Thursday, March 14
Fort Worth, Texas
11:30 A.M.
Tulsa
16-15,7-11AAC
79
vs
84
East Carolina
15-17,7-11AAC
1
2
F
Tulsa
36
43
79
East Carolina
41
43
84
Photo by: American Athletic Conference/Cos Lymperopoulos
Tulsa Season Ends in with Loss to ECU in Second Round of The American Championship
3/14/2024 5:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FORT WORTH, Texas –– Similar to the earlier season meeting, ninth-seeded Tulsa and No. 8 East Carolina were tied down the stretch. Again, the Pirates managed to pull it out in the end as the Golden Hurricane season ended with an 84-79 loss in the second round of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship inside Dickies Arena on Thursday.
The Hurricane finishes the season with a 16-15 record. In The American play, Tulsa was 7-11. East Carolina improved to 15-17 with the win, 7-11 in the AAC, and advance to face the top-seeded South Florida Bulls on Friday.
The teams were tied at 77 after a pair of ECU free throws with 1:51 to play. The score would remain tied until 0:34 on the clock. TU had multiple chances to take a late lead, including a missed one-and-one and a Jared Garcia 3-point attempt that hit the back iron, but it was RJ Felton for East Carolina who hit the big shot in the lane to take the lead.
Tulsa missed an opportunity to tie, but the Pirates could not quite pull ahead thanks to missed free throws. The free throw line was also costly for the Hurricane in the second half as Tulsa shot 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) in the second stanza and 2-of-6 when chasing the game late.
Freshman PJ Haggerty wrapped up his season with another big performance, scoring 29 points to lead all scorers. He added six rebounds, nine assists and a steal. Cobe Williams, Carlous Williams and Jared Garcia each added 11 points in the loss. In the final game of his collegiate career, Cobe Williams also had three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Garcia led the team with eight rebounds.
For the Pirates, Ezra Auzar had a career high 28 points and recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. Felton had 19 points and Brandon Johnson had a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double as well.
The Hurricane shot 43.4 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent on 3-pointers, while ECU was an even 50 percent on field goals and 40 percent beyond the arc. Tulsa had 11 triples to six from ECU.
The interior is where the Pirates really took advantage, outscoring Tulsa 42-16 on points in the paint. East Carolina also won the battle on the glass 41-26, including 13-6 on offensive rebounds, which led to 13 second chance points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
East Carolina jumped out to a 10-2 lead by the first media timeout at exactly 16. The Hurricane started 0-6 from the field and the only points came on a pair of Jared Garcia free throws. The Pirates opened by connecting on four of its first six shots, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Haggerty connected on a jumper in the lane for Tulsa's first field goal out of the timeout. This started a 10-2 run of Tulsa's own to tie the game at 12 with 13:22 to play. Carlous Williams and PJ Haggerty each scored five in the run with Williams knocking down Tulsa's first 3-pointer of the game.
The teams went back and forth with seven lead changes and five ties over a little more than eight minutes of play. Tulsa took its largest lead of the half after a Haggerty 3-pointer and a split pair of free throws from Isaiah Barnes to go up 30-26.
East Carolina went on a 15-0 run over the following 3:54 to go up 41-30 with 2:22 remaining in the half. Tulsa went on its second cold stretch of the game, not scoring from 6:16 to 1:28 when Carlous Williams got a layup to fall. The Hurricane would go on to score the final six points of the half, including a last-second Haggerty jumper from the right elbow, to go into the half down 41-36.
The Hurricane connected on 34.5 percent of its shots and 26.7 percent of 3-pointers in the first half, while ECU shot 48.4 percent from the field and 44.4 on its 3-point attempts. Tulsa was buoyed by its free throw shooting, where the Hurricane knocked down 12-of-14 (85.7 percent). The Pirates were 100 percent but only took seven.
IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
ECU quickly erased Tulsa's end of half run with five points in the first minute of the half. The Hurricane fought to get the lead back under five multiple times in the opening four minutes but couldn't get closer than four. ECU scored six straight to get its lead back to double figures, 59-49, with 14:02 remaining.
Over the next 3:59, Tulsa outscored East Carolina 15-5 to tie the game at 64. Haggerty and Jesaiah McWright hit back-to-back 3-pointers to level the score midway through the half.
The Pirates would retake the lead and hold it for nearly seven minutes, but never getting its lead from three. A McWright jumper was Tulsa's only field goal in that stretch as Tulsa went 4:46 of game time without a field goal before a Carlous Williams triple snapped the cold streak and gave TU a 72-71 advantage.
After the lead swapped hands a couple of times, Garcia gave the Hurricane its final lead of the game with a 3-pointer as Tulsa went ahead 77-75 with 2:09 on the clock. ECU tied it with a pair of free throws and then after both teams had a couple of empty possessions, took a 79-77 lead with a jumper in the paint with 34 seconds to play.
Tulsa missed a chance to tie and ECU did just enough at the free throw line to hold off the Hurricane. The Pirates shot 5-of-8 in the final 30 seconds from the charity stripe, while Tulsa 2-of-6 in the same stretch, though the last was a designed miss in an effort to grab an offensive rebound.
GAME NOTES
• Tulsa finishes the season 16-15 and 7-11 in The American.
• The Hurricane falls to 23-9 all-time against ECU and have lost the past six
• Tulsa is now 53-40 in conference tournaments and 3-9 in The American.
• It was Haggerty's 30th double-digit performance and 20th game of 20 or more.
• Cobe Williams reached double figures in scoring for the 23rd time this season and 76th of his career.
