It is becoming more and more apparent that Anthony Pritchard's development is extremely important to Tulsa's success.

Pritchard started at point guard and had an outstanding performance in leading Tulsa to a 77-63 victory over Little Rock Friday night in front of 2,687 fans at the Reynolds Center.

Besides leading Tulsa (4-2) with a plus/minus ratio of plus 18 in his 23:48 minutes played, it was two steals and assists Pritchard had early in the second half that got Tulsa the lead for good, and is what set the Golden Hurricane on fire.

Those two Pritchard steals that resulted in fast break points within 16 seconds of each other transformed Tulsa from a 43-41 deficit to a 45-42 lead with 17:59 left in the second half. And those points got TU on a 18-3 run that put Tulsa up 59-46, effectively blowing out the Trojans.

Pritchard turned his first second half steal into a dunk for Tim Dalger that tied the game. Then Pritchard was opportunistic after pressure from Dalger resulted in a steal and a dish to Sam Griffin for an easy layup.

Although Pritchard scored only 4 points, the freshman from Webster High School tied for the team lead with 8 rebounds, had 6 assists and only one turnover, along with 3 steals.

TU coach Frank Haith was raving about Pritchard after the game.

"He played a great floor game," Haith said. "I've been challenging our guards to rebound, and he (Pritchard) had eight rebounds tonight.

"You talk about a guy who was a natural scorer in high school, so he (Pritchard) wants to score. But I told him, I don't have any problems with you scoring, but you, right now, you've got to be a guy that can help us set up guys like Jeriah (Horne), like Sam, like Rey (Idowu). You've got to get those guys shots.

"He's learning. And he's got a burst to get by people."

Horne and Griffin played their usual strong games as Tulsa's two leading scorers for the season. Averaging 17.4 and 18 points, respectively, coming into the game, Horne led TU with 17 points and 8 rebounds (3 of 7 on three-pointers, 7 of 13 on FG's), while Griffin had 14 points (6 of 12 FG's, 1 of 4 on three's).

Idowu's 16 points (8 of 11 from the field) and 6 rebounds in 28:18 minutes were huge, giving Tulsa an inside game that Little Rock (4-3) couldn't handle. He was averaging 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in his first five games.

"It was great to see Rey have a great game because we need his post presence," Haith said.

As for Griffin, Little Rock has to be tired of seeing him since it was the fifth time the Trojans have faced Griffin in a little over a year. Griffin averaged 17 points (13 of 28 on three's) last season in four games for UT-Arlington against Little Rock in Sun Belt conference games where UT-Arlington went 1-3 against Little Rock.

Coming off an 11-15 season in 2020-2021, Little Rock had a hot first half, shooting 54.8 percent from the floor in getting out to a 42-38 halftime lead. But Tulsa clamped down on defense in the second half, allowing only 23.8 percent shooting in the half.

Meanwhile, TU shot 55.2 percent for the game, and outrebounded Little Rock 34-26. Tulsa also won in assists margin 20-11 and turnover margin 16-12.

"It was all about our defense in the second half. I thought we played with great intensity," Haith said. "At halftime we showed them some things, and we made some minor adjustments, but basically, it was just effort.

"Obviously, our zone was really, really good in the second half. And we played Tulsa defense. And we've got to build on that, because we have not done that yet."

Defensive stalwart Darien Jackson was active on offense as well, coming off the bench to score 12 points. Dalger scored 9 points and had 5 rebounds as a starter.

Also encouraging was LaDavius Draine scored his first points as a Golden Hurricane. The transfer from Southern Miss is a heralded three-point shooter, being second on the career list of made three-pointers at his former school. But he has struggled in limited time this season.

Draine hit his only shot, a three-pointer that tied the game at 36-36 late in the first half, playing 10 minutes.

Tulsa's next game is Monday night against crosstown rival and last year's Sweet 16 finisher ORU for the Mayor's Cup.