Tulsa basketball recap: No. 11 Memphis victorious over Tulsa, 72-59

CUSA Fans Tulsa Correspondent Taylor Burke recaps the basketball game between the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the Memphis Tigers.

There was not much drama in this game and thus, there is little to be discussed.

Tulsa took a 3-0 lead on a Ben Uzoh three-pointer on its first offensive possession. That was TU’s last lead of the night. No. 11 Memphis (16-3, 6-0) led nearly wire to wire and handed the Golden Hurricane a 72-59 loss at the FedExForum on Wednesday night.

Memphis scored 42 points in the paint, dominating TU’s young post players. Joey Dorsey led the way with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik remarked before the game that Dorsey might have a better career in the NFL and that showed. Tulsa’s lack of production inside kept the game out of reach for the guard-heavy Tulsa lineup.

Robert Dozier had 12 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks for the Tigers.

Tulsa was led by sophomore guard Ray Reese with 17 points. Ben Uzoh had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa played without starting point guard Brett McDade and Memphis went without leading scorer Chris Douglas-Roberts.

What went right:

The young players showed some fight. Uzoh’s double-digit rebound performance was impressive. Reese convinced many that he deserves more playing time. Early in the first half, TU had four players on the court who did not play Division I basketball last year (Uzoh, Rod Earls, Mark Hill, and Calvin Walls). The fifth player in that group, Sam Mitchell, is only a sophomore.

Memphis missed a lot of wide open three-pointers that kept this closer than it appears. Tulsa outrebounded Memphis by eight.

What went wrong:

TU had way too many turnovers that prevented them from making this one close. Memphis comes at you in big and fast waves. The new TU players just were just not ready for the Tigers’ combination of size and speed.

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