Hawai'i rallies past Tulsa, 76-73

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

It's pretty clear that a Golden Hurricane is no match for a "White-Out."

UH's Julian Sensley attempts to save a ball from going out of bounds in front of Tulsa's Anthony Price. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

A White-Out crowd of 6,244 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Rainbow Warriors improve to 12-5 overall and move into a tie for sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference at 4-5. Last-place Tulsa dropped to 4-14 overall and 1-8 in the WAC.

The 'Bows erased a 12-point second-half deficit behind the play of Jake Sottos and Julian Sensley.

"These guys have pride, you can tell that," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said of his team. "Because they reach back and get it to win ball games."

Sottos and Sensley combined to score 37 of Hawai'i's 46 points in the second half. Tulsa scored 37 as a team in the second half.

Sottos scored 23 of his career-high 25 points after intermission. He shot 9 of 16 from the field, and drained five 3-pointers.

"We knew the team needed some help, so we just wanted to step up and be leaders," said Sottos, a 6-foot-4 senior guard. "We were both feeling it in the second half."

Sensley, a 6-9 junior forward, contributed 14 points in the second half, and finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

"I kind of take shots when I'm open, but tonight I told Jeff Blackett at halftime that I'm about to take over the second half," Sensley said. "I took it upon myself to be more aggressive."

Early on, the Golden Hurricane was the aggressor.

Tulsa went on a 12-2 run early in the game to take an 18-12 lead. It increased to 29-18 with 5:54 remaining in the first half.

"I think the first half, they kind of intimidated us and came out more aggressive than we did," Sensley said. "Coach kind of got into us at halftime and said we needed to have more intensity on the defensive end."

Tulsa led 36-30 at the half, and then scored the first six points of the second half to increase it to 42-30, prompting Hawai'i to call a timeout.

"That huddle wasn't very fun," Sottos said.

But Wallace said: "I think more than anything we said or did, they just took it upon themselves to say 'hey, we're going to win this ball game.' "

UH's Jake Sottos looks to pass while being defended by Tulsa's Brett McDade. Sottos had 25 points. Matt Cilley • Associated Press

Tatum did not play Thursday against Rice because he was not feeling well, and he did not start last night. However, he played 11 crucial minutes in last night's second half.

"Tonight my star of the game is Deonte Tatum," Wallace said. "He came in and picked us up defensively. He took away the penetration from their point guard. He ignited us and got us back into it."

Tatum finished with three points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists.

But it was Sottos who heated up the most. He scored 11 points during an 18-2 surge that put Hawai'i ahead, 48-44.

"Once I got rebounding and getting shots inside, then my outside shots started opening up a little," he said. "And once you get confidence in that 3-pointer, it's pretty easy from there."

Tulsa tied the score at 51, but Sensley gave Hawai'i the momentum for good with a highlight-reel alley-oop dunk off a pass from Tatum.

"He got the dunk and things like that fire him up," Wallace said.

Hawai'i led by as many as seven in the final minute, but Tulsa kept attacking until the end.

"I'm saying how in the world did they only win four (games)?" Wallace said. "They play hard enough to win."

Anthony Price had 23 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Hurricane. Jarius Glenn added 15 points and Guilherme Teichmann had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

"We just gotta learn to finish," Tulsa's interim head coach Alvin Williamson said. "In the first half we boxed out and rebounded and in the second half we didn't."

Hawai'i improved to 6-0 in White-Out games, including 4-0 against Tulsa.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.

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