Saturday, December 21
2 p.m.
Tulsa
5-7,0-0AAC
93
vs
48
Mississippi Valley State
2-10,0-0SWAC
1
2
F
Mississippi Val.
16
32
48
Tulsa
39
54
93
Photo by: Joshua Rogers
Tulsa Rolls Past Mississippi Valley State 93-48
12/21/2024 7:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa men's basketball team raced out to an early lead and never looked back as the Golden Hurricane rolled over Mississippi Valley State 93-48 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Saturday afternoon.
The 45-point margin is the most for the Golden Hurricane against a Division I opponent since beating Jackson State 92-39 (+53) on Dec. 17, 2009.
"I was pleased with the guys' preparation this week," head coach Eric Konkol said. "Their energy in our game mode this morning, you could sense that there was an enthusiasm to play."
The Hurricane (5-7) led wire-to-wire and held the Delta Devils (2-10) to just 16 points in the first half and built a 23-point lead at the break. Tulsa shot 51 percent for the contest and knocked down 11 3-pointers at a 33-percent rate. Meanwhile, MVSU hit just 30 percent of its shots and was 6-of-21 (28.6) from 3-point range. Tulsa also dominated the glass, outrebounding MVSU 52-23.
"We wanted to come out and play a strong defensive game, take care of the basketball and share it against their multiple defenses. I thought it was a total team effort today. I was really happy for the guys to push through and get this one."
Matt Reed paced the Hurricane with a near double-double, scoring a career-best 15 points, all in the second half, and collecting nine rebounds. The sophomore forward was 4-of-5 (80 percent) on 3-point efforts in his 17 minutes of action.
"He works extremely hard," Konkol said. "He's been pressing a little bit, but he just came in with a nice poise and picked his spots. He got on the glass and took good shots. Like we always tell the team, 'The higher quality of the shot, the higher chance it has to go in.' And he did a nice job today."
Tyshawn Archie and Dwon Odom joined Reed in double figures, scoring 14 and 12, respectively. Odom dished out five assists with six rebounds, while Archie had five boards to go alongside four assists. Freshman Jaye Nash added four assists of his own.
The Hurricane was balanced in its scoring. All 13 active players got in the game and 12 scored. Of those 12, nine recorded at least five points. Seven different Hurricane grabbed at least five rebounds. The TU bench accounted for 41 of the team's 93 points, almost outscoring the Delta Devils.
Mississippi Valley State was led by 15 points from Antonio Sisk, who played nearly all 40 minutes on Saturday. Daniel Umoh came off the bench and led the team in rebounding, pulling down seven boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF…
Ian Smikle scored Tulsa's first five points with a pair of layups and splitting free throws as the Hurricane went ahead 5-2 in the opening three minutes. Keaston Willis scored the next five with a layup and 3-pointer, followed by field goals from Dwon Odom and Tyshawn Archie as the TU lead grew to 14-4 at the first media timeout with 15:36 remaining in the half.
Nearly five minutes came off the clock before the game's next basket, a turnaround jumper from Justin Amadi to put TU ahead 16-4 with 11:41 remaining in the half. The TU lead blossomed to 26-4 before a Donovan Sanders 3-pointer ended a 16-0 run from the Hurricane and a nearly nine-minute scoring drought for the Delta Devils.
The visitors knocked down five of their next seven shots to cut the Tulsa lead to 30-16 with 4:40 to play, but the Hurricane would hold MVSU scoreless from there. Tulsa outscored the Delta Devils 9-0 in the final four minutes. Odom and Archie each made a pair of free throws, while Amadi knocked down a free throw to complete a traditional three-point play. Odom ended the half pulling down a late rebound and then racing down the court to lay it in as time expired and teams retreated to the lockers with Tulsa leading 39-16.
Odom led the way with 10 first half points, making all four of his shot attempts. He also had a team-best six rebounds in the opening half. The Hurricane shot 43 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but made only two of its 14 attempts from 3-ponit range (14.3 percent). On the defensive end, TU held Mississippi Valley State to shooting clips of 25.9 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent on triples, knocking down just two as well.
IN THE SECOND HALF …
Tulsa scored the first eight points of the second period to extend its half-spanning run to 17-0 and give the Hurricane a 47-16 lead. Smikle again got Tulsa going with a layup before Tulsa capitalized off a pair of MVSU turnovers with 3-pointers. First Willis knocked down a long ball before an Odom steal led to an Archie 3-pointer.
