Sunday, March 9
Wichita, KS
1 p.m.
Tulsa
12-19,6-12AAC
73
at
63
Wichita State
18-13,8-10AAC
1
2
F
Tulsa
27
46
73
Wichita St.
27
36
63
Golden Hurricane Takes Down Shockers in Wichita
3/9/2025 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Tulsa men's basketball went on the road and won its first game in Charles Koch Arena in nearly 24 years in a 73-63 victory over rivals Wichita State on Sunday to close out the 2024-25 regular season.
Tulsa (12-19, 6-12 The American) didn't let a Wichita State (18-13, 8-10 The American) crowd of over 6,000 affect their poise down the stretch, taking a three-point lead with 9:22 left and turning it into a double-digit lead with seven to play. From there, the Hurricane never let the Shockers get any closer than seven. WSU never led by more than two points in the contest.
It was the first win in Wichita since December 8, 2001, snapping a streak of 12-straight losses for Tulsa in the arena. Today's win also secured TU's first regular season sweep of the Shockers since the 1995-96 campaign, Tulsa's final in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The win guaranteed the Hurricane the 10 seed for the upcoming The American Championship, where Tulsa will face seventh-seeded Temple after the Owls took care of business against North Texas. The Hurricane and Owls split their regular season meetings with the road teams winning each contest.
Dwon Odom led Tulsa with a massive 20 points and four assists, scoring 11 in the second half to lead the Hurricane. Keaston Willis, Jared Garcia and Tyshawn Archie each added 11. Nine of Archie's points came in the second half on 4-of-5 shooting when he was called into extended action.
Isaiah Barnes each pulled down a team-best six rebounds. Barnes had eight points on a cooler shooting day than he's had in the past, but he hit all four of his free throw attempts in the final minute to thwart any attempt at a Wichita State comeback.
Corey Washington scored 14 to pace the Shockers. He was helped by 10 from Xavier Bell and Harlond Beverly's 11. Quincy Ballard was difficult to contain on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams were tied at 27 out of the halftime break, the first time that has happened all season for Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane responded by shooting 61.3 percent from the field in the second stanza, finishing 50.8 percent for the game, to outscore Wichita State 46-36.
Bijan Cortes gave Wichita State the lead early in the second half, but Archie, opening the half on the court, responded quickly to start an 8-0 Tulsa run that would give the Hurricane a lead it never surrendered.
Over the more than first 10 minutes of the second half, Tulsa's grew no larger than six, getting as close as one, 39-38, with 13:56 to play. But each time Wichita State got close, Tulsa managed to give itself some breathing room.
Bell knocked down a tough layup to cut the TU lead to 51-48 with 9:22, the closest the game would get the rest of the way. Over the next four minutes, Tulsa outscored the hosts 13-4 to take a 64-52 lead with 5:23 left. Archie's fingerprints were all over the run as got things going with a pull-up 3-point jumper to deny the Shockers a chance to level the score. After a pair of free throws from WSU, Smikle got a layup off the feed from Odom.
A Carrington steal quickly turned into two more points for the Hurricane, forcing a timeout from the Shockers. Archie got a steal out of the break and then Smikle found Justin Madi for a layup to push the TU lead to double digits. Smikle got another assist on the ensuing possession, finding Archie for a driving layup, before Archie recorded another steal. The run ended with another Dwon driving layup.
The Shockers made one last push, getting the lead down to seven with four minutes to play. But again, Tulsa was equal to the call. Odom got to the baseline and found a cutting Barnes for a massive two-handed dunk to push the lead back to nine. After a pair of missed free throws from the Shockers, Dwon knocked down a jumper to put TU back ahead 68-57 with 2:54 to play.
The next points happened on a pair of WSU free throws with just 1:10 to play. The Shockers started playing the foul game, taking advantage of a TU missed one-and-one to get a dunk and cut the lead to seven. After Tulsa missed the front end again, the Hurricane came up with a much-needed stop. Barnes righted the ship by knocking down both free throws – he would make two more to sandwich a split pair from Carrington. A jumper from Bell only mattered for the final score as Tulsa walked out 73-63 winners.
