The first half was looking like something out of a Halloween horror show. But never fear. Brandon Rachal, Martins Igbanu and Darien Jackson were here.

Rachal, Igbanu and Jackson scored 16, 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Tulsa to a 76-56 victory over Rockhurst in its exhibition game opener in front of a crowd of 2,810 on Halloween Thursday night at the Reynolds Center. The three combined to shoot 19 of 26 from the field (73 percent).

“Obviously, in the second half, we played with much better intensity defensively. Our execution was much better,” said Tulsa coach Frank Haith. “It was almost like we were so excited about playing, and shots weren’t falling, we weren’t rebounding the ball, but that’s a maturity thing.”

On a night where TU kids were trick or treating before the game at the Reynolds Center, Tulsa was looking like its bag of treats were stolen in a first half where it trailed 30-27 to D-II Rockhurst at halftime. After a 8-2 start in a little over two minutes, the Golden Hurricane got outscored 28-19 the rest of the half.

But when Jackson was inserted into the starting lineup in the second half, Tulsa got going. Tulsa was able to take a 31-30 lead early in the half, but didn’t go ahead for good until Jeriah Horne’s three-pointer with 14:40 left put Tulsa up 40-37.

Tulsa started to pull away in the final 10 minutes, and had a double-digit lead for the last five-plus minutes.

Some things are clear after the exhibition game. For starters, Tulsa’s nine-man rotation appears to be set. With only 10 scholarship players eligible, and with freshman Josh Early playing only very late in the game, Tulsa fans shouldn’t have to worry about playing too many people early in the season.

The starting lineup was Igbanu, Rachal, Lawson Korita, Reggie Jones and Elijah Joiner. Off the bench was Jeriah Horne, Isaiah Hill, Darien Jackson and Manny Ugboh.

Rachal established himself early, and showed that clearly he should be as good as advertised. The 6-6 juco transfer played significant minutes for LSU as a freshman and was a four-star recruit out of high school.

Leading the team with 16 points and seven rebounds, and adding three assists and a block in 26 minutes, Rachal is clearly an athletic player who belongs playing against anyone on the nation.

“I think he’s a guy who can do it all,” Haith said of Rachal, who made eight of 12 shots from the field. “Now, we’re gonna need some other guys rebounding the ball, too. Brandon obviously is what we’ve seen in practice, and we’re excited about him.”

Tulsa out-rebounded Rockhurst 35-27 overall after being beat on the boards 17-16 at half. The Golden Hurricane outscored Rockhurt 49-26 in the second half.

Another newcomer who will see significant minutes is point guard Isaiah Hill. Playing alongside starting point guard Joiner a few minutes, Hill played 22 minutes and had four assists versus three turnovers, and finished with five points and a steal. He missed all three of his three-point attempts, but made a mid-range jumper.

“He knows how to get to the paint. He had a couple of drive and kicks that led to other guys getting assists,” Haith said of Hill. “He’s got to get better defensively. I think he will. That is typical of most freshmen. We’re excited about Isaiah’s productivity as the season progresses.”

As the backup point guard, Hill will obviously get playing time. It is clear from watching Hill play that he is going to be good. Tulsa fans have every reason to be excited about Hill.

As for surprises, it was somewhat surprising Horne didn’t start. But since Horne was so effective as Tulsa’s second leading scorer last season coming off the bench, Haith looks like he will use Horne again that way to give Tulsa a lift. After no scoring in the first half, Horne finished with seven points and five rebounds.

It will be interesting to see if Jackson or Jones gets more playing time. Those two could battle for minutes, since Korita is going to get his playing time.

The fact that Jackson hit a three-pointer on his only attempt in the second half should be encouraging, since he was 0 for 10 last season from beyond the arc. The 6-2 junior was a valuable contributor last season on defense and driving to the basket.

“He’s shooting over 40 percent from three in practice,” Haith said of Jackson, who was five of seven from the field. “I think Darien, people will have to defend him out there. But he’s such a good driver.

“What he brings is energy. On the defensive end, he plays with great tenacity. He came off the bench and gave us a spark. We started him the second half because I wanted him to continue it, and he did. That’s what he will do for us all year."

Jones, a 6-7 wing player, didn’t shoot well and played only 14 minutes. He looked a little rusty after sitting out a year after transferring from Western Michigan, where he averaged around 10 points in the two seasons and was noted for his three-point shooting.

One thing Jones brings is athleticism, which is a theme that Haith has stressed that this TU team has improved on from last season.

“We can do more things, defensively. I think our length is important,” Haith said. “You saw Reggie get two tips dunks. I just told Reggie, you haven’t played in a year, so he was slow getting going. I thought there in the second half he came off the bench and gave us some stuff. Athletically, length-wise, we’re a lot more athletic then we were in the past."

Igbanu was old reliable, making six of seven field goals. He was tough inside, not forcing attempts while being consistently double-teamed.

“I thought as we started to establish Martins, and got paint touches, we were much better obviously there once we got him the ball,” Haith said. “They doubled him and we got a couple of turnovers, but we will clean that up. I thought that was a key as we started to play inside out.”

Ugboh made his much-anticipated debut. The 7-foot post player will get playing time this year, although it may be about five to 10 minutes a game playing behind follow Nigerian countryman Igbanu.

He looked solid in his nine minutes on the court, and definitely has a presence. Ugboh scored two points on a dunk on one of two shooting, and had three rebounds and two blocked shots with no turnovers while showing good passing skills.

The biggest question mark that remains is three-point shooting. How effective can Tulsa be shooting the ball. Horne, Joiner and Korita are returning players who can shoot the three. Jones certainly has the credentials to do so. Hill should be able to make some as well.

But the change in the three-point line from 20 feet, 9 inches, to the international distance of 22 feet, 1 and 3/4ths inches, should be interesting.

Tulsa was 0 for 9 in the first half behind the arc, while Rockhurst was 0 for 12. Tulsa was better in the second half, making four of nine three-pointers in the half.

Tulsa will gets its first real test when it opens the season at home at noon Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Houston Baptist.