P.J. Haggerty's tenacity epitomized Tulsa's game Thursday night when shots weren't falling.
A flurry of steals, layups and dunks made up for Tulsa's off shooting night.
Haggerty had 20 points, 5 steals and 4 rebounds to lead Tulsa to a 72-52 victory over Jackson State in front of 2,754 at the Reynolds Center.
"I'm just having a lot a fun, I'm not going to lie to you," Haggerty said. "Last year was a rough year for me, basketball wise. Just being able to come here and play for Coach Konkol and with everybody on the team."
The game was the first of two games Tulsa will play as part of the Golden Turkey Slam, along with Monday's upcoming home game against South Carolina State. Missouri is the fourth team in the event and will host Jackson State on Sunday and South Carolina State Wednesday.
A two-plus minute period of time down the stretch in the second half made the game extra special for Haggerty, a redshirt freshman transfer from TCU.
During the stretch, starting at 5:02 left in the game and Tulsa's lead having been cut to 60-51, Haggerty scored 8 consecutive points with 3 steals, starting with 3 of 4 free throws.
Then a steal and layup by Haggerty, and a subsequent steal in the backcourt and a following free throw put TU up 66-51 with 3:22 remaining. Another steal and layup by Haggerty with 2:49 remaining upped the lead to 68-51.
Tulsa (3-0) started off shooting poorly, finishing at 38.7 percent from the field, and 5 of 24 (20.8 percent) on three-pointers. But at least the team made free throws, canning 19 of 23 (82.6 percent), including 10 of 12 by Haggerty from the line.
"When a team comes in and mixes up defenses the way they do, we knew it was coming, we just hadn't experienced it before," Konkol said. "To shoot the way we did from three but still find a way to play some really good basketball in other areas, and come away with a win, against a team I think that has a really good shot to win their league, I'm just proud of our guys for sticking together and not having a woe is me type of mentality.
"I thought our guys got gritty, did it on the defensive end, and created some good opportunities."
Perhaps the most important thing Tulsa did all game was hold JSU leading scorer Ken Evans to just one point on 0 of 6 shooting from the field. The 6-5 senior guard was averaging 22 points coming into the game.
"He's a guy who can really, really score, and we were able to reduce his opportunities," said Konkol of Evans, who was guarded a lot by 6-7 Isaiah Barnes, who himself had 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Jackson State (0-5) has played good teams, all on the road, and has played decently, but hasn't been able to finish in single digits in a loss in any game so far this season. The Tigers will play all 13 games of their non-conference season on the road before getting into SWAC conference play.
Nobody for the Tigers scored in double digits, as Jordan O'Neal, Zeke Cook, and Keionte Cornelius all scored 9 points to lead Jackson State.
The Golden Hurricane was able to come up with 13 steals, to go with a rebounding edge of 44-36, and held Jackson State to 35.2 percent from the floor, including only 3 of 20 (15 percent) on three-pointers.
"That's a lot of steals," Konkol said. "We're not a pressing team, we're not a way out in the passing lane denying team, but we do have good overall length. We have many plus wingspans on our team.
"We want to put pressure on the basketball, but we want to live in those gaps and work on stunting and stabbing at the ball. P.J. has a gift for it. Other guys picked up some steals."
Dynamic 6-foot point guard Cobe Williams had 4 steals, with 3 assists and only 1 turnover. Averaging 20 points, Williams didn't have a great offensive game, finishing with 10 points. But he did have a game high plus/minus ratio of plus 22.
Freshmen Jarred Hall and Tyshawn Archie came off the bench to excel for Tulsa. The 6-9 Hall was 4 of 4 shooting from the floor in 18 minutes, including a shot clock buzzer-beating 3-pointer early in the second half. He also had 2 consecutive dunks off follow-up opportunities from offensive rebounds early in the first half.
"Jarred Hall came in and gave us a real boost," Konkol said. "He had 9 points, 6 rebounds. He didn't miss from the floor tonight. He made that big 3. It's really good to see. These moments are so important for our freshmen."
The 6-foot Archie was a spark plug, scoring 8 points to go with 3 steals in 14 minutes. His biggest bucket came after he pickpocketed a JSU player in the backcourt, and then raced to follow with a subsequent two-handed slam dunk to give Tulsa momentum going into halftime with a 32-23 lead.
"I thought Ty Archie gave us a huge boost," Konkol said. "He's so quick, he's so shifty. Just picking his spots and trying to figure out how to impact the game. Of course, he had that big dunk. I know that surprised some people. I've been telling you guys, he's got some major bounce.
"Ty has a plus wingspan, he's got really good anticipation. We really put a role on him where he's in the game picking up full court and really working that other ball handler. He's done that to a couple of guys in practice, where he's just kind of picked it. He's got a real gift there."