Where the Hurricane knocked down 13 triples in the earlier season meeting, Tulsa made just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) on Sunday. The Shockers were just 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) on 3-pointers, themselves. Each team did well in the paint, with Tulsa getting slightly outscored 38-36. The difference was field goal shooting, where Tulsa's 30 makes at a 50.8 percent rate trumped Wichita Stats' 25 makes at 38.5 percent.
GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improves to 66-78 against Wichita State all-time.
• The Hurricane is now 24-44 in Wichita in the series.
• This was Tulsa's first time to win in Wichita since December 8, 2001.
• TU swept Wichita State for the first time in the regular season since the 1995-96 year in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Tulsa clinched the No. 10 seed for the upcoming The American Basketball Championship.
• TU will play the 7th-seeded Temple Owls … the Hurricane and Owls split their regular season meetings with both teams winning on the road.
• This was the first time this season Tulsa has scored 70-to-79 points and won.
• Keaston Willis scored in double figures for the 21st time this season and 107th of his career.
• Willis now has 2,034 career points.
• His 389 career triples is tied for 36th on the NCAA all-time list alongside AJ Abrams (Texas; 2006-09) and Rotnei Clark (Butler; 2009-13).
• Willis has 89 made 3-pointers this season, tied for third-most in a single season in Tulsa history with Dante Swanson (2002-03).
• Dwon Odom scored in double figures for the 25th time this season and 77th in his career – and it was his fourth 20+-point game this season.
• With his first bucket of the game, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Odom surpassed 1,500 points for his career.
• Odom has 164 assists this season, placing him in sixth for most in a single season at Tulsa.
• Jared Garica scored in double figures for the 8th time this season and 21st in his career.
• Tyshawn Archie scored in double figures for the 16th time this season and 27th in his career.
• The Hurricane shot 61.3 percent from the floor in the second half, the fourth-best individual half this season for TU and third-best second half … TU has six halves this season where the Hurricane has shot 60 percent or better.
• This was Tulsa's 11th game in 2024-25 with 10 or fewer turnovers (7) and second in a row.
UP NEXT
Tulsa grabbed the 10-seed for the 2025 American Athletic Conference Championship at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The Hurricane will play No. 7 Temple in the second round on Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. The winner will move on to face No. 2 North Texas in the quarterfinal round on Friday evening at six.
Tulsa (12-19, 6-12 The American) didn't let a Wichita State (18-13, 8-10 The American) crowd of over 6,000 affect their poise down the stretch, taking a three-point lead with 9:22 left and turning it into a double-digit lead with seven to play. From there, the Hurricane never let the Shockers get any closer than seven. WSU never led by more than two points in the contest.
It was the first win in Wichita since December 8, 2001, snapping a streak of 12-straight losses for Tulsa in the arena. Today's win also secured TU's first regular season sweep of the Shockers since the 1995-96 campaign, Tulsa's final in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The win guaranteed the Hurricane the 10 seed for the upcoming The American Championship, where Tulsa will face seventh-seeded Temple after the Owls took care of business against North Texas. The Hurricane and Owls split their regular season meetings with the road teams winning each contest.
Dwon Odom led Tulsa with a massive 20 points and four assists, scoring 11 in the second half to lead the Hurricane. Keaston Willis, Jared Garcia and Tyshawn Archie each added 11. Nine of Archie's points came in the second half on 4-of-5 shooting when he was called into extended action.
Isaiah Barnes each pulled down a team-best six rebounds. Barnes had eight points on a cooler shooting day than he's had in the past, but he hit all four of his free throw attempts in the final minute to thwart any attempt at a Wichita State comeback.
Corey Washington scored 14 to pace the Shockers. He was helped by 10 from Xavier Bell and Harlond Beverly's 11. Quincy Ballard was difficult to contain on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams were tied at 27 out of the halftime break, the first time that has happened all season for Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane responded by shooting 61.3 percent from the field in the second stanza, finishing 50.8 percent for the game, to outscore Wichita State 46-36.
Bijan Cortes gave Wichita State the lead early in the second half, but Archie, opening the half on the court, responded quickly to start an 8-0 Tulsa run that would give the Hurricane a lead it never surrendered.
