Monday, November 4
7 p.m.
Tulsa
1-0,0-0AAC
82
vs
68
Northeastern State
0-0,0-0Mid-America Intercollegiate
1
2
F
Northeastern St.
27
41
68
Tulsa
37
45
82
Photo by: Bill Powell
Tulsa Opens Season with 82-68 win over Northeastern State
11/4/2024 11:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. –– Five Golden Hurricane finished in double figures as the University of Tulsa took down Northeastern State 82-68 in front of more than 2,800 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Monday evening.
Graduate guard Keaston Willis played in his first real game since Dec. 5 of last season and paced the Golden Hurricane with 17 points and four steals. He connected on his first three 3-point attempts to open the scoring. Junior Isaiah Barnes followed with 14, Dwon Odom added 12 and Tyshawn Archie and Braeden Carrington each scored 10.
Carrington and true freshman Ian Smikle led Tulsa in rebounding with seven apiece.
For Northeastern State, Ethan Blackmon led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He also had a team-high seven rebounds. Former Golden Eagle Trey Phipps had 16 thanks to four 3-pointers, and Keon Edwards scored 14.
"I knew we were going to play a team that shoots a number of threes and have a lot of weapons out there," Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol said. "They move the ball extremely well and we knew this was going to be a tough cover. And it was. They got loose a little bit there – not pleased with the entire performance, there's a lot of things to get better at. But I thought we were grittier than we were the other night. That was an improvement.
"We were able to get in a little more of a rhythm on the offensive end. We had some lapses defensively. Just going to continue to fight for consistency and get a little bit better and better each day."
The Golden Hurricane led wire-to-wire on Monday evening. Tulsa shot 44.4 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent on the long ball (11-of-29), but struggled at the charity stripe, hitting just 15-of-26 (57.7 percent). Willis was 5-of-9 on 3-pointers, and Carrington and Archie each knocked down two. Barnes and Jesaiah McWright were the other Hurricane to connect from downtown.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
Keaston Willis didn't take long to open the 2024-25 season, knocking down his first 3-pointer off a Braeden Carrington pass just 13 seconds into the game. Willis would go on to knock down his next two attempts beyond the arc as Tulsa took an early 9-3 lead.
Isaiah Barnes threw down the first dunk of the young season to push the lead to 8 and become the second Hurricane to score. Tyshawn Arhcie and Jesaiah McWright combined to knock down a pair of triples as Tulsa pushed the lead to double digits, 20-9 at the 12:38 mark.
McWright threw down a big dunk with 10:55 remaining in the period as Tulsa went up 23-11 and the crowd getting into the game. However, Northeasetern State wasn't out yet, going on a 10-0 run over the next 4:26 to cut Tulsa's lead to just two.
Archie ended the drought with a layup and then Willis connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the half and Tulsa's lead was back to seven. A Dwon Odom Jumper was followed by a Barnes' triple and an Odom steal and flush, capping a 12-0 TU run to take its largest lead 35-21 with 3:08 in the half.
The Riverhawks outscored Tulsa 6-2 over the final three minutes as the Golden Hurricane took a 37-27 advantage to the lockers.
Willis led all scorers with 12 points in the opening half, all on 3-pointers. Ethan Blackmon paced NSU with 10.
IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
Again, NSU showed it was not ready to call it quits Monday night's game, outscoring TU 15-9 in the opening 4:18 of the half to cut Tulsa's lead to 46-42. However, that proved to be Northeastern State's final big push.
A quick six points, including a Carrington triple, had the TU lead back in double digits. Then, with the score 54-46, Tulsa went on a 12-0 run in less than two minutes of game time to push the lead to a joint game-high 18-point lead. A traditional 3-point play from Isaiah Barnes kickstarted the run.
The lead would stay above 10 for the final 10 minutes of action. Every attempt at a run was answered by the Golden Hurricane. NSU got the lead to 11 with 5:17 to play, but Archie responded with a 3-pointer from Willis' pass. When the Riverhawks got the lead back down to 11, a quick five points from Tulsa effectively ended the game.
NSU's Jaxon Vendegarde ended the night's scoring with a jumper to make it the 82-68 final with 54 seconds remaining.
GAME NOTES
• This was the 22nd meeting against Northeastern State, as the series now stands at Tulsa 18, NSU 4.
• The Golden Hurricane is 71-42 in season openers and 19-6 in home openers in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• Keaston Willis had his 86th career double-figure scoring game and third in three games with Tulsa.
• Tyshawn Archie scored in double figures for the 12th time.
• Isaiah Barnes also reached double figures for the 14th time in his career.
• Dwon Odom and Braeden Carrington each scored in double digits in their first games with Tulsa.
• Every player who entered the game for TU scored except for Ari Seals, who entered for the final 1:37 of action.
• Tulsa won the battle of the boards 38-35
• Prior to the game and again at halftime, the University of Tulsa and Northeastern State honored legendary coach Ken Hayes, who is a member of both schools' athletic hall of fames.
