from deep in the win, while holding South Florida to 36 percent from the floor and 23 percent on 3-pointers. The two teams were even on rebounds, 31, while Tulsa turned it over 19 times to South Florida's 13. Both teams shot well on free throws, with Tulsa going 14-of-17 and the Bulls knocking down 10-of-12.

Leading 32-27 at the break, Tulsa exited the locker room with a 6-0 run to push its lead to double digits, forcing a timeout less than two minutes into the half. South Florida responded with a 5-0 run to bring the score to 41-35 with 13:35 left, but Tulsa did a good job of keeping the Bulls at an arm's length through defensive stops and timely shooting.

With 6:49 to play, Tulsa extended its lead to a game-high 12 points, 52-40, thanks to a layup from Griffin. Although the Hurricane was unable to extend its lead further, South Florida failed to get closer than 8 the rest of the way. Horne put Tulsa up 12 again, 56-44, with 3:34 to play, and Tulsa went 9-of-10 from the foul line in the final three minutes to seal the win.

Tulsa's offense came out of the gate slowly, hitting only one of its first nine attempts from the floor in the opening 11 minutes. Jeriah Horne converted on a 3-pointer to break the drought and bring the Hurricane within 14-9 with 8:46 to play in the half.

Tulsa would tie the game at 16 on a pullup three from Griffin, and then took a 19-18 lead moments later when he knocked down another off an opponent's turnover. After South Florida took the lead back 22-19, Horne tied it with a trey and then Griffin knocked down his third triple of the half to put Tulsa up for good 25-22 with 2:21 remaining in the opening half.

Tim Dalger sent Tulsa to the locker room with a 32-27 lead when he knocked down a corner 3-pointer as the final seconds ticked away.

After the sluggish start, Tulsa bounced back to shoot 55 percent from the field in the first half and knocked down six threes on 50 percent shooting from deep. The Bulls shot 36 percent from the field, but only 23.1 percent on 3-point attempts. Griffin's 11 points led all scorers at the break.

Tulsa continues its road trip with SMU on Wednesday before finishing at East Carolina next Saturday. Tipoff for Wednesday's matchup is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.