Tulsa Drops 72-57 Decision to Oklahoma State in OKC

Sunday, December 10

Oklahoma City, Okla.

5:30 PM

Tulsa

5-3,0-0AAC

Oklahoma State

4-5,0-0Big 12

Tulsa

Oklahoma St.

Tulsa Drops 72-57 Decision to Oklahoma State in OKC

12/10/2023 9:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Game Box (PDF)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. –– Tulsa fell behind early and was unable to recover in a 72-57 loss to Oklahoma State in the Paycom Center early Sunday evening.

Tulsa drops to 5-3 on the season and 0-1 in neutral site games, while Oklahoma State gets back in the win column and improves to 4-5.

Oklahoma State opened the game with a 21-5 run in the first eight minutes, and Tulsa was could never get the lead back under nine. OSU's Javon Small was the game's high scorer, recording 18 points, 10 of which came at the line. PJ Haggerty led four Tulsa players who scored in double figures with 14. Tyshawn Archie scored 13 and both Carlous and Cobe Williams added 11.

It was a sloppy game with 48 combined turnovers. The Cowboys, after only turning it over once in the first 11 minutes of action, finished with 28. Tulsa had 19 steals in the game, the most since getting 20 steals against Rice on Feb. 14, 2000. Archie led the team with five steals, becoming the third Hurricane this season to get at least five. Haggerty had four, while Cobe Williams and Jesaiah McWright each added three. Isaiah Barnes added two.

Tulsa struggled from the field, knocking down just 37 percent of its shots (20-of-54) and went 3-of-20 (15.0 percent) from deep. Oklahoma State hit 10 more field goals, shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47) and knocked down eight 3-pointers at a 40 percent clip. Oklahoma State also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Tulsa 41-23.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
Oklahoma State opened the game outscoring Tulsa 11-3 before a timeout with less than four minutes off the clock. Carlous Williams connected on a 3-pointer for TU's only points of the first four minutes.

That would be Tulsa's only field goal until a PJ Haggerty layup at the 12:57 mark. Heading into the under 12 timeout the Cowboys had widened their advantage to 21-5. OSU shot 69 percent from the floor in the opening eight minutes, while Tulsa struggled to find the basket and shot 17 percent while turning it over four times.

An and-one at the 5:32 mark helped Oklahoma State extend its lead to a 30-11. Tulsa began to cut in the lead with Archie as a sparkplug on a 11-1 lead to bring the score 31-22 with a little over 1:30 to play in the half.

Archie got things started with a driving layup and then got a steal, leading to a split pair of free throws from Barnes. After an OSU miss, Archie knocked down a step-back 3-pointer. Barnes would hit another free throw before an Archie pull up got Tulsa within 10. After OSU ended the scoreless streak with a free throw, Williams put a cap on the run with a one-handed dunk off an assist from Archie. In the run, Archie had seven points, an assist and three steals.

Both teams would score four points the remainder of the half to go to the locker rooms with OSU leading 35-26. Tulsa finished the half 34.6 percent from the floor (9-of-26) and knocked down two 3-pointers, while the Cowboys shot 59.1 percent (13-22) and had three 3-pointers. The Hurricane was outrebounded 19-10 in the opening frame. Cobe Williams and Archie paced Tulsa with seven points apiece.

IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
The Cowboys came out of the locker room with a lot of energy, scoring on three of its first four possessions to push the lead to 42-28. Tulsa was never able to get the lead back under 10 from there.

A 3-pointer at the 13:26 mark built the lead to 50-32, which would serve as the largest in the second half, but the Hurricane never allowed the deficit to eclipse 20. Instead, TU went on a 7-0 run to bring the OSU lead back to 11. That spree ended abruptly on a 3-pointer from the Cowboys, and then after a couple of back-and-forth baskets, Oklahoma State pushed the lead back out to 17, 60-43, at the 8:12 mark.

Tulsa made two final pushes, getting the lead back down to 11 twice at 7:27 on a four-point play from Cobe Williams, and 3:03 on an alley-oop from Archie to Carlous Williams. The Cowboys were equal to the challenge on both attempts, never allowing Tulsa to get within 10 and potentially putting more pressure on the Cowboys.

After the final 11-point lead, OSU scored on consecutive plays to get back out to 15, where the lead would hover until a pair of Cowboy free throws ended the scoring at 72-57. Tulsa shot an improved 39.3 percent in the second half, but couldn't find the range, knocking down just one 3-pointer in 10 attempts. Oklahoma State cooled off from its first half, but still shot 40.0 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent on 3-pointers, knocking down five.

GAME NOTES
• This was the 115th meeting with Oklahoma State, the Cowboys now lead the series 76-39
• Tulsa had 19 steals on Sunday, most since recording 20 against Rice on Feb. 14, 2000, in the Donald W. Reynolds Center and tied for 10th most steals in a game in Tulsa history.
• Cobe Williams had his 59th career double-figure scoring game, and his sixth in a Tulsa uniform
• Tulsa had five players record at least two steals, led by Tyshawn Archie with five … It's the third time this season a Tulsa player has had at least five steals.
• At 37 percent from the floor and 15 percent on 3-pointers, it was the worst shooting night of the season for the Golden Hurricane.
• Tulsa was outrebounded 41-23, including 10-6 on the offensive glass.

Tulsa returns to the Reynolds Center to host Missouri State on Saturday in the first of five home games, culminating with the American Athletic Conference opener against Memphis on Jan. 4. Tipoff for the game with the Bears is set for 2 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.