Haralson, TU win big at Houston
BY Staff reports
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
HOUSTON — For the University of Tulsa basketball team, good things came in threes during Wednesday night’s Conference USA contest at Houston.
During the first half, as the Golden Hurricane rolled to its first significant lead, Pat Swilling Jr. converted on three 3-point shots.
During a two-minute span almost immediately after halftime – after Houston had drawn to within six points – Golden Hurricane senior Scottie Haralson responded with his most dynamic offensive sequence of the season. Haralson connected on a flurry of three 3-point attempts.
TU redshirt freshman forward Brandon Swannegan followed with an additional triple play – three consecutive baskets as Tulsa roared to a 22-point lead.
Shooting 51 percent overall from the field and 12-of-25 on 3-point tries, the Hurricane punctuated an excellent offensive performance with an 87-72 victory over the Cougars.
The total of 87 points was TU’s greatest since it scored 110 during an opening-night rout of LSU-Shreveport, an NAIA opponent.
“I think we played well,” Tulsa coach Danny Manning said. “For the most part, we competed on the defensive end . . . and we made shots. Whenever we make shots like that, we’ll be tough to beat. We had only 11 turnovers.”
In five previous conference games, Haralson was 4-of-18 on 3-point shots. Against Houston, he was 7-of-12 overall, 5-of-8 on 3-pointers and finished with a season-high total of 19 points.
“Shooters never get down. You just keep shooting,” Haralson said. “Just keep working and they’ll start falling. They gave us some wide-open looks. We just took advantage of it and knocked them down.”
Dating to 1996, TU had been 1-5 in Houston’s Hofheinz Pavilion. On Wednesday, Tulsa recorded by far its most resounding road win over Houston. In 20 previous contests on the Cougars’ home floor, Tulsa had prevailed eight times but never by more than seven points.
In advance of Saturday’s 3 p.m. showdown at the Reynolds Center with conference-leading Southern Miss, the Golden Hurricane is 12-8 overall, 4-2 in C-USA. On Wednesday, Southern Miss obliterated visiting Marshall 102-46.
Against Houston, Tulsa got double-digit scoring from five players. Complementing Haralson’s 19-point performance were James Woodard and Tim Peete with 14 points apiece, Swilling with 11 and Kauri Black with 10. Swannegan had nine points. Freshman guard Shaq Harrison had seven assists.
For Houston (12-6 overall, 1-4 in league play), Joseph Young scored 16 points and Danuel House had 15. The Cougars were 5-of-20 on 3-pointers. In their last four games, they are 17-of-74 from 3-point range.
At the 8:14 mark of Wednesday’s first half, TU and Houston were tied at 19-19. The Hurricane then got baskets from Black and Ray, followed by 3-pointers by Peete and Woodard.
Mindful that the Hurricane struggled against UTEP’s full-court defensive pressure on Jan. 16, the Cougars pressed in an attempt to stifle Tulsa’s momentum. The Hurricane easily advanced the basketball and Swilling swished his third 3-pointer of the first half, capping a 21-6 run that gave TU a 40-25 cushion.
During the first minute of the second half, Houston trailed by only 40-34. Haralson responded with 11 points in less than two minutes, scoring on three 3-pointers and a 2-point basket. With 10:42 left, Swannegan’s 3-point play pushed the Tulsa advantage to 22 points (63-41).
