National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tulsa 72, Houston 54
When: 2:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 4, 2015
Where: Donald Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Officials: # Jeffrey Anderson, # Jeff Clark, # Ray Natilli
Attendance: 4171

Tulsa 72, Houston 54: Shaquille Harrison and James Woodard registered 18 points apiece to lead the host Golden Hurricane past the Cougars in American Athletic Conference play.

Rashad Smith added 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds for Tulsa (9-5, 2-0 AAC), which notched its season-high fourth straight win. Marquel Curtis chipped in with eight points and Rashad Ray finished with six points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists off the bench for the Golden Hurricane, who controlled the boards 41-26.

Jherrod Stiggers tallied 17 points and five rebounds for Houston (7-6, 0-2), which lost its second straight and fell to 2-10 in its last 12 road games. L.J. Rose scored 12 points and dished out a game-high six assists for the Cougars, who shot only 35.8 percent from the field.

Houston had the 3-pointer working early, with Rose and Danrad Knowles and both connecting from beyond the arc in the opening two minutes but the Cougars wouldn't convert from long range again until Eric Weary Jr.'s strike with 36 seconds left in the half. In between, Tulsa built a 37-28 halftime lead, led by 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting by Smith and seven points from Curtis, who sank all three of his first-half field goal attempts.

After the break, Rose opened up with a 3-pointer yet again but Houston never really found a groove on offense. Eleven straight points from Stiggers got the Cougars to within 68-54 with just under minute to play before Harrison sunk a pair of free throws and Woodard put an exclamation point on things with a layup in the waning moments.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tulsa has beaten Houston in five of the last six meetings, including four straight, and leads the series 24-21. ... The Cougars shot 8-of-28 from 3-point range and a mere 8-of-14 from the free-throw line. ... The Golden Hurricane failed to make a 3-pointer in 10 attempts from beyond the arc.
Top Game Performances
 
Houston   Tulsa
Jherrod Stiggers 17 Scoring Shaquille Harrison 18
L.J. Rose 6 Assists James Woodard 3
Danrad Knowles 5 Rebounds Rashad Smith 9
Jherrod Stiggers 3 Free Throws Made Shaquille Harrison 8
L.J. Rose 2 Steals Rashad Ray 3
Danrad Knowles 1 Blocks Tarekeyi Edogi 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Houston 54 35.8 8-28 8-14 13 22 1 5 12
Tulsa 72 48.9 0-10 26-36 10 36 3 4 10