If Tulsa can shoot like it did against East Carolina for the rest of the season, the Golden Hurricane might surprise some people in Memphis next week and the week after in the AAC Tourney.
Curran Scott, Martins Igbanu and Jeriah Horne were scorching the nets Sunday afternoon for a combined 59 points in an entertaining, yet non-suspenseful 91-79 Tulsa victory in front of 3,507 fans on Senior Day at the Reynolds Center.
Scott got Tulsa going with 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, while Igbanu and Horne scored 19 and 17 points, respectively. Combined, they made 23 of 31 (74.2 percent) from the field, and eight of 12 (66.7 percent) on three-pointers.
“You look at Martins and Curran, I think they are in a pretty good groove right now, offensively,” said TU coach Frank Haith. “And it was great to see Jeriah shoot the ball well.”
Tulsa (18-12, 8-9 AAC) was 32 of 54 from the field (59.3 percent), 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) on three-pointers, and also outrebounded the Pirates 37-30. TU worked the ball around well with 20 assists.
For Scott, it helps being able to practice the past week after missing practice for a few weeks due to a foot injury that had him walking around in a boot. His return to practice has shown in his last two games, where he has averaged 21 points while making 15 of 22 shots from the field (68.1 percent), including seven of 12 (58.3 percent) on three-pointers.
In conference play, Scott is shooting 49.1 percent (30 of 61) from behind the arc, and is averaging 10 points.
“I felt something kind of pop in there,” Scott said of his injury. “I don’t really exactly know what it was, but it’s feeling a lot better right now.”
Igbanu has been unbelievable from the field as well, making 14 of 16 shots (87.5 percent) in the last two games while scoring 19 in each game.
For Horne, he has come off the bench and scored well for most of the season, but has struggled lately as defenses have become more aware of his ability. But against ECU, Horne lit it up, making five of seven (71.4 percent) from beyond the arc.
Quite simply, Tulsa is a different team when Horne, who is averaging 11.5 points in conference play, shoots the ball well.
For Tulsa’s two scholarship seniors, DaQuan Jeffries and Sterling Taplin, it wasn’t either of their best games, statistically, with nine and three points, respectively. But it was an emotional game where the fans showed their appreciation for all the outstanding moments in their careers.
Three-year walk-on and fellow senior Alex Foree got his only starting assignment of his career, and first-year senior walk-on Lindsay Deline also got into the game at the end.
It was an emotional game for Scott because of his appreciation for all of the seniors. Especially so with Jeffries from their days as high school teammates.
“Tap, his locker is right by mine, and he was one of the first guys I talked to when I first got here,” Scott said of Taplin. “He definitely showed me the ropes. I learned a lot from Tap. He knows our offense backwards and forwards. I could always lean on him when I was confused or anything like that. Tap’s meant a lot to me.
“Quan, obviously going back to high school and AAU days, I don’t even know what to say. I’m going to miss him tremendously. And even Alex -- Alex and me room together on the road. I feel like this group of seniors, I have a special connection with all of them, and Lindsay as well. I’m going to miss them.
“Like Alex said on the court (to the fans after the game), we’re not done playing, we still have games to play, so we just want to gain momentum, keep it, and play well down the stretch.”
East Carolina (10-18, 3-13) is a good matchup for Tulsa since it isn’t a very good three-point shooting team, and isn’t a good rebounding team (minus 8.4 in conference play as opposed to Tulsa’s minus 4.4 margin).
The biggest challenge was defending three-point sharpshooter Shawn Williams, who had hit eight of 14 two weeks ago for 26 points in Tulsa 77-73 overtime victory at East Carolina. He had been the only player for the Pirates to make a three-pointer in that game.
Williams was on this Sunday afternoon, but not as much so, making five of 11 behind the arc and finishing with 18 points. Isaac Fleming almost had a triple double from his point guard position with 20 points, 10 of his team’s 14 assists, and nine rebounds. His slashing to the basket was hard to contain.
But in the end, Tulsa’s shooting, combined with an advantage on the boards, was too much for the outmatched Pirates.
Haith likes the way his team is playing as they head into the final stretch of the season in Memphis. Especially since TU is much healthier with all of its players back after being banged up and missing players before the last two games.
“I think guys are more confident,” Haith said. “I think at one point our guys lacked a little confidence.”
Tulsa plays Memphis on Saturday night on March 9 before returning to Memphis for the AAC Tournament on Thursday the 14th.
