Tulsa Closes Non-Conference Play with 95-54 Win and Overall 9-3 Record

Friday, December 29

7:00 PM

Tulsa

Southwestern Oklahoma State

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Closes Non-Conference Play with 95-54 Win and Overall 9-3 Record

12/29/2023 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Coach Eric Konkol Press Conference Jesaiah McWright Press Conference Tulsa Highlights vs. SWOSU

Tulsa opens AAC play at home against No. 19 Memphis next Thursday

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa closed out non-conference play on Friday night with a 95-54 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State in front of 2,958 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa moved to 9-3 on the season, riding a nine-game home winning streak as the nation's 19^th-ranked Memphis Tigers comes to town next Thursday for the first American Athletic Conference game of the season for the two schools.

"Anytime you take an extended break you're always curious, especially when you have a really young team and new team, how they'll respond. We did some things nicely tonight and it was good to get a lot of guys into the game and get more experience for the younger guys," said Tulsa Head Coach Eric Konkol.

PJ Haggerty led four players in double-figures with his fifth game of 20+ points as he scored 21 on the night. Tyshawn Archie tied his career-high with 17 points and Jesaiah McWright tallied his best scoring game of his career with 16 points, all coming in the second half. Jared Garcia added 10 points and Matt Reed was the games' leading rebounder with nine boards.

Jalen Johnson led Southwestern Oklahoma with 14 points.

It took Tulsa just under 12 minutes into the game to grab its first double-digit lead at 26-15 on a Haggerty layup. The double-figure lead would stand for the remainder of the contest.

The Hurricane ended the first half ahead by 21 points as the halftime score read 46-25. Tulsa shot 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range, while holding the Bulldogs to 26% overall and 16.7% from behind the arc.

Tulsa opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 30-point lead, 57-27, at the 17:03 mark on a traditional 3-point play by Jared Garcia.

The Hurricane reached its first 40-point margin at the 2:56 mark as Archie's free throw made the score 89-49. Tulsa led by as many as 44 points before ending the game with a 41-point margin.

Tulsa ended the game shooting over 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from three-point range.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
Tulsa began on a 6-0 run in the first minute. SWOSU tied the score at six with 16:42 on the clock.

The Hurricane took its first double-digit lead at the 8:25 mark on a PJ Haggerty layup, making the score 26-15.

Tulsa extended its lead to 38-20 on a Mohamed Slam dunk off a Cobe Williams pass with 4:08 left on the game clock.

Jarred Hall's three-pointer from the top of the key gave Tulsa its first 20-point lead at 43-28 and took its largest lead to end the half at 46-25 when Tyshawn Archie knocked down a three-pointer at the 1:24 mark.

For the half, Tulsa shot 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range, while holding the Bulldogs to 26% overall and 16.7% from behind the arc.

The freshmen guards Haggerty and Archie led Tulsa in the first half with 12 and 10 points, respectively, while fellow freshman Matt Reed had a team-high of seven first-half rebounds.

IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
Tulsa opened on an 11-2 run to take a 30-point lead, 57-27, at the 17:03 mark on a traditional 3-point play by Jared Garcia.

Tulsa reached its first 40-point margin at the 2:56 mark as Archie's free throw made the score 89-49.

The Hurricane kept it in the 40's for the remainder of the game, reaching a high of 44 points when walk-on freshman Ben Radford knocked through a three-pointer with 1:12 to play.

In the second half, Tulsa shot 51.7% from the field and 62.5% from three-point range.

Jesaiah McWright scored all 16 of his career-high points in the second half, going 4-of-4 from the field, 2-og-2 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

GAME NOTES
• This was the fourth of a five-game homestand for the Hurricane, the longest of the season.
• Tulsa moved to 9-3 on the season and 9-0 at home.
• The 9-3 start is the best season start since a 10-3 start in the 2018-19 season.
• The 9-0 home record is the best start at the Reynolds Center since a 9-0 start in the 2018-19 season.
• Tulsa had its first 90+ point game since scoring 107 points vs. Northeastern State on Mar. 4, 2021 in a 107-74 win.
• All 12 Tulsa players grabbed a rebound in the game, while 11 players scored.
• Freshman PJ Haggerty had his 11th double-figure scoring game of the season with 21 points to lead Tulsa for double digit scoring games.
• It was Haggerty's fifth game this season and second straight with 20+ points.
• Freshman Tyshawn Archie had his sixth double-figure scoring game this season tying his career-high with 17 points.
• Freshman Matt Reed tied his career-high with nine rebounds … his previous 9-rebound game came vs. Little Rock.
• Sophomore Jesaiah McWright had his first double-digit scoring game of the season with a new career-high of 16 points.
• Junior Jared Garcia had 10 points for his fifth double-digit scoring game of the season.
• Tulsa had 11 blocked shots which ties for the 11^th most in school history and is the most since Jan. 18, 2012, when Tulsa had 12 against Tulane.
• Tulsa made its second-most 3-pointers as a team this year with a 13-of-28 night from behind the arc, second to its 14-of-29 night vs. Loyola-Chicago.

The Tulsa-Memphis game next Thursday, Jan. 4, has a tip time of 7 p.m. All Tulsa basketball games can be heard on Big Country 9.5 FM Radio.