Tulsa Falls to North Texas 68-55

Wednesday, February 7

7:00 PM

Tulsa

12-10,3-7AAC

North Texas

13-9,6-4AAC

North Texas

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Falls to North Texas 68-55

2/7/2024 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK (PDF)TULSA POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa (12-10, 3-7 AAC) fell to North Texas (13-9, 6-4 AAC) 68-55 Wednesday night in front of 4,054 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

PJ Haggerty led Tulsa with 20 points, all coming in the second half, while Cobe Williams added 10 points.

North Texas had three double-figure scorers with Aaron Scott leading the way with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Mean Green outscored Tulsa in the paint 26-18 and had a 19-to-8 edge in bench points.

The Hurricane shot just 37-percent from the field and was just 4-of-18 from three-point range for 22 percent. The visitors converted on 44-percent of its shots overall and 43-percent from behind the arc.

"This was a very challenging game for us. We knew the way North Texas play, the deliberate pace – more than anything the way they play defense, how physical it is – there was going to be some different type of opportunities that were unique to this game. I was hopeful we could take a jump defensively to withstand the difficulty to score against them. You can't just hope to outscore North Texas. But unfortunately, I thought the lack of production in offensive rhythm turned into some not the type of intensity we needed on the other end. It affected our energy on the other end of the floor, and North Texas was able to get some rhythm, especially around in the basket and in the interior. Very disappointed in this type of performance here at home and in front of our fans. We have to get better. We got to fix it," said Tulsa Head Coach Eric Konkol.

The Mean Green led for all but 0:28 of the game, building a 13-point lead five times in the first half and expanding that to as many as 19 in the second 20 minutes. UNT held a double-digit lead the entire second half. Tulsa got as close as 10 points at 39-29 with 15:41 left.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
Tulsa's Isaiah Barnes scored the first two points of the game, but the Mean Green went on an 11-0 run for a nine-point advantage with just over four minutes gone off the clock.

UNT extended its lead to 18-5 as the Hurricane could convert only two of its first 10 shots for nearly the first 10 minutes with both of those baskets coming from Barnes.

The Mean Green led by 13 four more times in the first 20 minutes and Tulsa got as close as eight points, 32-24, on Cobe Williams' traditional three-point play at the 2:52 mark.

At intermission, North Texas led 35-24 while converting 54-percent from the field and 48-percent from three-point range, compared to Tulsa's 37.5 overall shooting percentage and 25-percent from behind the arc.

IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
The first six minutes of the half were played evenly with each team scoring seven points apiece in that time span, but the visiting Mean Green took off from there and and had a double-digit lead the entire half.

PJ Haggerty, who was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, scored those first seven points of the second half for the Hurricane.

The Hurricane could only get as close as 10 points with 15:41 remaining in the contest.

UNT pushed its lead to 19 points at 53-34 at the 9:39 mark.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa fell to 12-9 overall on the season overall and 3-7 in AAC games.
• The series now stands at 40-13 in favor of Tulsa and the Hurricane is now 22-3 in home games against the Mean Green.
• Tonight was the third time Tulsa wore gold uniforms and now sits at 2-1 when wearing the gold … the wins came against UTSA and Wichita State.
• Freshman redshirt PJ Haggerty had his 21^st double-figure scoring game of the season and his 17^th straight.
• Haggerty had all of his 20 points in the second half, including Tulsa's first 12 points.
• It was Haggerty's 13^th game this season with 20+ points and 10^th time in the last 12 games.
• Cobe Williams had his 18^th double-digit scoring game of the season and the 71^st of his career with 10 points … it was also his 10^th straight double-figure scoring game.

Tulsa will be back home at the Reynolds Center Sunday afternoon to host the UAB Blazers for a 1: 00 p.m. (CT) tipoff. The game can be seen on ESPN+. All Tulsa basketball games can be heard on Big Country 99.5 FM Radio.