When saying “He’s back!”, that could mean either TU legend Ken Hayes, or TU sharpshooter Keaston Willis.

Either way, both had their own significant impact on a fun 82-68 season opening win for Tulsa over Northeastern State on Monday night in front of 2,874 fans at the Reynolds Center.

Willis led the way with 17 points, including 5 of 9 in shooting 3-pointers, on what was Ken Hayes Day.

Wearing a blue Tulsa sweatshirt and a green NSU hat, Hayes, who is in both schools’ Hall of Fames for outstanding coaching careers for both programs, was enjoying the game and looking remarkably younger and more spry than his 92 years.

Hayes is known at TU for coaching from 1968-1975 where he never had a losing season. He had several outstanding teams where a few of them, by today’s standards, would have been NCAA teams.

Coaching in an era where the field was limited to 24 teams and one bid per conference, with no conference tourney, and coaching in the then tough Missouri Valley Conference, at least three of his teams that went 19-8 in 1969, and 18-8 in 1973 and 1974, would have been NCAA locks.

Willis, back from a frustrating season where he only played two games before re-injuring his foot, looked like a player who would have thrived under Hayes in another era. The sixth-year senior also had 5 rebounds and a team-high 4 steals.

There were four other players in double digits in scoring, with Isaiah Barnes scoring 14, followed by Dwon Odom with 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting and 3 rebounds with 3 assists and no turnovers, and Braeden Carrington and Ty Archie with 10 points apiece.

“A number of guys impacted the game,” said Tulsa coach Eric Konkol. “We had some really nice plays. We did it with our defense.”

NSU (11-17 in 2023-2024) is a NCAA Division II team that appears to be much improved this season. The Riverhawks were led by Ethan Blackmon’s 22 points and 7 rebounds, and by Trey Phipps, the former OU and ORU player, with 16 points, including 4 of 6 on three-pointers.

TU led from early on but saw a 37-27 lead whittled down to 46-42 early in the 2nd half before a bucket by Odom got the Golden Hurricane going again. Soon, Tulsa had a double-digit lead, and led by as many as 18 points, the last time at 67-49.

“I was happy with our team with the poise we had and the adjustments we made,” said Konkol of his team after leading by just 4 points.

Overall, it was a pleasant enough game where NSU looked to be improved from last season, and Tulsa showed marked improvement from its exhibition, which it won in overtime against Missouri S&T.

“I shot the ball real good,” Willis said. “We were much better tonight than in the exhibition game.”

Odom continued to look like the real deal as a point guard coming off the bench, leading Tulsa with a plus/minus ratio of plus 21 in 21 minutes, with 2 steals, 2 blocked shots, and 3 rebounds.

“Dwon does everything well,” Willis said. “He’s going to be a key player for us this season.”

Archie and Barnes look improved over their nice debut seasons for TU last year. Minnesota transfer Braeden Carrington displayed solid defense and drained two 3-pointers.

Big man Ian Smikle looked solid inside in his first real game as a freshman, with 3 points and 7 rebounds in 14 minutes. A slimmed down Matt Reed had 7 points and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes. Even 6-10 juco project Tyler Behrend looked okay with 2 points in 5 minutes.

Four-star freshman recruit, guard Jaye Nash, had a few moments in limited time, with 2 points in 8 minutes. Jesaiah McWright had 5 points and 2 boards in 14 minutes.

With big men Jared Garcia and Justin Amadi sitting out with injuries, Tulsa continued with a mostly small lineup.

Tulsa’s next game is Saturday afternoon against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.