TULSA, Okla. – Little Rock put together a solid opening 20 minutes, taking a four-point lead into halftime, but Tulsa wore down the Trojans in the second half as Little Rock falls 77-63 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center Friday evening.
The Trojans fall to 4-3 on the year and 1-3 away from the Jack Stephens Center while Tulsa improves to 4-2. The Golden Hurricanes now lead the all-time series between the teams 7-5, including a 6-1 mark in Tulsa.
It was a tale of two halves for Little Rock as the Trojans shot 54.1% in the opening 20 minutes, but just 23.8% in the second while committing 10 turnovers over the final 20 minutes. For the game, the Trojans shot 42.3% (22-of-51) but once again struggled from three point range, making just five of their 23 attempts (21.7%).
DeAntoni Gordon once again led the Trojans in scoring with a career-high 17, going 8-for-14 from the floor with a pair of rebounds.
Marko Andric was the only other Trojan to finish in double figures, scoring 10 points in the first half with three assists, tied for the team-high.
Jovan Stulic finished with eight points and four rebounds while
Admir Besovic registered seven points and a team-best five rebounds in his first career start.
D.J. Smith added seven points off the bench while
Marko Lukic added six points.
Tulsa outrebounded Little Rock 34-26, resulting in an 11-2 edge in second half points, but the Golden Hurricane made the Trojans pay off their turnovers, forcing 16 Little Rock giveaways and turning those into 24 points. The Golden Hurricane also dominated in the paint, doubling up the Trojans for a 48-24 advantage.
Little Rock had another strong start on the road, shooting 54.8% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Finding itself trailing 10-7, Little Rock used a pair of three pointers from Andric and another from Stulic to build a four-point advantage at 18-14 at the 12:07 mark.
Tulsa would answer back, getting to within one at 22-21, before a three pointer from Gordon and a steal and transition dunk from Osawe gave the Trojans the six-point advantage at 27-21 with 8:39 remaining in the half. Six would be Little Rock's largest advantage of the first half, matching it at 29-23, 31-25 and 33-27.
Back-to-back threes from the Golden Hurricane evened the score at 33-33 with 4:01 remaining as the teams were tied two other times down the stretch, the last of which came at 38-38. Baskets by Palermo and Gordon gave the Trojans the 42-38 lead, marking the third-straight game Little Rock has led Tulsa at intermission.
Gordon led Little Rock with 13 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting while Andric added 10, going 4-for-4 from the floor and 2-for-2 from three. Tulsa had a productive half as well, shooting 17-of-30 (56.7%) through the first 20 minutes.
Tulsa found its scoring touch in the early part of the second half, led by eight-straight from Jeriah Horne as the Golden Hurricane used a 21-4 run over the first eight minutes to turn the four-point deficit to a 13-point lead at 59-46 with 12:08 remaining.
Tulsa extended its lead to 17 at 71-54 at the 6:28 mark, using an 8-0 run over three minutes, but Little Rock responded with a 5-0 run of its own, comprised of three free throws from Lukic and a jumper in the lane from Smith, getting to within 12 at 71-59 with 3:56 to go in regulation.
But the Golden Hurricane continued its hot shooting while the Trojans struggled from the floor, making just two field goals over the final 10 minutes and going 0-for-9 from three point range in the second half, making just one of their final 13 from beyond the arc to fall 77-63.
For the game, Tulsa shot 55.2% from the floor while going 6-for-19 from three point range (31.6%). The Golden Hurricane had four players finish in double figures, led by 17 points from Jeriah Horne, who scored 12 points in the second half to spark the Tulsa offensive charge.
Little Rock's road trip now heads west to Colorado as the Trojans will take on Mountain West preseason favorite Colorado State. Opening tip against the Rams will be at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday, December 1, from Moby Arena.
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