Tulsa puts away Manhattan, 80-66

With Junior Etou dominating inside and Corey Henderson throwing in bombs in the first half, Tulsa got out to an 18-point lead by halftime and never looked back.

Etou scored 14 of his game-high 24 points, and Henderson scored all 13 of his points in the first half to lead Tulsa to a comfortable 80-66 win over an aggressive Manhattan team Saturday night in front of 3,382 fans at the Reynolds Center.

Scoring Tulsa’s first six points of the game, Etou looked unstoppable, hitting nine of 12 shots (75 percent) from the field - all two pointers, while not needing to show off his impressive three-point shooting skills where he is hitting 48 percent this season. Etou came into the game averaging 17.5 points and shooting 55.3 percent from the field.

“Definitely, that’s how I feel every time I touch the ball,” said the 6-foot-7 Etou of his growing confidence in his ability to score, displaying remarkable spin moves to both sides around his defenders.

"Junior is just a live body. Obviously he looks more athletic than he looked last year, with a couple of those blocks he had tonight, and just being assertive. His stat line is really good,” said TU coach Frank Haith of Etou, who added two blocks, a steal, four rebounds, and hit six of eight free throws.

Henderson’s long range bombs, mostly well beyond the arc, gave the Golden Hurricane tremendous momentum. He made four of six shots, all three-pointers, in the first half. With a big lead in the second half, Henderson pulled back the reigns, taking only two shots, as TU worked the ball around more with the purpose of milking the clock a little and not letting the Jaspers back in the game.

Tulsa (7-4) shot a sizzling 65.2 percent in the first half from the field (15 of 23), 44 percent in the second half, finishing at 54.2 percent for the game. TU has won five of its last six game, including its last three contests.

Manhattan (4-6), which actually is not in Manhattan any longer, having moved to the Bronx in 1922 (one year before the New York Yankees moved there from Manhattan), plays a full-court pressing style of defense.

The Golden Hurricane was able to handle that defense well with only 12 turnovers compared with 15 assists. The Jaspers only got four steals all game.

“That is the key. Our ability to not turn the ball over and get good shots,” Haith said of beating the Jaspers’ press. “I thought we executed very well. We thought we could attack the middle of their zone. We got it there a lot and were able to make some plays and make some good decisions.”

A statement dunk by Etou came early in the game when Manhattan was showing its tough press. Point guard Sterling Taplin broke the press, passing from around midcourt to a wide open Etou near the left baseline. Etou then forcefully dunked over a Manhattan defender, making the score 18-13 almost midway through the first half.

Taplin made some spectacular driving buckets, making five of seven shots and finishing with 12 points. He had six assists but also had six turnovers, to go with two steals and five rebounds.

Leading Tulsa in rebounds was Geno Artison, who had seven boards and three points in 23 minutes coming off the bench. He came into the game averaging 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 points.

“It was good to see Geno go in there and get seven boards,” Haith said of Artison leading th Golden Hurricane’s effort that out-rebounded the Jaspers 35-29.

Also encouraging was Curran Scott seeming to come out of his shell. Although averaging 7.8 points per game, Scott had combined to score only eight points in the last three games, including zero in nine minutes against Prairie View A&M on Thursday night in a game where he struggled in all areas.

Scott finished with eight points, including six of seven from the free throw line, and added three rebounds in 16 minutes.

“We need him playing better, playing well. I visited with Curran last night on the phone. I think he’s just got to keep plugging away with it,” Haith said. “He’s a good player. It’s just about getting his confidence right.

“He’s a guy who plays better when he’s got his confidence going. We challenged Curran to be good on the defensive end. That’s going to help him play better on offense if he’s able to do what he needs to do on that end of the court.

“It was good to get some good minutes out of Curran tonight.”

Tulsa led by as many as 20 points at 50-30 after leading 46-28 at halftime, but had the lead slip to 11 points at 58-47 and 66-55, respectively. That is when Lawson Korita and Scott stepped up and kept the game from turning into what happened Thursday night when a 17-point second half lead shrunk to a point in the final minute against Prairie View.

Korita hit his only shot of the game, a three-pointer from the right corner with 11:34 remaining, and Scott hit a driving pull-up jumper in the lane with 6:25 left, and Tulsa could breathe easier.

“Lawson Korita hit that three in the corner when they had cut it to 11, which was a big three,” Haith said of Korita, whose three-pointer was the only shot he took in five minutes of play.

Freshman Darien Jackson got his first career start, finishing with two points in six minutes - all in the first half.

Tulsa's next game is its final non-conference game of the season, when the Hurricane plays OSU in Stillwater on Tuesday night. Haith thought playing Manhattan may have helped the Golden Hurricane prepare for the Pokes.

“It’s good we played a pressing team because that’s what they’re going to do,” Haith said of Manhattan and OSU. “They’re going to ramp up the pressure against us, and we’re going to have to take care of the ball, just like we did tonight.”