Photo by: Bill Powell
Tulsa Takes Down Charlotte 69-63
1/12/2025 7:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. – The Golden Hurricane men's basketball team held off the Charlotte 49ers 69-63 for Tulsa's second conference win of the season Sunday in front of 3,046 fans in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Tulsa improves to 8-9 on the season and 2-2 in The American play, while Charlotte falls to 7-10 and is winless in four conference games this season.
"That was a total team effort by our team," Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol said. "It was a very hard fough American Athletic Conference game. It was physical and I thought both teams left it all on the floor and was playing really, really hard. As I told our team in the locker room, I thought our energy to start the game on the defensive end – it wasn't just the five guy son the floor – the bench, just the enthusiasm and determination of our group got us off to a good start."
Tulsa took the lead on Charlotte early in the first half and never relinquished. However, the lead never grew further than 13 as the Niners continued to hang around and trailed just 61-58 at the final media timeout with 4:13 to play.
After Jesaiah McWright made a driving layup on the next possession, graduate guard Dwon Odom scored Tulsa's final six points to stave off the comeback attempt. The Hurricane defense stiffened, holding to Charlotte to 1-of-3 down the stretch.
"Got to give Charlotte a lot of credit, they kept battling back and making some different plays," Konkol said. "It was a game of runs. We made a run; they made a run. Then we made some really nice plays down the stretch and got some key rebounds on one end, and a couple of key scores on the other to come away with a really good win."
Odom led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) shooting. He added six rebounds and five assists in the win. Keaston Willis and Tyshawn Archie each scored 11. Senior forward Jared Garcia made his much-awaited season debut and scored 11 points with three rebounds. Freshman Ian Smikle pulled down 10 rebounds for the second game in a row and added six points.
Charlotte was led by the duo of Nik Graves and Kyland Blackmon, who combined for 37 points. Robert Braswell added 10 and Giancarlo Rosado pulled down seven rebounds to pace the Niners.
Tulsa shot above 50 percent (52.9 percent) for the third time this season and first in conference play. The Hurricane was just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) on 3-pointers after making 13 against UTSA, but shot well at the foul line, making 10-of-13 (76.9 percent). Charlotte also had a fine night from the field, connecting on 22-of-49 (44.9) efforts. CLT also made eight 3-pointers at a 32 percent clip.
The Niners excel at holding onto the ball and today was no different as Charlotte turned it over just seven times. Tulsa was equal to the challenge with only nine turnovers. The difference was in how the teams capitalized off opponent mistakes as TU scored 14 off those turnovers to Charlotte's eight points. Tulsa also won the battle of the boards 33-24 and turned six offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF…
Charlotte took one of its rare leads in the opening minute, splitting a pair of free throws. Dwon Odom responded with his first and only 3-point attempt, knocking it down for the 3-1 lead. Charlotte responded with a triple of its own to retake the lead.
TU took the lead on the next possession. Justin Amadi drew a shooting foul and converted both at the line to put Tulsa ahead 5-4 with 18:23 remaining in the half. That started an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to go ahead 14-4 at the 14:43 mark.
Near the end of the run, Jared Garcia checked in for his first appearance of the season after the first media timeout. His presence gave the team a noticeable boost of energy, which only increased after he received an open pass from Jesaiah McWright and immediately laid it in for his first points, just seconds after stepping on the court.
CLT ended the run with a bucket, but Tulsa returned serve with a Tyshawn Archie floater, and then Garcia connected on a second chance 3-pointer to push the lead to a game-high 13.
Tulsa led by 10, 26-16, with just under eight to play in the period, when Charlotte went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three. The Hurricane immediately responded with a 7-1 run of its own. Garcia made a reverse layup to push the lead back to five. After the Niners went 1-of-2 at the line, Odom knocked down a jumper. Willis closed the run with a 3-pointer, and then after a Charlotte bucket, he did it again for his third triple of the half and a 37-26 Tulsa lead with 2:14 on the clock.
Graves knocked down a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining in the half to cut the Tulsa lead down to eight, 39-31.
Tulsa shot 50 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent on five made 3-pointers. Charlotte was 12-25 (48 percent) on field goals and made three 3-pointers at a 25.0 percent clip.
Garcia scored all 11 of his points in the first half to pace Tulsa. Odom added eight and Willis scored nine. Amadi and Ian Smikle led Tulsa on the glass with four and five, respectively.
IN THE SECOND HALF …
Odom used a personal early second half 6-0 run to push Tulsa's lead back to 13, 47-34, less than five minutes into the stanza. The Niners weren't done fighting, however, going on an 8-0 run to cut the Tulsa lead to 49-44 with 13:20 remaining, forcing a TU timeout. The run happened in just 1:06 of game time and included two 3-pointers and a Hurricane turnover.
