By JOHN TRANCHINA, Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. — Jeriah Horne scored 21 points to help lead Tulsa to a surprisingly dominant 80-40 win over No. 20 Memphis on Wednesday night.
The 40-point margin of victory is the largest-ever for Tulsa against a ranked opponent.
Martins Igbanu had 11 points and Brandon Rachal, the reigning American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week, also had 11 for Tulsa (13-6, 5-1 American). The Golden Hurricane has now won four straight games following a stretch where they went 1-3.
Precious Achiuwa scored 10 points for Memphis (14-4, 3-2), which shot a season-low 28.8 % from the floor.
Memphis entered the day leading the entire nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to an average of 35% shooting, but the Golden Hurricane shot 50 percent (27 of 54).
That marked a season-high for both Tulsa and for Memphis to have allowed.
Tulsa took a 23-point lead into halftime and just kept building on it well into the second half. After Horne’s 3-pointer with 9:03 left, the Golden Hurricane led 67-32 and the Tulsa crowd chanted, “Overrated,” referring to Memphis.
BIG PICTURE
Memphis: The Tigers came in connecting on 33.8 % of their 3-point shots, but had a difficult time from beyond the arc. After going 0-for-10 on 3-point attempts in the first half, Memphis made 2 of 11 in the second to finish at 9.5%. That marked the lowest percentage of the season for the Tigers.
Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane got off to a strong start, with Isaiah Hill’s 3-pointer capping off a 17-4 run to give Tulsa a commanding 26-10 lead with 8:34 remaining in the opening half. They were able to maintain, and then build on, that advantage throughout the first half, taking a 40-17 edge into halftime. Tulsa continued its dominance well into the second half.
UP NEXT
Memphis: The Tigers return home for just the second time in January, hosting SMU on Saturday.
Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane travel to Storrs to take on Connecticut in an early 11 a.m. start on Sunday.
