Photos by Dominic Ceraldi
No. 10 Tulsa defeated No. 7 Wichita State, 73-67, in the first round of the 2022 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Thursday, March 10 at Dickies Arena.
With the win, the Golden Hurricane (11-19) advance to play No. 2 SMU in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 11 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
The Shockers (15-13) were down as much as 16 at 48-32 before mounting a comeback, including a 9-1 spurt to cut the Golden Hurricane lead to three at 54-51. Tulsa bounced back with a 9-2 run of its own to push the lead back to 10 and put the game out of reach.
Both teams committed nine turnovers, but the Golden Hurricane had 18 points off turnovers to the Shockers’ eight.
Tulsa’s Sam Griffin led all scorers with 21 points, while Darien Jackson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Jeriah Horne added 17 points and nine rebounds.Ricky Council IV led Wichita State with 19 points, while Tyson Etienne recorded 14.
Tulsa closed the first half on a 14-3 run to go into the break with a 34-24 lead.
It was the first game between the two schools in Championship history.