From there, the lead would never get back into double digits. Over the next 3:09 of gameplay, the Niners outscored Tulsa 8-4 to get the game as close as 53-52 with just over 10 minutes to play.
The Hurricane gave itself some space with a quick 8-0 run. Willis knocked down a pair at the charity stripe to push the lead back to three. Tyshawn Archie caught fire, knocking down a pull up jumper, a driving layup and then a dunk to get the lead to nine, 61-52.
Not to be put away, Charlotte ended the run with a much-needed 3-pointer. A traditional 3-point play followed on the ensuing possession and again the lead was just 61-58 with Charlotte heading to the line for 1-and-1 out of the final media timeout with 4:13 to play.
The Niners missed the front end of the free throw and McWright made a big layup to get the lead back to five. From there, it became Odom's show on offense as he answered Charlotte each time, scoring six points in the final three minutes. Meanwhile, the Tulsa defense allowed just one more field goal the rest of the way as the Hurricane secured the 69-63 win.
Odom scored 14 points in the second half on 7-of-10 shooting. He and Smikle each had five rebounds to pace TU on the glass in the second half. Archie and McWright were the only other Hurricane to have more than one field goal in the second half, scoring six and four, respectively.
Tulsa was 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) in the second half and missed all five of its 3-point attempts. Odom accounted for more than half of Tulsa's field goals in the second half. Charlotte hit on 41.7 percent (10-of-24) of its efforts and knocked down 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) 3-point attempts.
GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improved its series lead to 5-3 over Charlotte.
• TU is 3-0 in the Reynolds Center against the Niners.
• Tulsa is 7-1 this season when leading at the half.
• This was just the second time this season Tulsa has gone without a 3-point field goal in a half (at Loyola Chicago – 11/23).
• Braeden Carrington missed the game with an injury sustained midway through the second half at UTSA.
• Keaston Willis scored in double figures for the 11th time this season and 97th in his career.
• Dwon Odom scored in double figures for the 14th time this season and 66th in his career.
• This was Archie's 12th double-figure scoring game of the season and 23rd of his career.
• Jared Garcia made his season debut after missing the first 16 games with a knee injury.
• Garcia scored in double figures for the first time this season and 14th time in his career.
• Ian Smikle had his third 10+ rebounding game this season and second in a row.
• Justin Amadi made his first start of his TU career.
• This was the fifth different starting lineup this season for the Hurricane.
The Golden Hurricane has a midweek bye and will return to action with a road trip to Tampa, Fla. on Saturday. Tulsa faces a tough conference matchup at South Florida. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and the contest will air on ESPN+.
Tulsa improves to 8-9 on the season and 2-2 in The American play, while Charlotte falls to 7-10 and is winless in four conference games this season.
"That was a total team effort by our team," Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol said. "It was a very hard fough American Athletic Conference game. It was physical and I thought both teams left it all on the floor and was playing really, really hard. As I told our team in the locker room, I thought our energy to start the game on the defensive end – it wasn't just the five guy son the floor – the bench, just the enthusiasm and determination of our group got us off to a good start."
Tulsa took the lead on Charlotte early in the first half and never relinquished. However, the lead never grew further than 13 as the Niners continued to hang around and trailed just 61-58 at the final media timeout with 4:13 to play.
After Jesaiah McWright made a driving layup on the next possession, graduate guard Dwon Odom scored Tulsa's final six points to stave off the comeback attempt. The Hurricane defense stiffened, holding to Charlotte to 1-of-3 down the stretch.
"Got to give Charlotte a lot of credit, they kept battling back and making some different plays," Konkol said. "It was a game of runs. We made a run; they made a run. Then we made some really nice plays down the stretch and got some key rebounds on one end, and a couple of key scores on the other to come away with a really good win."
Odom led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) shooting. He added six rebounds and five assists in the win. Keaston Willis and Tyshawn Archie each scored 11. Senior forward Jared Garcia made his much-awaited season debut and scored 11 points with three rebounds. Freshman Ian Smikle pulled down 10 rebounds for the second game in a row and added six points.
Charlotte was led by the duo of Nik Graves and Kyland Blackmon, who combined for 37 points. Robert Braswell added 10 and Giancarlo Rosado pulled down seven rebounds to pace the Niners.
Tulsa shot above 50 percent (52.9 percent) for the third time this season and first in conference play. The Hurricane was just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) on 3-pointers after making 13 against UTSA, but shot well at the foul line, making 10-of-13 (76.9 percent). Charlotte also had a fine night from the field, connecting on 22-of-49 (44.9) efforts. CLT also made eight 3-pointers at a 32 percent clip.
