It was the Dwon Odom show down the stretch for TU, and Charlotte had no answer.

Also, welcome back Jared Garcia. And none too soon.

Whenever Charlotte was threatening late in the game, Odom came through, leading Tulsa with a season-high 22 points to push Tulsa past Charlotte 69-63 Sunday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 3,046 at the Reynolds Center.

Tulsa (8-9, 2-2 AAC) led most of the game, but Charlotte (7-10, 0-4) kept in the game, trailing by just three at 63-60 with under two minutes remaining. But Odom’s driving jumpers in the paint at the 1:44, 58 second, and 16 second marks, put the game away.

“The defense, if they want to hedge and give me lanes to make a pass or drive, I’m going to do it,” said the 6-2 Odom. “Coach (Konkol) believes in me, my teammates trust me to get downhill and make a play, and I was able to do that.

“Coach wants the ball in my hand. Whether it is scoring, passing, whatever he needs me to do, I’m going to make a play. It’s just about making the right decision.”

Odom was 10 of 14 from the field, and had 6 rebounds along with 5 assists in 35 minutes. He scored 14 points in the second half.

For all of Odom’s heroics, the game will likely be more remembered for Garcia’s entrance into the lineup after the first media timeout. His entrance was a bit of a shocker, and provided a bolt of energy for Tulsa.

With the team knowing Garcia was going to play, TU was amped from the beginning, leading by as many as 13 early in the first half.

“This was really big for us to have JG back,” said Tulsa coach Eric Konkol. “It changed us. We played differently than we played all year. We played with two big guys for most of the game.”

Recovering from injuries to both of his knees, Garcia scored an amazing 11 points and had 3 rebounds in just 8 minutes in the first half to lead the Golden Hurricane to a 39-31 halftime lead.

The 6-9 Garcia, who averaged 9.4 points and 6 rebounds while starting every game last season in his first year for the Golden Hurricane, was a little gassed in the second half, and played only 5 minutes after halftime, with no points.

But Garcia’s impact was undeniable. The lack of inside scoring punch for many of Tulsa’s games this season has been a big reason for TU’s slow start.

What was shocking about seeing Garcia was that he had said he was going to sit out the year to redshirt so his knees could improve.

However, thanks to a court ruling that made juco years not count on a player’s eligibility, Garcia’s one year of juco ball the year before he came to Tulsa didn’t count against him. So Garcia has a year of eligibility left after this season.

“The decision for me to come back was based on how I felt,” Garcia said. “My knees felt better. And along with everything else that was going on with the juco rulings, that kind of intertwined.

“Feel great. Feel good being out there with my brothers and getting this win.”

Konkol made it clear that Tulsa had to know exactly what the court ruling meant before they could decide whether Garcia should return this season.

“Getting clarity on all of those new rulings is really important, especially when we are trying to do everything we possibly can to put our players first, and what’s in their best future,” Konkol said.

It was fitting that Garcia’s first game back was against the school where he spent his first two seasons, where he got playing time, but wasn’t fully utilized. Garcia had a career game last season with 24 points against Charlotte in Tulsa.

Tulsa is playing without starting combo three and four position players in Isaiah Barnes and Braeden Carrington, both who could return in a week or a few weeks.

“This has been a season with a lots of evolving and rotating pieces for us,” Konkol said. “We haven’t been at full strength yet.”

Without Barnes and Carrington, Tulsa was especially lucky to have Garica back, because the Golden Hurricane was able to go with two big men in the game at the same time, as Konkol said, for much of the game. A luxury that wouldn’t have been there as often if Justin Amadi, Matt Reed and Ian Smikle were the only rotational big men available.

Smikle had a strong game with 6 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes. Amadi, who started alongside Smikle, had 2 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes, and led the team with a plus/minus ratio of plus 17.

Garcia was one of four Tulsa players in double figures. Guards Keaston Willis and Ty Archie each had 11 points. Tulsa outrebounded Charlotte 33-24.

Guard Nick Graves had 19 points to lead Charlotte.

Tulsa’s next game is at South Florida (9-7, 2-1) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. TU’s next home game is Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. against East Carolina (9-8, 1-3).

“We’re learning how to win close games,” Konkol said. “This is important. There are some guys who haven’t been in some of these positions. They’re gaining confidence from having a little bit of success.”