With Tulsa leading 59-27 at the 13:43 mark, Matt Reed went on a personal 11-0 run over the ensuing 3:52 to push the lead to 40. He started with a 3-pointer to make it 62-27. After the Delta Devils answered, Reed knocked down his second. He then converted a layup before connecting on his third 3-pointer in the stretch as Tulsa now led 70-30 with just under 10 to play.
Reed's fourth 3-pointer of the afternoon came with a little more than five minutes left as Tulsa eclipsed the 45-point mark, 85-40. The lead would get as large as 46, 91-45, after a pair of Tyler Behrend free throws.
Cal Conroy and Ben Radford made their first appearances of the season late, and the first for Conroy in his career. He immediately picked up a rebound. Radford later got a rebound and put it back in for the final score of the game. Seals would pull down a defensive rebound and run out the clock as Tulsa won 93-48.
All 15 of Matt Reed's points came in the second half as Tulsa shot a blistering 59.4 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent on 3-pointers, making 9-of-19 from long range. The TU bench outscored MVSU 34-11 in the frame, with the reserves playing the majority of the minutes.
GAME NOTES
• This was the fifth meeting between the schools, and Tulsa has won all five.
• The 45-point win was the most in the Konkol era and most since beating Southwestern Christian 102-45 on Dec. 23, 2020 (+53).
• It's the most against a Division I school since beating Jackson State 92-39 (+53) on Dec. 17, 2009.
• The 23-point halftime lead is second most in the Konkol era behind a 24-point lead against South Carolina State on Nov. 20, 2023.
• Matt Reed scored a career high in points (15) and a season-high in rebounds (9), while making a career-best four 3-pointers. This was the second double figure scoring game of his career and first of the season.
• Tyshawn Archie reached double figures in scoring for the eight time this season and 19th in his career.
• Dwon Odom reached double figures in scoring for the 10th time this season and 62nd in his career.
• Cal Conroy made his first career appearance.
• Ben Radford made the first appearance of the season and scored his first points.
• Ari Seals scored his first points of the season.
The Golden Hurricane will be back in the Reynolds Center after Christmas for the nonconference finale against Southwestern Christian on Saturday, Dec. 28. Tipoff against the Eagles is set for 4 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPN+.
The 45-point margin is the most for the Golden Hurricane against a Division I opponent since beating Jackson State 92-39 (+53) on Dec. 17, 2009.
"I was pleased with the guys' preparation this week," head coach Eric Konkol said. "Their energy in our game mode this morning, you could sense that there was an enthusiasm to play."
The Hurricane (5-7) led wire-to-wire and held the Delta Devils (2-10) to just 16 points in the first half and built a 23-point lead at the break. Tulsa shot 51 percent for the contest and knocked down 11 3-pointers at a 33-percent rate. Meanwhile, MVSU hit just 30 percent of its shots and was 6-of-21 (28.6) from 3-point range. Tulsa also dominated the glass, outrebounding MVSU 52-23.
"We wanted to come out and play a strong defensive game, take care of the basketball and share it against their multiple defenses. I thought it was a total team effort today. I was really happy for the guys to push through and get this one."
Matt Reed paced the Hurricane with a near double-double, scoring a career-best 15 points, all in the second half, and collecting nine rebounds. The sophomore forward was 4-of-5 (80 percent) on 3-point efforts in his 17 minutes of action.
"He works extremely hard," Konkol said. "He's been pressing a little bit, but he just came in with a nice poise and picked his spots. He got on the glass and took good shots. Like we always tell the team, 'The higher quality of the shot, the higher chance it has to go in.' And he did a nice job today."
Tyshawn Archie and Dwon Odom joined Reed in double figures, scoring 14 and 12, respectively. Odom dished out five assists with six rebounds, while Archie had five boards to go alongside four assists. Freshman Jaye Nash added four assists of his own.
The Hurricane was balanced in its scoring. All 13 active players got in the game and 12 scored. Of those 12, nine recorded at least five points. Seven different Hurricane grabbed at least five rebounds. The TU bench accounted for 41 of the team's 93 points, almost outscoring the Delta Devils.