The Niners excel at holding onto the ball and today was no different as Charlotte turned it over just seven times. Tulsa was equal to the challenge with only nine turnovers. The difference was in how the teams capitalized off opponent mistakes as TU scored 14 off those turnovers to Charlotte's eight points. Tulsa also won the battle of the boards 33-24 and turned six offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF…
Charlotte took one of its rare leads in the opening minute, splitting a pair of free throws. Dwon Odom responded with his first and only 3-point attempt, knocking it down for the 3-1 lead. Charlotte responded with a triple of its own to retake the lead.
TU took the lead on the next possession. Justin Amadi drew a shooting foul and converted both at the line to put Tulsa ahead 5-4 with 18:23 remaining in the half. That started an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to go ahead 14-4 at the 14:43 mark.
Near the end of the run, Jared Garcia checked in for his first appearance of the season after the first media timeout. His presence gave the team a noticeable boost of energy, which only increased after he received an open pass from Jesaiah McWright and immediately laid it in for his first points, just seconds after stepping on the court.
CLT ended the run with a bucket, but Tulsa returned serve with a Tyshawn Archie floater, and then Garcia connected on a second chance 3-pointer to push the lead to a game-high 13.
Tulsa led by 10, 26-16, with just under eight to play in the period, when Charlotte went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three. The Hurricane immediately responded with a 7-1 run of its own. Garcia made a reverse layup to push the lead back to five. After the Niners went 1-of-2 at the line, Odom knocked down a jumper. Willis closed the run with a 3-pointer, and then after a Charlotte bucket, he did it again for his third triple of the half and a 37-26 Tulsa lead with 2:14 on the clock.
Graves knocked down a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining in the half to cut the Tulsa lead down to eight, 39-31.
Tulsa shot 50 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent on five made 3-pointers. Charlotte was 12-25 (48 percent) on field goals and made three 3-pointers at a 25.0 percent clip.
Garcia scored all 11 of his points in the first half to pace Tulsa. Odom added eight and Willis scored nine. Amadi and Ian Smikle led Tulsa on the glass with four and five, respectively.
IN THE SECOND HALF …
Odom used a personal early second half 6-0 run to push Tulsa's lead back to 13, 47-34, less than five minutes into the stanza. The Niners weren't done fighting, however, going on an 8-0 run to cut the Tulsa lead to 49-44 with 13:20 remaining, forcing a TU timeout. The run happened in just 1:06 of game time and included two 3-pointers and a Hurricane turnover.
From there, the lead would never get back into double digits. Over the next 3:09 of gameplay, the Niners outscored Tulsa 8-4 to get the game as close as 53-52 with just over 10 minutes to play.
The Hurricane gave itself some space with a quick 8-0 run. Willis knocked down a pair at the charity stripe to push the lead back to three. Tyshawn Archie caught fire, knocking down a pull up jumper, a driving layup and then a dunk to get the lead to nine, 61-52.
Not to be put away, Charlotte ended the run with a much-needed 3-pointer. A traditional 3-point play followed on the ensuing possession and again the lead was just 61-58 with Charlotte heading to the line for 1-and-1 out of the final media timeout with 4:13 to play.
The Niners missed the front end of the free throw and McWright made a big layup to get the lead back to five. From there, it became Odom's show on offense as he answered Charlotte each time, scoring six points in the final three minutes. Meanwhile, the Tulsa defense allowed just one more field goal the rest of the way as the Hurricane secured the 69-63 win.
Odom scored 14 points in the second half on 7-of-10 shooting. He and Smikle each had five rebounds to pace TU on the glass in the second half. Archie and McWright were the only other Hurricane to have more than one field goal in the second half, scoring six and four, respectively.
Tulsa was 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) in the second half and missed all five of its 3-point attempts. Odom accounted for more than half of Tulsa's field goals in the second half. Charlotte hit on 41.7 percent (10-of-24) of its efforts and knocked down 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) 3-point attempts.
GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improved its series lead to 5-3 over Charlotte.
• TU is 3-0 in the Reynolds Center against the Niners.
• Tulsa is 7-1 this season when leading at the half.
• This was just the second time this season Tulsa has gone without a 3-point field goal in a half (at Loyola Chicago – 11/23).
• Braeden Carrington missed the game with an injury sustained midway through the second half at UTSA.
• Keaston Willis scored in double figures for the 11th time this season and 97th in his career.
• Dwon Odom scored in double figures for the 14th time this season and 66th in his career.
• This was Archie's 12th double-figure scoring game of the season and 23rd of his career.
• Jared Garcia made his season debut after missing the first 16 games with a knee injury.
• Garcia scored in double figures for the first time this season and 14th time in his career.
• Ian Smikle had his third 10+ rebounding game this season and second in a row.
• Justin Amadi made his first start of his TU career.
• This was the fifth different starting lineup this season for the Hurricane.
The Golden Hurricane has a midweek bye and will return to action with a road trip to Tampa, Fla. on Saturday. Tulsa faces a tough conference matchup at South Florida. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and the contest will air on ESPN+.
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