Isaiah Hill adjusted well to coming off the bench. So much so, that he boosted Tulsa to an incredible first half that would be too much for Boise State to overcome.
Hill scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half to lead Tulsa to a 69-56 victory Wednesday night against Boise State in front of 3,367 fans at the Reynolds Center.
Having started the last seven games at point guard as a freshman, Hill has been sharing point guard duties with junior Elijah Joiner. But with Joiner picking up two quick fouls after drawing the start, it was time for Hill to shine.
With steals, drives to the bucket, jumpers and rebounds, Hill did it all. He led a first half effort where Tulsa dominated with a 43-22 halftime lead.
"When we make an adjustment like that in terms of changing our lineups, we're trying to figure out what's best for our team and give our guys the best chance to have success but also for our team to have success," said TU coach Frank Haith of starting Joiner over Hill. "I think it allowed Isaiah to kind of relax a little bit and see the game from that position. He was outstanding in the first half.
"Elijah got in foul trouble and Isaiah came in and didn't miss a beat and made some plays and was solid. I think after starting some games, he was calm in terms of what he needed to do out there."
With Hill playing 16 minutes in the first half and Joiner playing only four, Hill took advantage of his opportunity. His 12 points included five-of-seven from the floor, including one-of-three on three-pointers. It was important for Hill to hit a three-pointer, since he had struggled on three's this season, making only three-of-24 (12.5 percent) coming into the game.
Hill also had four of his five rebounds in the first half, as well as one of his two steals.
"I feel that, no matter what, when I'm on the court I've just got to control the game and find my teammates," said Hill. "Elijah, he set the tone early, so I just followed him. I couldn't take a step back and so we kept pushing and that's when we went on a run and played well.
"Elijah Joiner being a junior and a point guard, he's really helped tremendously. Hat's off to him, and to everybody on the team for having my back."
Darien Jackson also had an outstanding game, especially on defense where he was a shut down defender as well as a catalyst in leading a suffocating defense. Jackson was especially impressed with Hill.
"I've seen a lot of growth in Isaiah in maturity and the way he's becoming a great point guard," said Jackson. "Every game he's growing and growing. I'm really proud of him right now."
Jackson had 12 points and led the team with seven rebounds and three assists. The 6-foot-3 Jackson played a huge role in shutting down Boise State's second leading scorer, Justinian Jessup, who came into the game averaging 17.5 points per game. The 6-7 Jessup was held to just three points on one-of-seven shooting from the field.
"I can't say enough about Darien," Haith said. "He did a heck of a job on Jessup. People talk about Alston, but Jessup is a big-time scorer. He didn't give him any space and Darien took on the challenge of guarding him."
Haith was referring to Derrick Alston, the athletic 6-9 junior from Houston who several NBA scouts came to see Wednesday night. Averaging 21.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game coming into the contest, Alston was just three-of-11 from the field, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The game was important to Jackson, who feels like he hasn't played up to expectations lately after a strong start.
"I've been kind of in a slump the last few games, and our coaches really harped on me about playing my defense and playing how I'm playing, and I really took it to heart and played my defense," Jackson said.
Tulsa (8-2) was clearly better than Boise State (5-4). The Golden Hurricane was quicker, more athletic, and better on defense than the Broncos. Tulsa took advantage of six first half steals that resulted in fast break buckets which demoralized the visitors.
Added to that was Tulsa shooting 56.3 percent from the field in the first half, 50.8 percent for the game, and holding BSU to 25 percent shooting in the first half, 38 percent overall.
Even though the final margin of victory for Tulsa was 13 points, that was not at all indicative of how much Tulsa controlled the game. Boise State did cut the lead once to 12 points midway through the second half, but Tulsa quickly again boosted the lead to 20 points. Tulsa led 69-48 with just over three minutes left.
Hill led a balanced scoring effort with four TU players in double figures. Lawson Korita had 11 (five of six from the field), and Brandon Rachal had 10 points.
Having Korita back was important. He missed the Arkansas State game last Saturday, and the resulting unexpected loss was something Tulsa had to come back from.
"Not having him the other night was tough," Haith said "That was one of those games where, if we execute better down the stretch, we still win the game, even though we didn't play well. Lawson would have helped in that category. We missed not having him out there."
Even though Tulsa looked much better than Boise State, the Broncos of the Mountain West conference came into the game with decent credentials that impressed Haith.
"We beat a really good Boise State team tonight. They beat BYU (8-4), who beat Houston (7-2)," Haith said. "So they are a very talented and capable team."
Tulsa improved to 7-4 in the series against old WAC rival Boise State. The two teams hadn't played since 2005, when future NBA player Coby Karl was starring for the Broncos. Tulsa was 3-4 in its last seven games against BSU.
Next up is a trip to Fayetteville to play Arkansas (8-1) Saturday night in a game which Haith is pointing towards.
"I think our guys are getting better, although we had a hiccup the other night against Arkansas State," Haith said. "A lot of teams in the country have hiccups. It was important for our guys to come out and play well tonight, and we did. We answered the bell, we're 8-2. It's going to be a great opportunity for us on Saturday night."
