Golden Hurricane loses road game to North Texas
DENTON, Texas — A cold night from the floor hampered any attempt for Tulsa to overcome an early deficit as the Golden Hurricane trailed wire-to-wire in a 63-44 loss to the North Texas Mean Green Eagles at The Super Pit on Wednesday night.
DENTON, Texas — A cold night from the floor hampered any attempt for Tulsa to overcome an early deficit as the Golden Hurricane trailed wire-to-wire in a 63-44 loss to the North Texas Mean Green Eagles at The Super Pit on Wednesday night.
Tulsa (11-16 overall, 5-9 in American Athletic Conference play) snapped a two-game winning streak while North Texas (19-6, 10-3) won its third straight game in its quest to catch the league-leading Memphis Tigers.
North Texas built an early 6-0 lead that increased to more than 10 points just eight minutes into the game. The Mean Green would lead by as many as 16 in the opening stanza and go to the lockers up 11.
A 6-0 run from Tulsa to open the second half got the Hurricane within five. However, two minutes later the lead was back to 11 points at 39-28 for UNT. With a jumper at the at the 8:24 mark, North Texas pushed the lead back above 10 for the final time, taking a 4534 lead.
Never finding a rhythm offensively, Tulsa shot just 33.3 percent from the floor and made only 4-of-23 3-point baskets at a 17.4 percent clip. The Hurricane also turned it over 13 times, leading to 13 UNT points. Tulsa’s 44 points was a season low, and TU’s 19 points in the first half also was the worst for the first half in any game this season.
Jared Garcia was the lone Hurricane in double figures, scoring 14 points. Isaiah Barnes pulled down 10 rebounds but had just four points. Dwon Odom added a team-high five assists with his nine points. Tyshawn Archie and Keaston Willis scored eight and six points, respectively.
The Mean Green shot 41.5 percent from the field and also made four 3s, at a slightly better 20-percent rate. Six of North Texas’ 22 field goals came on dunks, four on lay-ups and an overall 15 were in the lane. UNT also dominated the glass, outrebounding Tulsa 39-27, including 9-2 on the offensive end.
Moulaye Sissoko paced UNT with a game-high 27 points. He was 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) from the field and pulled down 11 rebounds to secure a doubledouble. Atin Wright also scored in double figures with 15 points.
The Golden Hurricane will stay on the road for a 1 p.m. Saturday contest at Rice.
