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Hurricane rolls to 3-0
Jordan, defense help Tulsa overcome rough shooting day in victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.

TU's Donte Medder (left) and Bryson Pope bump chests as the team takes a timeout against Arkansas-Little Rock in the second half of their matinee Tuesday at the Reynolds Center. MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World

 
By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
Published: 11/18/2009  2:21 AM
Last Modified: 11/18/2009  9:27 AM

 Doug Wojcik began Tuesday afternoon's press conference in a light-hearted mood.

"I was afraid our maintenance crew put lids on the rim before the game," Wojcik said following Tulsa's 59-45 win over Arkansas-Little Rock. "We could not shoot the basketball today."

Wojcik could afford to joke after his team chalked its third victory in five days. The 1 p.m. matinee game — a part of ESPN's 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon — was played before an announced crowd of 5,560 fans at the Reynolds Center.

The Golden Hurricane is 3-0 for the first time in the Wojcik era, thanks largely to a pesky defense and Jerome Jordan.

Jordan finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds. The senior carried the Hurricane offensively in the first half and his team entered the halftime locker room leading 25-20.

"Jerome is an anchor for us," freshman guard Donte Medder said. "The guards weren't shooting like we should have. He stepped up in the first half ... he pushed us over the edge today."

Trojans coach Steve Shields said game-planning against Jordan was a chore and execution was very difficult.

"It all goes back to Jerome," said Shields, whose team dropped to 0-2. "He's an outstanding player and there's a reason why he's picked as the Conference USA preseason player of the year.

"You have to focus so much attention on him and he ends up with 19 and 9."

Tulsa never led by more than eight points in the first half. Jordan had 15 first-half points, and the guards only had a combined six points.

TU's backcourt players only made 3 of their first 22 shots before catching fire midway through the second half. Ben Uzoh started 1-of-9 before sinking some shots late. He ended with nine points.

"We were getting good shots," Wojcik said. "In particular, Ben had some great shots, but they just didn't go in. Ben won't have many days like that."

With points at a premium, Medder received on-the-job training about how much emphasis Wojcik places on defense.

"Coach has harped on it enough in practice that it gets in our minds," said Medder, TU's only other double-digit scorer at 10 points. "It just clicked in the game. We were making stops when we weren't making shots. I think that helped us a lot."

Tulsa's 59 points was its lowest total in a victory since opening last season with a 50-43 win over Oral Roberts. The Hurricane made 25-of-57 shots (42.1 percent).

UALR ended 16-of-49 (32.7 percent) from the field and became the third opponent TU has held under 50 points this season.

Tulsa survived the three-games-in-a-five-day stretch unscathed. After taking Wednesday off, it will begin preparation for Saturday's 3 p.m. home game against South Alabama.

"It's been real good, getting these wins and playing at home early in front of our fans," Jordan said. "For the freshmen, they're picking stuff up on the fly.

"It's a good experience for us right now."

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Up next

Vs. South Alabama

3 p.m Saturday

TV: none

Radio: KRMG am740

Eric Bailey 581-8391
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com
By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS 
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8 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "TU defeats Arkansas-Little Rock," which was published on 11/17/2009.
Report Comment
Daven, Tulsa (11/17/2009 3:09:31 PM)
Great start TU!!
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (11/17/2009 3:56:50 PM)
That is 4 times as many fans as were at the football game Sunday night.
Report Comment
Rocketman, Tulsa (11/17/2009 5:59:30 PM)
There were maybe 3500 people there. It was a good game.
Report Comment
tulsandn, out in the woods (11/18/2009 8:21:28 AM)
Medder, Pope & Idlet look like a great foundation for the next couple of seasons....

THIS SEASON should be very very interesting, TU looked pretty good yesterday....
Report Comment
Lance-a-lot, Tulsa (11/18/2009 8:50:31 AM)
A perfect example of how defense can keep you in a game and/or win it for you.

You won't always make shots, but you can ALWAYS play tough "D".

Uzoh and the other guards will heat up eventually. I think a lot of it may be due to "tired legs" from three games in five days.
Report Comment
BLA, Tulsa (11/18/2009 3:26:25 PM)
Isn't it great to know you can shoot 35% and still win easily and handily. Everyone in Tulsa needs to start coming to these games. Bryson Pope and Donte Medder are the real deal and can flat out play. Shame OU isn't on the schedule this year. That's OK, OSU will get to feel the pain.

How does anyone defend a 7'0" center who can shoot from 18 feet and a 6'10" power forward who is smooth around the basket?
Report Comment
GoldenDriller1, Out of Town (11/18/2009 4:53:18 PM)
Nice start Doug - may we suggest working the team on their shooting. Need to improve the FG% average to win C-USA and be a deep contender.
Report Comment
Former gcane, Raleigh (11/18/2009 6:40:42 PM)
goldendriller: I have an idea, since you seem to have all the answers, Bubba should just fire Graham and Wojcik and hire you. That way we could save on the school budget and only pay one salary. Also, we would have two national championship teams.
 

 
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