• Jared Garcia scored in double figures for the 12th time this season … TU finishes 10-2 in 2023-24 when Garcia reaches that mark.
• Carlous Williams scored in double figures for the 6th time.
• Haggerty set a new Tulsa single season free throw record, making his 237th of the year and passing Bob Patterson, who scored 229 at the line in 1954-55.
The Hurricane finishes the season with a 16-15 record. In The American play, Tulsa was 7-11. East Carolina improved to 15-17 with the win, 7-11 in the AAC, and advance to face the top-seeded South Florida Bulls on Friday.
The teams were tied at 77 after a pair of ECU free throws with 1:51 to play. The score would remain tied until 0:34 on the clock. TU had multiple chances to take a late lead, including a missed one-and-one and a Jared Garcia 3-point attempt that hit the back iron, but it was RJ Felton for East Carolina who hit the big shot in the lane to take the lead.
Tulsa missed an opportunity to tie, but the Pirates could not quite pull ahead thanks to missed free throws. The free throw line was also costly for the Hurricane in the second half as Tulsa shot 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) in the second stanza and 2-of-6 when chasing the game late.
Freshman PJ Haggerty wrapped up his season with another big performance, scoring 29 points to lead all scorers. He added six rebounds, nine assists and a steal. Cobe Williams, Carlous Williams and Jared Garcia each added 11 points in the loss. In the final game of his collegiate career, Cobe Williams also had three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Garcia led the team with eight rebounds.
For the Pirates, Ezra Auzar had a career high 28 points and recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. Felton had 19 points and Brandon Johnson had a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double as well.
The Hurricane shot 43.4 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent on 3-pointers, while ECU was an even 50 percent on field goals and 40 percent beyond the arc. Tulsa had 11 triples to six from ECU.
The interior is where the Pirates really took advantage, outscoring Tulsa 42-16 on points in the paint. East Carolina also won the battle on the glass 41-26, including 13-6 on offensive rebounds, which led to 13 second chance points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
East Carolina jumped out to a 10-2 lead by the first media timeout at exactly 16. The Hurricane started 0-6 from the field and the only points came on a pair of Jared Garcia free throws. The Pirates opened by connecting on four of its first six shots, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Haggerty connected on a jumper in the lane for Tulsa's first field goal out of the timeout. This started a 10-2 run of Tulsa's own to tie the game at 12 with 13:22 to play. Carlous Williams and PJ Haggerty each scored five in the run with Williams knocking down Tulsa's first 3-pointer of the game.
The teams went back and forth with seven lead changes and five ties over a little more than eight minutes of play. Tulsa took its largest lead of the half after a Haggerty 3-pointer and a split pair of free throws from Isaiah Barnes to go up 30-26.
East Carolina went on a 15-0 run over the following 3:54 to go up 41-30 with 2:22 remaining in the half. Tulsa went on its second cold stretch of the game, not scoring from 6:16 to 1:28 when Carlous Williams got a layup to fall. The Hurricane would go on to score the final six points of the half, including a last-second Haggerty jumper from the right elbow, to go into the half down 41-36.
The Hurricane connected on 34.5 percent of its shots and 26.7 percent of 3-pointers in the first half, while ECU shot 48.4 percent from the field and 44.4 on its 3-point attempts. Tulsa was buoyed by its free throw shooting, where the Hurricane knocked down 12-of-14 (85.7 percent). The Pirates were 100 percent but only took seven.
IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
ECU quickly erased Tulsa's end of half run with five points in the first minute of the half. The Hurricane fought to get the lead back under five multiple times in the opening four minutes but couldn't get closer than four. ECU scored six straight to get its lead back to double figures, 59-49, with 14:02 remaining.
Over the next 3:59, Tulsa outscored East Carolina 15-5 to tie the game at 64. Haggerty and Jesaiah McWright hit back-to-back 3-pointers to level the score midway through the half.
The Pirates would retake the lead and hold it for nearly seven minutes, but never getting its lead from three. A McWright jumper was Tulsa's only field goal in that stretch as Tulsa went 4:46 of game time without a field goal before a Carlous Williams triple snapped the cold streak and gave TU a 72-71 advantage.
After the lead swapped hands a couple of times, Garcia gave the Hurricane its final lead of the game with a 3-pointer as Tulsa went ahead 77-75 with 2:09 on the clock. ECU tied it with a pair of free throws and then after both teams had a couple of empty possessions, took a 79-77 lead with a jumper in the paint with 34 seconds to play.
Tulsa missed a chance to tie and ECU did just enough at the free throw line to hold off the Hurricane. The Pirates shot 5-of-8 in the final 30 seconds from the charity stripe, while Tulsa 2-of-6 in the same stretch, though the last was a designed miss in an effort to grab an offensive rebound.
GAME NOTES
• Tulsa finishes the season 16-15 and 7-11 in The American.
• The Hurricane falls to 23-9 all-time against ECU and have lost the past six
• Tulsa is now 53-40 in conference tournaments and 3-9 in The American.
• It was Haggerty's 30th double-digit performance and 20th game of 20 or more.
• Cobe Williams reached double figures in scoring for the 23rd time this season and 76th of his career.
• Jared Garcia scored in double figures for the 12th time this season … TU finishes 10-2 in 2023-24 when Garcia reaches that mark.
• Carlous Williams scored in double figures for the 6th time.
• Haggerty set a new Tulsa single season free throw record, making his 237th of the year and passing Bob Patterson, who scored 229 at the line in 1954-55.
Team Stats
Tulsa
ECU
FG%
.434
.500
3FG%
.393
.400
FT%
.688
.686
RB
26
41
TO
8
10
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
9
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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