Tulsa continues its three-game homestand to open the season with a 2 p.m. matchup Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The game will air on ESPN+.
Graduate guard Keaston Willis played in his first real game since Dec. 5 of last season and paced the Golden Hurricane with 17 points and four steals. He connected on his first three 3-point attempts to open the scoring. Junior Isaiah Barnes followed with 14, Dwon Odom added 12 and Tyshawn Archie and Braeden Carrington each scored 10.
Carrington and true freshman Ian Smikle led Tulsa in rebounding with seven apiece.
For Northeastern State, Ethan Blackmon led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He also had a team-high seven rebounds. Former Golden Eagle Trey Phipps had 16 thanks to four 3-pointers, and Keon Edwards scored 14.
"I knew we were going to play a team that shoots a number of threes and have a lot of weapons out there," Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol said. "They move the ball extremely well and we knew this was going to be a tough cover. And it was. They got loose a little bit there – not pleased with the entire performance, there's a lot of things to get better at. But I thought we were grittier than we were the other night. That was an improvement.
"We were able to get in a little more of a rhythm on the offensive end. We had some lapses defensively. Just going to continue to fight for consistency and get a little bit better and better each day."
The Golden Hurricane led wire-to-wire on Monday evening. Tulsa shot 44.4 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent on the long ball (11-of-29), but struggled at the charity stripe, hitting just 15-of-26 (57.7 percent). Willis was 5-of-9 on 3-pointers, and Carrington and Archie each knocked down two. Barnes and Jesaiah McWright were the other Hurricane to connect from downtown.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
Keaston Willis didn't take long to open the 2024-25 season, knocking down his first 3-pointer off a Braeden Carrington pass just 13 seconds into the game. Willis would go on to knock down his next two attempts beyond the arc as Tulsa took an early 9-3 lead.
Isaiah Barnes threw down the first dunk of the young season to push the lead to 8 and become the second Hurricane to score. Tyshawn Arhcie and Jesaiah McWright combined to knock down a pair of triples as Tulsa pushed the lead to double digits, 20-9 at the 12:38 mark.
McWright threw down a big dunk with 10:55 remaining in the period as Tulsa went up 23-11 and the crowd getting into the game. However, Northeasetern State wasn't out yet, going on a 10-0 run over the next 4:26 to cut Tulsa's lead to just two.
Archie ended the drought with a layup and then Willis connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the half and Tulsa's lead was back to seven. A Dwon Odom Jumper was followed by a Barnes' triple and an Odom steal and flush, capping a 12-0 TU run to take its largest lead 35-21 with 3:08 in the half.
The Riverhawks outscored Tulsa 6-2 over the final three minutes as the Golden Hurricane took a 37-27 advantage to the lockers.
Willis led all scorers with 12 points in the opening half, all on 3-pointers. Ethan Blackmon paced NSU with 10.
IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
Again, NSU showed it was not ready to call it quits Monday night's game, outscoring TU 15-9 in the opening 4:18 of the half to cut Tulsa's lead to 46-42. However, that proved to be Northeastern State's final big push.
A quick six points, including a Carrington triple, had the TU lead back in double digits. Then, with the score 54-46, Tulsa went on a 12-0 run in less than two minutes of game time to push the lead to a joint game-high 18-point lead. A traditional 3-point play from Isaiah Barnes kickstarted the run.
The lead would stay above 10 for the final 10 minutes of action. Every attempt at a run was answered by the Golden Hurricane. NSU got the lead to 11 with 5:17 to play, but Archie responded with a 3-pointer from Willis' pass. When the Riverhawks got the lead back down to 11, a quick five points from Tulsa effectively ended the game.
NSU's Jaxon Vendegarde ended the night's scoring with a jumper to make it the 82-68 final with 54 seconds remaining.
GAME NOTES
• This was the 22nd meeting against Northeastern State, as the series now stands at Tulsa 18, NSU 4.
• The Golden Hurricane is 71-42 in season openers and 19-6 in home openers in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• Keaston Willis had his 86th career double-figure scoring game and third in three games with Tulsa.
• Tyshawn Archie scored in double figures for the 12th time.
• Isaiah Barnes also reached double figures for the 14th time in his career.
• Dwon Odom and Braeden Carrington each scored in double digits in their first games with Tulsa.
• Every player who entered the game for TU scored except for Ari Seals, who entered for the final 1:37 of action.
• Tulsa won the battle of the boards 38-35
• Prior to the game and again at halftime, the University of Tulsa and Northeastern State honored legendary coach Ken Hayes, who is a member of both schools' athletic hall of fames.
Tulsa continues its three-game homestand to open the season with a 2 p.m. matchup Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The game will air on ESPN+.
Team Stats
NE
Tulsa
FG%
.466
.444
3FG%
.375
.379
FT%
.500
.577
RB
35
38
TO
16
9
STL
4
11
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
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