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Conference USA – Quarterfinals, Evening Session(5) Tulsa 80, (4) Marshall 64
Playing in front of a boisterous hometown crowd at the BOK Center, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane that took the floor to play Marshall on Thursday looked nothing like the unfocused squad that found itself trailing Rice 41-26 at the half on Wednesday. Even though Tulsa found itself trailing at the half again, the first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Thundering Herd going on a 5-0 run to finish the half and break a 33-33 tie. What wasn't a back-and-forth affair was the second half, as the Golden Cane outscored the Herd 47-26 to turn a close game into an 80-64 beatdown. Tulsa's win was the third in a row by a lower seed in the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals. The Big Picture: After two days of play, clear themes are starting to emerge. One of those themes is that the second half is officially Tulsa time. In its two victories, Doug Wojcik's side has outscored opponents 94-62. With Thursday night's game level at 58-all and 10:14 remaining, Tulsa went on a game-ending 22-6 tear. That's how you close out games, kids. The Good: For the second night in a row, Tulsa's two best players – senior guard Ben Uzoh and senior center Jerome Jordan - kicked it up several gears when it mattered most. Uzoh crafted a virtuoso performance by a point guard that had figured how to attack the opponent's defense. Uzoh dropped 14 points and handed out 5 dimes in the second half. Jerome Jordan, Uzoh's counterpart on the interior, scored 12 points and pulled down 5 boards in the decisive second half. The Bad: Marshall 's second-half meltdown was as complete as it was predictable. The Thundering Herd gave a big assist to the Golden Cane by settling for - and missing – jumper after jumper during Tulsa's game-ending run. Considering that the Thundering Herd made only 3-of-16 triples in the game, the act of firing away from the perimeter during the critical moments of the game was, well, entirely misguided. The Ugly: We get tired of saying it, but the fact is guards need to play steady and relatively mistake-free ball in March if their respective teams are going to win games. Marshall's inexperienced backcourt was about as steady as a schizophrenic on a skateboard and about as error-free as David Paterson. As though the 8 second- half turnovers don't speak to the troubles sophomores Damier Pitts and Dago Pena had, their paltry combined total of 5 assists most certainly does.
What’s Next Tulsa has won two in a row by going on second-half spurts that could become the stuff of C-USA tourney legend. That won't get it done when the Golden Hurricane squares off with C-USA top seed UTEP Friday night. The Miners swept the Golden Cane in the C-USA regular season so it could be payback time on Friday night. Marshall's season may continue, as the Herd should be under consideration for a CBI or College Basketball Insider.Com invite. Woo-hoo!
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