SFA too much for Golden Hurricane
BY JOSH HALEY World Correspondent
Sunday, November 25, 2012
11/25/12 at 8:22 AM
After a slow start, Tulsa looked to repeat a runaway victory from earlier in the week but came up short in a 57-41 loss to Stephen F. Austin at the Reynolds Center on Saturday.
The Golden Hurricane men's basketball team was hoping to finish like it did on Wednesday when it outscored Jackson State 33-15 down the stretch in the win.
Those late-game heroics, however, eluded the Golden Hurricane on Saturday.
"Stephen F. Austin came out tonight and punched us in the face and we didn't respond very well," said Tulsa head coach Danny Manning. "They beat us to a lot of 50-50 balls, we didn't share the ball well and we gave up too many second-chance opportunities."
Tulsa (4-2) committed 18 turnovers while registering just six assists.
"We had some opportunities to cut into the lead, and we didn't make plays when we needed to," said Manning.
Tulsa trimmed the lead to 37-30 with 13:25 remaining thanks to a pair of free throws by James Woodard and a 3-pointer by Rashad Ray. Woodard led all Tulsa scorers with 14 points.
Taylor Smith promptly responded for Stephen F. Austin (4-0) with two of his game-high 17 points and the Golden Hurricane never trimmed the deficit to less than nine points the rest of the way.
"The bottom line is that if we defend better, we give ourselves a chance to win," said Manning. "We didn't provide enough resistance when they were driving to the basket."
With the game tied at 5-5, former Bixby standout Jacob Parker went on an 8-2 run by himself to help the Lumberjacks build an early lead. Parker finished with 16.
"We had no fast-break points, and that's not who we are," said Manning. "We are supposed to defend, give them one contested shot, rebound and get out in transition and we didn't do a good job of that tonight."
Zeldric King rattled off six straight Tulsa points late in the first half to help the Hurricane close the gap to five, but Stephen F. Austin finished the half on a 7-1 run to take a 28-18 lead into halftime.
"There is no silver lining in a loss and no moral victories," said Manning. "We have to go back to playing the way we did earlier in the season."
Tulsa travels to play Wichita State on Wednesday.
Men's basketball
| Stephen F. Austin |
57 |
| TU |
41 |
Up next
At Wichita State
7:05 p.m. Wednesday
Radio: KRMG am740, fm102.3
Associated Images:
TU's James Woodard goes up for a shot over Stephen F. Austin's Jacob Parker, a former Bixby standout, during Saturday's game. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
TU's Shaquille Harrison (left) goes up for a shot over Stephen F. Austin's Desmond Haymon on Saturday at the Reynolds Center. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
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