Tenacious, athletic, clutch and ugly. That pretty much sums up much of Tulsa's season so far, and it aptly describes beating Memphis Sunday afternoon.
As TU has done frequently, it came up with just enough plays to put away Memphis with a 58-57 victory at the Reynolds Center in the first game at TU where limited family members were present this season.
Tulsa (8-4, 5-2 AAC) overcame a 32-26 halftime deficit and led by as many as five points in the second half, the last time coming with just over a minute remaining.
But Memphis (6-5, 2-2) wouldn't go away, and the Golden Hurricane had to come through in the clutch to keep a talented Memphis team from completing a comeback attempt.
With TU leading 58-55, Memphis had the ball with a chance to tie the game. But season leading scorer Landers Nolley, who led the Tigers with 13 points, missed on a three, and DeAndre Williams' put-back cut the margin to one point with three seconds remaining.
But Tulsa had a brilliant inbounds play, where Elijah Joiner inbounded the ball to Brandon Rachal, and Rachal heaved the ball to nobody down the court before he could be fouled, thus running the clock out.
"The key was we got timely stops once the momentum swung our way," said Tulsa coach Frank Haith. "We got timely stops defensively and timely rebounds."
Joiner and Rachal were the keys to the game for the Golden Hurricane. Joiner led all TU players with 14 points (12 in the second half) and five rebounds. His two and-one plays early in the second half got Tulsa going and spurred TU on to recover from the halftime deficit.
Joiner's underhand flip over his head with his back turned to the bucket while falling away from the basket at the 18:33 mark was of highlight reel caliber. Joiner finished 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 6 from the line.
"I needed to be more assertive coming out, more aggressive, even if it wasn't just for me, but for my teammates," Joiner said. "That was something that I told myself, and I know coach Haith wants me to do that.
"I'm glad we were able to make enough plays in the second half to come out with the win."
Rachal's sitting out the final 7:29 over the first half due to picking up his second foul definitely hurt Tulsa's cause. Down 16-15 at the time, Memphis scored eight consecutive points to grab its biggest lead of the game at 24-15.
It was a shame because Rachal picked up the foul on one of the most spectacular dunks you will see. In transition, Rachal dunked over a Memphis defender from the right side from several feet away from the basket, but was called for charging, much to the chagrin of Rachal, who showed he couldn't believe his dunk didn't count.
Rachal came back strong, scoring eight of his 12 points in the second half, and managed to play the last 16 minutes without fouling after picking up his third foul.
Memphis had only played one game since TU's 56-49 win at Memphis on Dec. 21, and hadn't played since Dec. 29. It's last three games had been canceled due to COVID-19 issues with its opponents.
In the meantime, Tulsa had won four of its last five games since defeating Memphis.
Tulsa didn't convert a field goal in the last 4:02 after Keyshawn Embery-Simpson's backdoor layup had increased Tulsa's lead to 54-49. TU scored its last five points on free throws.
The Golden Hurricane were down 49-45 with less than seven minutes remaining until it scored nine consecutive points. Buckets by Rachal, Joiner and Rey Idowu, along with an Idowu free throw, made up those nine points.
Tulsa had beaten Memphis 80-40 in a shockingly easy win last season at the Reynolds Center the last time Memphis had played in Tulsa.
"It was a grinder. I was proud of our guys for hanging in there and finishing it off," Haith said.
