Tulsa squeaks past UConn in overtime

USATSI

Pat Birt and Sterling Taplin kept ticking despite all of the rejection, and the result was exhilarating.

Birt and Taplin scored 13 points apiece, and combined for all five points in overtime to lead Tulsa to a 61-59 victory over UConn Saturday afternoon on New Year’s Eve in front of 4,525 fans at the Reynolds Center.

Birt overcame a dreadful start to score all of his points starting with the last 10 minutes of regulation, and saved the best for the closing minutes of the game.

“It’s all about that next shot, the next play. You can’t dwell on the past,” Birt said. “I know at first my shot wasn’t falling, but in my mind, you’ve gotta keep shooting the ball. Just play within our offense and then the shots started falling.”

Tulsa (7-6, 1-0 AAC) won despite shooting only 36.1 percent from the floor and getting 10 shots blocked, including six blocks by 7-foot center Amida Brimah, who also had eight points and nine rebounds.

“They have great bigs. It was just keep attacking,” said Taplin. “That’s when we’re at our best. I found a way to get to the basket and either finish or find my teammates, and have the trust in my teammates to make the right decisions and to make the shots."

“You talk about them blocking 10 shots,” said TU coach Frank Haith. “I told our guys that you can’t lay it on the platter for Brimah, but we had to still be aggressive. We still got 28 points inside the paint. We have play inside out and keep attacking.”

UConn (5-8, 0-2) led 59-58 in overtime until Birt came up with a steal and subsequent contested layup to put TU up 60-59 with 1:14 remaining in overtime. He later made one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining after attempts by UConn failed to recapture the lead.

Huskies’ coach Kevin Ollie couldn’t hide his displeasure with the late turn of events where Birt intercepted a pass from freshman guard Christian Vital that was intended for Rodney Purvis. Vital had hit a three-pointer to give UConn a 59-56 lead in overtime. He scored nine points, while Purvis finished with 12 points.

“You’ve gotta come get the ball,” Ollie said of Purvis' passive attempt to get the pass from Vital. “C.V.’s gotta be strong with it. We just can’t give a turnover up like that. A live turnover. I’d rather him just throw the ball out of bounds than give up a live turnover.”

Taplin had driven to the basket, shooting right over an outstretched Brimah, to narrow the margin to 59-58.

After Birt’s free throw with 3.2 seconds remaining, the Huskies were still able to drive down and get off a good looking three-point attempt by Jalen Adams that just missed at the buzzer. Adams led all scorers with 18 points, including two of five three-pointers.

TU trailed by seven points early in the second half, but went on a 12-0 run to take a 46-41 lead with under eight minutes to play. But just as fast, the momentum turned to the Huskies, and it looked like they might put the game away with a three point lead and the ball with under two minutes remaining.

But Birt hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 54-54 with 1:30 left in regulation. UConn answered with a jumper by Adams with 1:07 left. A Brimah block of a Junior Etou drive and then a miss by Adams was rebounded with around 14 seconds remaining by Taplin.

Taplin got out quick and found Jaleel Wheeler streaking to the basket. Wheeler, who looked like he was fouled by both Brimah and 6-10 Kentan Facey, made an incredible, double-pump shot over the two UConn players with 7.9 seconds left to tie the game at 56-56.

A contested layup, which was altered by TU’s Will Magnay, missed with three seconds left, sending the game into overtime.

“I was really proud of how we competed and how we gave ourselves a chance to win,” Haith said. “We had great resolve when we got down five late in the game. I was just really proud of how we stuck together and finished out the game.”

The win was an especially encouraging way to begin conference play for the Golden Hurricane.

“I thought we had great fight today,” Haith said. “That’s who we are. We haven’t had that competitive spirit. We’ve been in games where I think we have it and then we lose it. We staggered a little bit and came right back.”