Haggerty Sets Tulsa Freshman Record in Loss at South Florida

Wednesday, February 14

Tampa, Fla.

6:00 PM

Tulsa

12-12,3-9AAC

South Florida

18-5,11-1AAC

Tulsa

South Fla.

Haggerty Sets Tulsa Freshman Record in Loss at South Florida

2/14/2024 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. ––PJ Haggerty became Tulsa's all-time leading freshman scorer, passing TU Hall of Fame guard Shea Seals, but the Golden Hurricane fell short 69-50 at South Florida on Wednesday evening in the Yuengling Center.

With 12:49 remaining in the game, Haggerty drove hard to the basket, absorbed contact to create space and knocked down the shot for his 472nd point of the season, the most by a freshman in Tulsa history. He finished the game with 19 points, giving him 475 on the season.

Tulsa (12-12, 3-9 The American) trailed South Florida (18-5, 11-1 The American) for more than 37 minutes in Wednesday's contest. The 3-point shooting woes continued for the Hurricane, as TU shot just 2-16 (12.5 percent) from 3-pointers, which is the fewest amount of makes and lowest percentage from deep for the Hurricane this season. The Bulls did not share those problems, shooting 54 percent from long range and making 13 3-pointers in the ballgame.

The Hurricane managed to cut the South Florida lead down to 10, 60-50, with a little over five minutes to play. However, Tulsa couldn't find a way to get another point, going 0-of-6 from the floor, turning it over twice and missing the front end of a one-and-one.

Haggerty's 19 led the way for Tulsa, but no other Hurricane scored in double figures. He and Cobe Williams tied for the lead with six rebounds each, and Haggerty added four steals and three assists. Williams finished with seven points, as did Jared Garcia and Tyshawn Archie, and he dished out five assists with two steals.

The Bulls had balanced scoring, led by 14 from Kobe Knox, 12 from Kasean Pryor and 10 from Selton Miguel. All nine Bulls who played in Wednesday's contest scored.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
The teams traded leads in the early few minutes, with Tulsa taking its final lead of the half off a Cobe Williams layup just under the 17-minute mark. The Bulls jumped ahead, scoring the next 11 points to take a 16-6 lead with 15:18 remaining. South Florida connected on three 3-pointers in a row, highlighted by a sequence where the Bulls hit a three, got an off the ball foul call to retain possession and then knocked down another three.

South Florida's 3-point shooting early set the tone for the opening half as the Bulls hit 9 triples on 60-percent shooting from deep in the first stanza. Five of those 3-pointers came from players who came off the bench. Tulsa was 2-of-8 (25 percent) from long range.

The Hurricane battled back to get the lead to five, but the Bulls eventually responded to a Cobe Williams three with one of their own to get the score above 10 for good in the first half, 28-17 with 8:37 remaining. The lead would grow to as much as 18, 44-26, with 31 ticks on the clock, but Tulsa closed with an ally-oop from Cobe Williams to Isaiah Barnes as the Hurricane was outscored 16-11 in the final eight minutes of the half.

The Bulls shot a blistering 60 percent from the field, while Tulsa was held to 39 percent shooting in the half. Cobe Williams and PJ Haggerty paced Tulsa with seven and six points, while Williams led the team on the glass with four boards as well.

IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
South Florida's 3-point shooting didn't slow down in the second half as the Bulls immediately connected on their 10th of the game not even 20 seconds in to get the lead to a game-high 19, 47-28.

Haggerty came out aggressively, getting Tulsa's first eight points before a Tyshawn Archie Euro step floater to get himself on the board in the second half. However, South Florida matched each Tulsa run, as the Hurricane could not seem to chip away on the lead.

The Hurricane did get the deficit under 13 with 5:43 to play as Haggerty was fouled on a layup and went to the line to complete the old fashioned 3-point play, bringing the lead to 60-50. Instead of making a late run, Tulsa went cold and did not score the remainder of the game, getting outscored 9-0 down the stretch.

The Hurricane shot 32 percent in the second half and did not connect on any of its 3-point attempts. The Bulls similarly cooled down, shooting just 30 percent from the floor, but four of its seven field goals were 3-pointers.

Haggerty scored 13 in the second half, but nobody else had more than four. Chris Youngblood scored all eight of his points in the second half, pacing the Bulls.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa fell to 12-12 on the season and 3-9 in The American games.
• The Hurricane drops to 12-3 all-time against South Florida and 6-2 in Tampa.
• With a layup in the second half, PJ Haggerty passed Shea Seals (470 points) to become Tulsa's all-time freshman leading scorer… Haggerty has 475 points this season.
• It was the 23rd double-digit scoring performance for Haggerty this season, but he fell one point shy of extending his five-game streak of 20 or more points.
• Tulsa's 2 3-pointers is the lowest total of the season.
• TU is 13 of its last 77 (16.8 percent) from 3-point range dating back to the game at FAU and the start of Tulsa's four-game losing streak.
• The Hurricane held a 36-16 advantage in points in the paint.

Next up for the Golden Hurricane is Legends Day, as Tulsa welcomes the Rice Owls to the Donald W. Reynolds Center for a rematch on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.