Golden Hurricane Falls at #2 Houston

Wednesday, February 8

Houston, Texas

7:00 PM

Tulsa

5-18,1-11AAC

Houston

23-2,11-1AAC

Tulsa

Houston

Golden Hurricane Falls at #2 Houston

2/8/2023 9:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Gamebook (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF)

HOUSTON, Texas –– Tulsa's cold shooting night proved costly for the Golden Hurricane in an 80-42 loss to #2 Houston in front of a packed Fertitta Center on Wednesday evening.

After a hot start, the Hurricane (5-18, 1-11 The American) finished shooting just 27.8 percent from the floor and 13.8 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Houston (23-2, 11-2 The American) hit 46.3 percent of its shots and shot the 3-ball at a 37.1 percent clip.

Tim Dalger continued his recent streak of double-figure scoring, pacing Tulsa with 13 points and pulling down five rebounds. Sam Griffin added 11 points but was the only other Tulsa player to reach the 10-point mark. Bryant Selebangue's six rebounds was a team high as Tulsa was outrebounded 53-27 by the home team, including 16-6 on the offensive glass, which led to an 18-3 discrepancy in second chance points.

Marcus Sasser scored 25 to lead the Houston offense. Emanuel Sharp added 13 points in the winning effort. Jamal Shead didn't do a lot of scoring, just three points, but he dished out 12 assists and pulled down seven rebounds.

The Golden Hurricane opened the game with a flurry of buckets, answering Houston's opening triple with one from Brandon Betson in the corner. After a Cougar dunk, BB Knight buried a 3-pointer to give Tulsa its first lead 6-5. Betson found Bryant Selebangue for a two-hand dunk and then Selebangue delivered on a jumper in the lane.

At the opening media timeout, Tulsa led Houston 10-9 and hit four of its first six shots. However, Houston clamped down defensively, which helped the Cougars control the remaining minutes of the opening half.

Houston's Sasser played a large role in Houston's ability to pull ahead in the first half, scoring 19 points in the opening frame. With Houston trailing 10-7, the guard scored the next 12 points to put the Cougars up 19-10 with 11:30 to play.

Sam Griffin ended the run with a jumper just above the free throw line, but Houston followed with a second 12-0 run before Bryant Selebangue's lay-in put an end to it with Tulsa trailing 31-14 at the five-minute mark.

Despite the strong opening to the game, the Hurricane scored just four points over the next 10 minutes, and eight the remainder of the half. Tulsa connected on its first two 3-pointers but missed the next 14 to finish 12.5 percent for the half. Houston finished the final five minutes of the frame outscoring Tulsa 15-4 to take a 46-18 lead into the half.

The second half began similarly to the first, with Sasser hitting a 3-pointer for Houston and Tulsa responding through a long ball from Griffin. Tim Dalger converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the lead to 25 with 15:56 to play, but that was as close as it would get. Houston would go on a 23-7 run over the following eight minutes to push its lead to a game-high 41, 72-31 with 7:49 remaining.

Next up for the Hurricane is a trip to Orlando on Saturday to face the UCF Knights for the first time this season. Tipoff for the conference showdown is set for 6 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPN+.