Tulsa Downs Charlotte with 69-67 Comeback

Saturday, February 24

7:00 PM

Tulsa

14-13,5-10AAC

Charlotte

17-10,11-4AAC

Charlotte

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Downs Charlotte with 69-67 Comeback

2/24/2024 9:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK (PDF)COACH KONKOL PRESS CONFERENCE JARED GARCIA PRESS CONFERENCE

TULSA, Okla. –– Jared Garcia scored a game-high 24 points as Tulsa came back from a double-digit deficit for a 69-67 win over Charlotte Saturday night in front of 3,341 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa improved to 14-13 overall and 5-10 in American Athletic Conference play, while the loss dropped Charlotte out of second place in the AAC with an 11-4 league mark and 17-10 overall record.

Garcia connected on 10-of-11 from the field including 4-of-4 from three-point range as the former Charlotte 49er tallied his career-high. PJ Haggerty added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Cobe Williams scored 14 points. Charlotte's Lu'cye Patterson

It was a tale of two halves for the Hurricane offense. Tulsa shot 60-percent from the field in the second half and 50-percent from three-point range, compared to percentages of .429 and .222 in the first 20 minutes.

Trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half and 11 in the second half, Tulsa outscored Charlotte by 13 points in the second half.

After scoring 14 first-half points, Garcia came out after the intermission and scored seven of Tulsa's first nine points and 10 of Tulsa's first 16 points to cut an 11-point deficit to five points at the 13:04 mark. Cobe Williams layup made it a three-point game at 52-49 less than a minute later.

Charlotte went back ahead by six points at 55-49 on a Patterson three-pointer before Tulsa scored the next six points to tie the game at 55. Jesaiah McWright's only points of the game on a three-pointer gave Tulsa its first lead at 58-57 for the first time since the score was 10-8.

The score remained tied at 64-64 from the 2:50 mark until Haggerty knocked down a second-chance three-pointer with 0:34 remaining for a 67-64 Tulsa lead. Igor Milicic's responded with a three-pointer of his own with 0:24 on the clock. Haggerty drew a foul driving to the basket with 0:02 remaining and sank both free throws for the two-point lead and a 69-67 victory.

After three ties in the first 5:30 of the contest, the 49ers took its first double-figure lead at 23-13 with 9:40 on the first-half clock and built its largest lead to 14 points three times in the first 20 minutes.

Tulsa trimmed its deficit to six points at 37-31 with 0:45 remaining in the half. Charlotte scored the final five points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, for 42-31 halftime lead.

The visitors shot 61 percent from the field and was 5-of-11 from behind the arc, while the Hurricane managed 43-percent overall but made just 2-of-9 treys in the first 20 minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
Tulsa jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first 3:03 of the game before Charlotte took its first lead, 12-10, at the 14:08 mark.

Charlotte took its first double-digit lead at 23-13 with 9:40 remaining on a Robert Braswell layup.

During that stretch Charlotte hit 9-of-10 field goals and through the first 13 minutes converted 69 percent of its field goals.

The 49ers had its largest first-half lead of 14 points three times in the final four minutes before the Hurricane knocked its deficit down to six points, 37-31, with eight consecutive points.

Charlotte hit the final five points of the half, including a corner three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 42-31 lead into halftime.

IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
Jared Garcia hit a three-pointer to start the half and make the score 42-34.

After Charlotte went ahead 49-38 at the 17:10 mark, Tulsa went on an 11-three run to
make the score 52-49 at the 12:10 mark.

Cobe Williams' layup with 8:59 remaining tied the game at 55.

Tulsa took its first lead since the 14:54 mark of the first half when Jesaiah McWright's three-pointer put the Hurricane ahead 58-57 with 8:15 on the clock.

PJ Haggerty scored the final five Tulsa points including a three-pointer at the 0:34 mark and two free throws with 0:02 remaining.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improved to 14-13 overall on the season and 5-10 in AAC games.
• Tulsa took a 4-3 lead in the series against Charlotte with the win.
• Junior Jared Garcia scored a career-best 24 points with his 10^th double-figure scoring game of the year … 14 of Garcia's points came in the first half.
• Redshirt freshman PJ Haggerty had his 25^th double-figure scoring game of the season and his 21^st straight with 17 points
• Cobe Williams scored 14 points for the 20^th time this season and the 73^rd time in his career.

Tulsa will be on the road for two straight games against UTSA on Wednesday, Feb. 24 for a 7 p.m. (CT) tipoff and Saturday, March 2, at Temple for a 2 p.m. (CT) tip time. Both games will be carried on ESPN+. All Tulsa basketball games can be heard on Big Country 99.5 FM Radio.