Tulsa Standard

SMU had one of its best 3-point shooting performances of the season as the University of Tulsa dropped its conference road opener 92-67 in front of 3,385 fans in Moody Coliseum on New Year's Day.
 
Tulsa fell to 4-9, 0-2 in The American with the loss, while SMU improved to 6-8 and 1-0 in league play.
 
The Golden Hurricane entered Sunday's game with a top-10 3-point defense nationally, but the Mustangs weren't deterred as they hit 14 triples and shot 54 percent from deep. SMU had made double-digit threes just one time this season, its game against Jackson State on Dec. 3. Tulsa shot 6-of-20 (30 percent) on 3-pointers in the loss.
 
Bryant Selebangue set a new career high with 21 points in the contest. He added nine rebounds, falling just shy of another double-double. Sam Griffin led the way for Tulsa with 22 points and connected on four 3-pointers. Anthony Pritchard scored nine, dished out five assists and recorded six steals.
 
As a team, Tulsa shot 42 percent from the floor, but SMU hit 58 percent of its field goals. The teams were even in many categories as Tulsa only had one more turnover and SMU held just a 34-30 advantage on points in the paint. The main difference came from 3-point range as the eight extra triples made up most of the deficit.
 
It was the Hurricane who came out hot from deep as Griffin connected on his first two three-point attempts to give Tulsa a 6-0 lead out of the gate. Tulsa held the lead until a pair of free throws tied the game at 10 with 15:37 to play in the opening half.
 
The two teams traded leads throughout the remainder of the half with no team holding a larger lead than four until less than a minute remaining. Selebangue put back a rebound to tie the game at 36 with 1:34 in the half. From there, SMU closed on a 7-0 run to take a 43-36 lead into the lockers.
 
Selebangue paced Tulsa with 11 points in the opening half while Griffin added 10. Pritchard led the defensive effort with five steals.
 
The Mustangs shot 50 percent from the field and 53.3 percent on 3-pointers, knocking down 8-of-15 in the opening 20 minutes. Tulsa didn't shoot poorly, hitting 41.4 percent of its shots, but only three 3-pointers.
 
SMU came out aggressive to start the second half, extending its lead to 10 with a 3-pointer. After trading buckets, the Mustangs went on a 16-1 run over nearly a five-minute span to push its lead to a 25, 70-45, at the 10:59 mark.
 
Despite the deficit, The Hurricane never stopped battling. Griffin went on an 8-1 run of his own with a free throw and back-to-back triples, including a four-point play, to cut the lead to 71-53.
 
However, each time Tulsa threatened a run, the Mustangs answered back. After Tulsa cut the lead to 16, SMU responded with a jumper and two three-pointers, pushing the advantage back to 24 and eventually a game-high 27 before BB Knight's layup to end the game. 

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