Over the more than first 10 minutes of the second half, Tulsa's grew no larger than six, getting as close as one, 39-38, with 13:56 to play. But each time Wichita State got close, Tulsa managed to give itself some breathing room.
Bell knocked down a tough layup to cut the TU lead to 51-48 with 9:22, the closest the game would get the rest of the way. Over the next four minutes, Tulsa outscored the hosts 13-4 to take a 64-52 lead with 5:23 left. Archie's fingerprints were all over the run as got things going with a pull-up 3-point jumper to deny the Shockers a chance to level the score. After a pair of free throws from WSU, Smikle got a layup off the feed from Odom.
A Carrington steal quickly turned into two more points for the Hurricane, forcing a timeout from the Shockers. Archie got a steal out of the break and then Smikle found Justin Madi for a layup to push the TU lead to double digits. Smikle got another assist on the ensuing possession, finding Archie for a driving layup, before Archie recorded another steal. The run ended with another Dwon driving layup.
The Shockers made one last push, getting the lead down to seven with four minutes to play. But again, Tulsa was equal to the call. Odom got to the baseline and found a cutting Barnes for a massive two-handed dunk to push the lead back to nine. After a pair of missed free throws from the Shockers, Dwon knocked down a jumper to put TU back ahead 68-57 with 2:54 to play.
The next points happened on a pair of WSU free throws with just 1:10 to play. The Shockers started playing the foul game, taking advantage of a TU missed one-and-one to get a dunk and cut the lead to seven. After Tulsa missed the front end again, the Hurricane came up with a much-needed stop. Barnes righted the ship by knocking down both free throws – he would make two more to sandwich a split pair from Carrington. A jumper from Bell only mattered for the final score as Tulsa walked out 73-63 winners.
Where the Hurricane knocked down 13 triples in the earlier season meeting, Tulsa made just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) on Sunday. The Shockers were just 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) on 3-pointers, themselves. Each team did well in the paint, with Tulsa getting slightly outscored 38-36. The difference was field goal shooting, where Tulsa's 30 makes at a 50.8 percent rate trumped Wichita Stats' 25 makes at 38.5 percent.
GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improves to 66-78 against Wichita State all-time.
• The Hurricane is now 24-44 in Wichita in the series.
• This was Tulsa's first time to win in Wichita since December 8, 2001.
• TU swept Wichita State for the first time in the regular season since the 1995-96 year in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Tulsa clinched the No. 10 seed for the upcoming The American Basketball Championship.
• TU will play the 7th-seeded Temple Owls … the Hurricane and Owls split their regular season meetings with both teams winning on the road.
• This was the first time this season Tulsa has scored 70-to-79 points and won.
• Keaston Willis scored in double figures for the 21st time this season and 107th of his career.
• Willis now has 2,034 career points.
• His 389 career triples is tied for 36th on the NCAA all-time list alongside AJ Abrams (Texas; 2006-09) and Rotnei Clark (Butler; 2009-13).
• Willis has 89 made 3-pointers this season, tied for third-most in a single season in Tulsa history with Dante Swanson (2002-03).
• Dwon Odom scored in double figures for the 25th time this season and 77th in his career – and it was his fourth 20+-point game this season.
• With his first bucket of the game, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Odom surpassed 1,500 points for his career.
• Odom has 164 assists this season, placing him in sixth for most in a single season at Tulsa.
• Jared Garica scored in double figures for the 8th time this season and 21st in his career.
• Tyshawn Archie scored in double figures for the 16th time this season and 27th in his career.
• The Hurricane shot 61.3 percent from the floor in the second half, the fourth-best individual half this season for TU and third-best second half … TU has six halves this season where the Hurricane has shot 60 percent or better.
• This was Tulsa's 11th game in 2024-25 with 10 or fewer turnovers (7) and second in a row.
UP NEXT
Tulsa grabbed the 10-seed for the 2025 American Athletic Conference Championship at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The Hurricane will play No. 7 Temple in the second round on Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. The winner will move on to face No. 2 North Texas in the quarterfinal round on Friday evening at six.
Team Stats
Tulsa
WSU
FG%
.508
.385
3FG%
.278
.188
FT%
.615
.714
RB
34
41
TO
7
11
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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