Mississippi Valley State was led by 15 points from Antonio Sisk, who played nearly all 40 minutes on Saturday. Daniel Umoh came off the bench and led the team in rebounding, pulling down seven boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF…
Ian Smikle scored Tulsa's first five points with a pair of layups and splitting free throws as the Hurricane went ahead 5-2 in the opening three minutes. Keaston Willis scored the next five with a layup and 3-pointer, followed by field goals from Dwon Odom and Tyshawn Archie as the TU lead grew to 14-4 at the first media timeout with 15:36 remaining in the half.
Nearly five minutes came off the clock before the game's next basket, a turnaround jumper from Justin Amadi to put TU ahead 16-4 with 11:41 remaining in the half. The TU lead blossomed to 26-4 before a Donovan Sanders 3-pointer ended a 16-0 run from the Hurricane and a nearly nine-minute scoring drought for the Delta Devils.
The visitors knocked down five of their next seven shots to cut the Tulsa lead to 30-16 with 4:40 to play, but the Hurricane would hold MVSU scoreless from there. Tulsa outscored the Delta Devils 9-0 in the final four minutes. Odom and Archie each made a pair of free throws, while Amadi knocked down a free throw to complete a traditional three-point play. Odom ended the half pulling down a late rebound and then racing down the court to lay it in as time expired and teams retreated to the lockers with Tulsa leading 39-16.
Odom led the way with 10 first half points, making all four of his shot attempts. He also had a team-best six rebounds in the opening half. The Hurricane shot 43 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but made only two of its 14 attempts from 3-ponit range (14.3 percent). On the defensive end, TU held Mississippi Valley State to shooting clips of 25.9 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent on triples, knocking down just two as well.
IN THE SECOND HALF …
Tulsa scored the first eight points of the second period to extend its half-spanning run to 17-0 and give the Hurricane a 47-16 lead. Smikle again got Tulsa going with a layup before Tulsa capitalized off a pair of MVSU turnovers with 3-pointers. First Willis knocked down a long ball before an Odom steal led to an Archie 3-pointer.
With Tulsa leading 59-27 at the 13:43 mark, Matt Reed went on a personal 11-0 run over the ensuing 3:52 to push the lead to 40. He started with a 3-pointer to make it 62-27. After the Delta Devils answered, Reed knocked down his second. He then converted a layup before connecting on his third 3-pointer in the stretch as Tulsa now led 70-30 with just under 10 to play.
Reed's fourth 3-pointer of the afternoon came with a little more than five minutes left as Tulsa eclipsed the 45-point mark, 85-40. The lead would get as large as 46, 91-45, after a pair of Tyler Behrend free throws.
Cal Conroy and Ben Radford made their first appearances of the season late, and the first for Conroy in his career. He immediately picked up a rebound. Radford later got a rebound and put it back in for the final score of the game. Seals would pull down a defensive rebound and run out the clock as Tulsa won 93-48.
All 15 of Matt Reed's points came in the second half as Tulsa shot a blistering 59.4 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent on 3-pointers, making 9-of-19 from long range. The TU bench outscored MVSU 34-11 in the frame, with the reserves playing the majority of the minutes.
GAME NOTES
• This was the fifth meeting between the schools, and Tulsa has won all five.
• The 45-point win was the most in the Konkol era and most since beating Southwestern Christian 102-45 on Dec. 23, 2020 (+53).
• It's the most against a Division I school since beating Jackson State 92-39 (+53) on Dec. 17, 2009.
• The 23-point halftime lead is second most in the Konkol era behind a 24-point lead against South Carolina State on Nov. 20, 2023.
• Matt Reed scored a career high in points (15) and a season-high in rebounds (9), while making a career-best four 3-pointers. This was the second double figure scoring game of his career and first of the season.
• Tyshawn Archie reached double figures in scoring for the eight time this season and 19th in his career.
• Dwon Odom reached double figures in scoring for the 10th time this season and 62nd in his career.
• Cal Conroy made his first career appearance.
• Ben Radford made the first appearance of the season and scored his first points.
• Ari Seals scored his first points of the season.
The Golden Hurricane will be back in the Reynolds Center after Christmas for the nonconference finale against Southwestern Christian on Saturday, Dec. 28. Tipoff against the Eagles is set for 4 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPN+.
Team Stats
MVSU
Tulsa
FG%
.300
.516
3FG%
.286
.333
FT%
.545
.720
RB
23
52
TO
10
11
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
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