Tulsa puts away Mississippi Valley State
Brandon Betson and Anthony Pritchard bailed Tulsa out of a potentially dicey situation.
With Tulsa struggling with a small lead, Betson and Pritchard got hot, combining to score 22 points in the second half as Tulsa defeated Mississippi Valley State 66-51 Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 3,004 at the Reynolds Center.
Betson had 15 points overall, 12 in the second half, while Pritchard had 10 in the second half, 13 overall. Betson was 5 of 8 on three-pointers, and Pritchard was 6 of 8 from the field, including making his only three-point attempt.
Tulsa (4-6) was leading just 38-35 when Pritchard scored 3 consecutive buckets where he backed in MVSU defenders for close-in buckets.
"I thought there was a moment in the second half where A.P. took it upon himself to get close to the basket," Tulsa coach Eric Konkol said about Pritchard. "There were a couple of what we call Barkleys, where he dribbles it, and turns his body, and keeps angling and pressing for position and he got right to the goal."
Those "Barkleys" are named after what the famous Charles Barkley used to do down in the low post, moving out defenders.
Pritchard undoubtedly would have had more points if he didn't pick up his third foul with 12:18 remaining, causing the 6-foot-3 point guard to go to the bench. He ended up fouling out late in the game.
Not long after Pritchard exited with three fouls, Betson hit 3 three-pointers in three minutes -- two where he just beat the shot clock with highly contested, off-balance shots.
"Coach Konkol instills a lot of confidence in me to make those types of shots, and that makes me more confident," Betson said.
Konkol realized what an important role Betson played in the second half.
"Brandon got loose," Konkol said. "I know he was frustrated early. Missed some shots that he expects to make. But then in the second half he got going."
The result of Pritchard and Betson's efforts was TU extended a 3-point lead with just under 14 minutes left to a 17-point, 55-38 margin 5 minutes later at the 9-minute mark.
And that is not to mention the good defense TU was playing during that stretch.
Besides Pritchard and Betson, Konkol was quick to give credit to sophomore guard Sterling Gaston-Chapman and freshman guard B.B. Knight.
"I thought Sterling Gaston-Chapman came in and gave us a spark," Konkol said. "Just his energy level. When he was on the floor, there was an energy lift to us."
Gaston-Chapman had 7 points and 6 rebounds, with an assist and a steal in just over 19 minutes of action. And like Betson, his plus/minus ratio was plus 20.
Knight played just over 8 minutes, but made an impact in Konkol's eyes.
"B.B. Knight took three charges for us," Konkol said. "Something that we've been just trying to get, to get that type of sacrifice."
For Mississippi Valley State (1-11), it has been a tough start to the season, losing all its games on the road, with its only win coming in its only home game against Northern Alabama.
The Delta Devils played a tough zone early, forcing TU into a rough first half, offensively, where the Golden Hurricane only led 29-25 at halftime.
Quite honestly, the first half wasn't good at all for Tulsa.
"It wasn't a pretty one," Konkol said. "Wasn't happy with the energy, the effort, the intensity for a good bit of the game.
"A pretty sloppy game."
But even with the sloppiness, Betson and Pritchard's play was able to elevate the Golden Hurricane.
Tulsa's next game is at Loyola Marymount (CA) on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 9 p.m. (CST).