Tulsa’s Lead Slips Late in Loss at Wichita State

Saturday, January 14

Wichita, Kan.

3:00 PM

Tulsa

4-12,0-5AAC

Wichita State

9-8,2-3AAC

Tulsa

Wichita St.

Tulsa’s Lead Slips Late in Loss at Wichita State

1/14/2023 6:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Gamebook (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF)

WICHITA, Kan. –– The Golden Hurricane saw its double-digit lead slip away late as Wichita State came from behind to steal a 73-69 victory in front of 7,157 at Charles Koch Arena.

Tulsa led by as many as 16 early in the second half, but saw its lead whittled down as the end of the game approached. With the Golden Hurricane holding onto a 69-66 lead with 1:56 remaining, the Shockers closed on a 7-0 run, taking its first lead of the game with 1:10 left, as Tulsa finished one for its last seven from the field.

The comeback denied Tulsa (4-12, 0-5 The American) the chance to garner its first conference win of the season, snap a five-game winless streak and win for the first time in Wichita since 2001. Instead, TU will seek revenge against SMU when the Mustangs visit the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Wednesday.

Wichita State (9-8, 2-3 The American) gets back above .500 and enjoys its second straight conference win after losing the first three. The Shockers will travel to Memphis for a Thursday evening showdown.

Sam Griffin led all scorers with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting (64.7 percent). Brandon Betson scored 10 and was the only other Hurricane to finish in double figures. Bryant Selebangue recorded eight points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, reaching the 10-rebound mark for the eighth time this season.

Tulsa outshot Wichita State 47 to 45 percent from the field and connected on 10 triples to Wichita State's two. However, TU made just one 3-pointer in the second half, finishing 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) after shooting 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from deep in the first.

The two teams tied the rebounding battle at 30 and were close to even in second chance points. Tulsa's bench outscored the Shockers 23-13, but Wichita State dominated the paint 44-22, outscored Tulsa 18-0 on fastbreak points and held a massive advantage at the foul line. The Shockers finished the game 23-of-26 from the free throw line, while the Hurricane had just eight attempts and five makes.

Griffin scored the opening five points of the game, setting the tone for the Tulsa offense in the first half. Wichita State tied it at 8 with 13:19 to play in the first half, but Tulsa responded with an 11-0 run, fueled by three-pointers from Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, Tim Dalger and Brandon Betson to take a 19-8 lead at the 11:18 mark.

Over the next 6:45, Wichita State worked on cutting into the Hurricane lead. The Shockers got the lead down to six multiple times before reaching as low as five, 26-21, with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 4:33 remaining before the break. Jesaiah McWright connected on his first 3-pointer to extend Tulsa's lead back to eight.

After the teams traded six points, Griffin hit another triple to reestablish a double-digit Tulsa lead. After a defensive stop, Anthony Pritchard found Dalger for a deep three right before the halftime horn went off, sending Tulsa to the locker room with a 41-27 lead.

Griffin paced Tulsa in the first half with 14 points and two of Tulsa's nine first-half triples. The Hurricane shot a fiery 57.1 percent from the floor and 69.2 percent on 3-pointers while holding the Shockers to shooting clips of 33.3 and 10 percent.

Wichita State didn't use massive runs to get back into the ballgame, but rather utilized small runs that cut into Tulsa's lead. Early in the second half, Pritchard was aggressive in attacking the basket, scoring a quick four points and pushing Tulsa's lead to the game-high 16, 47-31, with 18:26 to play.

The Shockers scored six straight and then matched a Tulsa basket to cut the lead to 10. After the Hurricane split a pair of free throws, Wichita State got to the hoop to get the lead under double digits, where it would remain for the rest of the contest.

Wichita State got the lead under five, 50-46, with a little more than 12 minutes left, but Tulsa was not done yet. Selebangue knocked down two free throws and Griffin converted on a pair of jumpers and Tulsa's lead was nine. When Wichita State got the lead down to five, Griffin responded with Tulsa's lone triple of the second half, putting the Hurricane up 61-53 with a little more than seven minutes left.

But the Shockers kept coming and kept chipping away at the Tulsa lead. Every time the Hurricane found a bucket, the Shockers responded with one or more of its own. Wichita State got the lead under five for the final time with 3:42 remaining in the game and Tulsa holding onto a 67-63 lead. A 3-point play made the lead 67-66 before Sam Griffin's pull up jumper with just under two minutes left, ending Tulsa's scoring.

Whereas TU shot the ball incredibly well in the first half, the second was rougher sailing as Tulsa's shooting dipped down to 36.7 and 11.1.

The Golden Hurricane returns home to the Reynolds Center to welcome SMU on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Tulsa will look to avenge a 92-67 loss on New Year's Day. Tipoff for the matchup is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Hurricane will welcome Tulane on Saturday, the 21st for Legends Night in a game that will air on ESPNU at 7 p.m.