Tulsa dominates SWOSU, 95-54

It was a wonderful game for Jesaiah McWright to showcase his talents.

As the only scholarship holdover from last year's disastrous season, McWright benefitted from plenty of experience last year.

McWright hasn't gotten enough playing time so far, but when he's played, he's done some good things.

McWright got extended chances Friday night, and came through with a career-high 16 points Friday night as Tulsa romped over Southwestern Oklahoma State 95-54 in front of 2,958 fans at the Reynolds Center.

"It feels good. But try to build on it," said McWright of establishing a new career high over his best of 11 points last season.

For second-year Tulsa coach Eric Konkol, playing well after an extended Christmas holiday break was important. Tulsa's last game was a 65-59 comeback win over New Mexico State a week ago before the players went home for Christmas break.

"Any time you take an extended break, you're always curious, especially when you've got a really young team, and a new team, about their response," Konkol said. "But more than anything, in any game we play, there were some things we wanted to do really well.

"I thought we did some things nicely tonight. It was great to get a lot of guys into the game and get some experience, more experience for some younger guys, and to come away with a win."

Konkol was pleased with McWright, who scored all of his 16 points in the second half. He finished 4 of 5 from the field, 2 of 3 on three-pointers, and made 6 of 7 free throws in almost 22 minutes. For the season, McWight is 12 of 13 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line.

"It's really good to get Jesaiah going," said Konkol. "Because not having Keaston Willis, it gives opportunity. We need another guard in there at this point in the season."

Konkol was talking about the best shooter on the team in Willis, who reinjured his foot after coming back to play two games, where he averaged 12.5 points and shot 50 percent on three-pointers. The status of Willis returning is unknown, although he was on the bench in street clothes.

As for McWright, the 6-foot-4 guard from Houston has been averaging 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds with 4 steals in 7 previous games this season in 10.5 minutes per game. He averaged 2.5 points and 0.9 rebounds with 10 steals in 26 games, in which he started six, last season, in 16.1 minutes per game.

"He's just a sophomore," Konkol said of McWright. "We need that depth. He's got really good energy in his legs. You can see his tenacity on the defensive end. He can run, he can chase people. It was really nice to see him get some stuff going offensively."

There were two blocked shots by McWright, who prides himself on defense.

"I take it real personal," McWright said of his defense. "I don't want to be the guy who gets scored on."

Tulsa finished its non-conference schedule 9-3, with a 9-0 home record. For McWright and Tulsa, the non-conference season has been a time to build up confidence. After finishing 5-25 last season, and with almost a brand new team surrounding him, McWright is feeling good about this team.

"It's been going really good. I don't want to speak down on the team from last year, but we've been making some really good changes, the way we do everything," McWright said.

The biggest cheer of the night, by far, was when true freshman walk-on Ben Radford from Memorial HS drained a three-pointer with 1:10 left in the game on his first collegiate attempt. He entered the game with 2:55 remaining. He previously had played 24 seconds of one game this season.

"We do some different shooting drills, and he's come up big in some of those shooting drills," Konkol said of the 6-4 Radford. "It was awesome to see. And what is really great to see, was not only the reaction from our fans, but the reaction from his teammates."

Radford's teammates were specifically trying to get Radford the ball. Radford passed up shots before he finally pulled the trigger. McWright was so pumped up that we went down on the next possession and had a highlight reel blocked shot.

Southwestern Oklahoma State (2-8, 2-2 Great American Conference) is two seasons removed from playing in the NCAA Division-II playoffs. The D-II school was led by Jalen Johnson's 14 points. The Bulldogs trailed 46-25 at halftime, and shot only 26.2 percent from the field.

P.J. Haggerty had 21 points to lead Tulsa, and Tyshawn Archie came off the bench to score 17 points. Haggerty was terrific, as he has been for most of the season, going 7 of 10 from the field, and 6 of 8 from the line, to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal in 23 minutes.

Haggerty didn't play after the 14:05 mark in the second half with Tulsa leading 64-31. It wasn't necessary. Time to let some other players get playing time.

"He got us started. He creates opportunities in the paint," Konkol said of Haggerty, who came into the game averaging 16.8 points. "And there are so many different ways that he does it. The way that he can contort his body, the way that he can get downhill. I thought he made some really nice plays. Some layups, some finishes, he got to the line. He just continues to get better and better."

Freshman center Matt Reed had a team high 9 rebounds to go along with 2 points in 12 plus minutes. Against New Mexico State in the previous game, Reed had 8 rebounds in 13 plus minutes to go with 6 points. So that is 17 rebounds in his last 26 minutes.

"Matt, any time you can get, for every 3 minutes played, you can get a rebound, that's pretty solid," Konkol said. "If you're in that 2 range, you're at a really high level. And these last two games, he's rebounded at a really high level."

Senior walk-on Ari Seals, who played some quality minutes last season, scored 2 points in 14 minutes. He had played almost 10 minutes in 4 games this year without scoring.

Next up for the Golden Hurricane is the conference season, where TU hosts Memphis (10-2), at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4.

For McWright, the attitude entering every game is the same.

"Go in with the same mindset. Dominate," he said.