TU basketball: Etou leads Hurricane to win over Tulane in AAC Tournament


by Tulsa World Sports Writer Kelly Hines
@kellyhinestw
/kellyhinestw

Posted: Thursday March 9, 2017 8:12 pm

HARTFORD, Conn. — The aggressive version of Junior Etou emerged at precisely the right time.

The University of Tulsa’s top scorer and rebounder delivered a critical sequence late in Thursday’s 66-60 win against Tulane in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

With his team clinging to a narrow lead, Etou took a pass on the perimeter and decisively attacked the rim, softly laying in a basket. On the other end, he stood tall in the lane and took a charge.

“He’s our guy,” coach Frank Haith said. “When the game’s on the line and we need big plays, we want him to step up and make those kind of plays. … Those two bang-bang plays were really big for us.”

Seventh-seeded Tulsa, which advanced to play No. 2 seed Cincinnati at 6 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals, displayed a much-improved effort that was absent at Tulane five days earlier in the regular-season finale.

Particularly on the defensive end, the Hurricane (15-16) played significantly better than it did in Sunday’s loss, allowing six fewer 3-pointers and a decrease of 18.3 percent on field goals.

“I think we wrapped up our defense today,” forward TK Edogi said. “We were really disappointed we lost to them and just knew we wanted to get them back today.”

In front of a mostly neutral XL Center crowd watching teams from more than 1,400 miles away, Tulsa jumped out to an early nine-point advantage before becoming ice-cold from the field. The Hurricane missed 18 of its last 19 shots before halftime and was held without a field goal for more than 12 minutes.

Despite the shooting struggles, Tulsa maintained slim margins and extended its cushion with six consecutive makes early in the second half to take a 34-27 lead. Pat Birt started to heat up, connecting on three attempts in a row before getting into foul trouble.

“We had a lot better movement,” Birt said. “Last game I noticed we were a little stagnant. It was hard to be aggressive on drives. Defense was staying (put). Today it opened up the gap for everyone and opened up the offense for us as well.”

With Birt on the bench with four fouls, the Hurricane couldn’t provide enough separation from Tulane (6-25) and trailed for the first time on a 3-pointer from Malik Morgan midway through the second half.

A technical on Green Wave coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. resulted in an 8-1 run for Tulsa, but Tulane got within four before Etou’s back-to-back plays with three minutes left. The Hurricane’s defense didn’t allow a field goal the rest of the way.

“There have been times all year where we had good possessions, and then when adversity hits, we’ve let up on the defensive end,” Haith said. “I don’t think that happened. Maybe a couple possessions we lost some principle things, but I thought our effort was good throughout the ball game.”

After avenging its most recent defeat, Tulsa plays a Cincinnati team that prevailed in both meetings this season, including a comeback win Feb. 1 at the Reynolds Center that launched a six-game spiral.

“They play with great intensity,” Haith said. “We have to have the same kind of intensity that we had tonight tomorrow night against a very talented team.”

Kelly Hines

918-581-8452

[i]kelly.hines@tulsaworld.com[/i]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/tu...1cb6d.html

I like the reporter's little jibe about the crowd, "...watching teams from 1,400 miles away". Had UCONN had anything near their usual regular season performance (they were ranked preseason) their games would have filled 16,000 seats. But the bigger issue remains with conferences that are so widely disbursed geographically. Just where do you go? Some have suggested the first round or two for higher seeds in their own arenas. That's not always possible because of potential scheduling conflicts at venues like FedEx in Memphis.

To me, New Orleans would be the best natural draw for the AAC. It's a destination city--put it there and keep it there for the next several years for consistency. Most love to visit NOLA and would plan other activities around the tournament games. Weather would be nice and students could bus in. The American is still struggling to build a brand identity. Since that's a home city for a conference member why not plant the flag there and try building a little tradition. Beats the heck out of Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit or Hartford in early March.

Tulane loses to Tulsa in the AAC tournament's first round, 66-60

Posted on March 9, 2017 at 7:55 PM

By NOLA.com

Seeded 10th, Tulane's season came to an end in a 66-60 defeat to seventh-seeded Tulsa in the first round of the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday evening at the XL Center.

Cameron Reynolds led four Tulane (6-25, 3-15 AAC) players in double figures with a game-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds and a career-high three blocks, as Melvin Frazier added 13 points and Malik Morgan scored 10 points. Blake Paul contributed 11 points and seven boards off the bench while going 9-for-10 at the free throw line.

Pat Birt led Tulsa (15-16, 8-10 AAC) with 15 points, while Corey Henderson chipped in 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Sterlin Taplin added 10 points four assists and two steals.

Tulane owned a 19-11 advantage in points off turnovers and a 13-7 edge on second chances, but was outscored, 25-15, off the bench.

The Golden Hurricane made five of its first seven shots from the floor and opened up an early 13-4 lead following a Taplin layup at the 15:05 mark. A Green Wave free throw, followed by a Reynolds 3-pointer inside the subsequent 90 seconds of action, cut the deficit to five points. Tulsa would stretch its lead back to nine points, but a five-straight points by Morgan kept Tulane within four, 17-13, with under nine minutes left in the opening half.

Both teams were able to lock in at their respective defensive ends of the floor, but their shooting percentages suffered as a result. The Wave held Tulsa without a field goal for the final 12:27 of the half, but trailed, 26-23, at halftime.

Tulane shot 9-for-27 (.333) overall, 3-for-11 (.273) beyond the arc and 2-for-3 (.667) at the free throw line, while the Golden Hurricane shot 6-for-26 (.231) from the field, 1-for-11 (.091) from three and 13-for-14 (.929) at the foul stripe while owning a 23-15 advantage on the glass.

After cutting the deficit to just one on a Reynolds jumper, Tulsa broke a 14-and-one-half minute drought without a basket when it went on a 6-0 scoring run capped by a Birt 3-pointer to create a 34-27 lead with 16:47 remaining. Four straight points by Frazier brought the Green Wave within three, 42-39, with 12:22 to go.

A 3-pointer by Henderson put the Golden Hurricane ahead by six on its next possession, but Tulane punched back with a 7-0 run that began with a Blake Paul layup and ended with a Morgan trey at the 9:15 mark to give the Olive and Blue its first lead of the game.

Henderson sunk another 3-ball to push Tulsa's lead to seven, 57-50, before the lead grew to as large as nine, 60-51, with 5:09 on the game clock, before the Green Wave made several defensive stops and scored five-straight points, ending with Reynolds' third 3-pointer, to cut the margin to four, 60-56, with 3:26 to go.

A pair of Reynolds free throws with 1:17 left kept the deficit at four, 64-60, but Tulane would not draw any closer before dropping the six-point decision.

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/201...iver_index