The University of Tulsa men's basketball team fell 82-56 to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in front of 9,856 fans in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday evening.
Tulsa drops to 2-4 with the loss, while Oklahoma State improves to the inverse at 4-2.
The Golden Hurricane struggled to get things going on the offensive end, shooting 36.4 percent from the floor. Tulsa was able to create good looks from beyond the arc, but they just weren't falling as TU went 7-30 (33.3 percent) on 3-pointers.
Oklahoma State finished with splits of 48 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range, knocking down nine 3-pointers. The Cowboys also shot 9-14 from the foul line, while Tulsa struggled to get to the charity stripe and went 1-4.
It was a difficult night in the paint for Tulsa as the Cowboys won the battle 44-30. TU also turned it over an uncharacteristic 19 times while Oklahoma State limited itself to 13.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson was the lone Hurricane in double figures, scoring 10 points in 23 minutes of action. Bryant Selebangue recorded eight points with five rebounds, which was tied for the team high with Sterling Gaston-Chapman. Brandon Betson scored nine points on three 3-pointers, and he was the team's lead facilitator, dishing out five assists.
Both teams started sluggish out of the gate, as Tulsa scored six points in the opening 4:46 of the game but held the Cowboy scoreless until a 3-pointer at the 14:29 mark. The Hurricane also turned it over four times in that stretch to the Cowboys' two.
Tim Dalger got the scoring started with a massive dunk, part of his five points in the opening period. A jumper from Griffin and layup from Keyshawn Embery-Simpson gavem Tulsa the early advantage.
After the Cowboy three, freshman Charles Chukwu got in the scoring column for the first time in his young career. He pulled down a defensive board and hustled down the court to finish at the other end. He ended the night with six points and four rebounds.
Oklahoma State went on a 6-0 run to take the lead before a handful of lead changes and ties. The Cowboys took the lead for good with a 3-pointer to make it 19-16 at the 8:17 mark, kickstarting a 16-2 run that put the Cowboys up 32-18 with 4:05 remaining in the opening half.
Tulsa would knock down a pair of triples on either end of an OSU three and an Embery-Simpson 3-pointer brought the lead down to 10, 39-29 with 1:19 left. OSU converted a layup with 26 seconds to play to end the scoring in the first half.
OSU started the second half with a 10-0 run to push the lead to 22 before Selebangue scored back-to-back layups to make the score 51-33. The teams traded buckets, but Tulsa would get no closer as the Cowboys went on a 23-2 run over the next 7:48 to blow the game open, taking its largest lead of the night, 76-37.
The Hurricane would outscore Oklahoma State 19-6 over the final 8:49 of the ballgame, cutting the lead to its final tally of 26.
One of Tulsa's bright spots in the second half was the play of freshman Jesaiah McWright. The guard played all 12 of his minutes in the second half and scored his first career points, recorded three steals, pulled down three rebounds and dished out an assist.
The Golden Hurricane will finally return home to the Donald W. Reynolds Center when Tulsa hosts ORU in the next iteration of the Mayor's Cup on Saturday, Dec. 3. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+ and Big Country 99.5 FM.
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