[December 10, 2006]

TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa took care of business early this year, handing Southern Arkansas University an 88-56 loss on Sunday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Last year the Muleriders gave the Division I Golden Hurricane all it could handle, before falling 56-51. UT improves to 7-1 on the season, while SAU drops to 3-5.

Tulsa got a career-high 27 points out of Darold Crow to lead all scorers. Crow was 12 of 14 from the field, including hitting three of four three-pointers. He also pulled down five rebounds, blocked a game-high three shots, and dished out two assists, all in only 20 minutes of play. About the only thing Crow did wrong was to miss two free throws.

The Golden Hurricane never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 3-0 lead on a trey by Rod Earls, before the Muleriders tied it up with a three of their own by Brandon Williams. UT then scored the next 10 points, leading 13-3 at the 14:46 mark on a dunk by Jamel McLean. Tulsa concluded a 23-5 run on a jumper by Calvin Walls, giving them their biggest lead of the first half at 26-8 with nine minutes left.

Williams hit another three at 8:13, however, prompting SAU to a 20-13 run to end the half, and Southern Arkansas trailed only 39-28.

Even though the Golden Hurricane quickly built its lead back to 16 at 44-28 with 19:17 left in the game, the Muleriders didn’t fold and went on a 14-7 run to pull within nine at 51-42 when Cory Green was fouled on a lay-up and got the free throw also. After a jumper by UT’s Ben Uzoh, Green hit a jumper of his own at 15:20 cutting the deficit back to nine, 53-44, but that was as close as SAU would get. Tulsa used a 35-12 run to close out the game, giving them their largest margin of the game with the final score, 88-56.

Other than Crow, the Golden Hurricane got 11 points each from Earls and Sam Mitchell, with Mitchell also grabbing six boards. Mark Hill dished out five assists, and McLean had two steals. UT had five different players pick up blocked shots, led by Crow’s three, and finished with nine total for the game.

Green had 14 points to lead Southern Arkansas. He was five of 10 from the field, including three of six on three’s, and hit his only free throw attempt. Williams finished with 11 points, and Reggie Tims came off the bench to spark the Muleriders with 10 points. Senior Leon Stone scored only four points, but pulled down six rebounds, as did Green. Williams, Green, Caleb Winters, and Brandon Bealer all had three assists each.

Tulsa hit a season-high 60.3 percent from the field on 35 of 58 shooting, including seven of 16 from the arc for 43.8 percent. The Golden Hurricane hit 11 of 17 free throws to finish at 64.7 percent from the charity stripe.

SAU was a hot 10 of 21 on three-pointers for 47.6 percent, but hit only 11 of 35 two’s (31.4 percent) to finish at 37.5 percent (21-56) for the game. UT was flagged with just seven fouls the whole game resulting in only six Southern Arkansas free throw attempts, hitting four for 66.7 percent.

Tulsa grabbed 38 rebounds to the Muleriders’ 24, and had eight turnovers, forcing 11 by their visitors. Inside is where the Golden Hurricane hurt SAU the most. Other than the nine blocked shots, they outscored Southern Arkansas, 42-18, in the middle. UT also got 52 points from its bench, while the Muleriders managed just 27 from its reserves.

SAU is idle for eight days for final semester tests before hosting Central Baptist College on December 19. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on that Tuesday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

#SAU#