Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Tulsa
Bulldogs Smother Tulsa 61-41
2/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 18, 2004
By KELLY KURT
Associated Press Writer
TULSA, Okla. - Shantay Legans scored 24 points to lead Fresno State to an emphatic 61-41 victory over Tulsa on Wednesday night at the Reynolds Center.
Legans sank six 3-pointers in leading the struggling Bulldogs (12-11, 8-6 Western Athletic Conference) to their first win in three games. The team had lost six of eight coming into tonight.
It was the sixth consecutive loss for Tulsa (7-16, 3-11), its worst streak since six consecutive losses in the 1987-88 season.
Fresno State took control early with its defense and held feckless Tulsa to just 6 points over the first 13 minutes. The Bulldogs grabbed an 11-2 lead immediately, prompting TU head coach John Phillips to call a time out.
Legans' ended up totaling 15 points as Fresno State jumped to a 32-20 first half lead. It marked the lowest first half total for any opponent in the history of the Reynolds Center, which opened in December 1998.
Dreike Bouldin added a career-high 19 points and Marcus West, who had played very sparingly the past two games due to a sprained ankle, had 10 for the Bulldogs.
Bouldin's three-point basket with 6:48 left gave Fresno State a 48-34 lead and proved to be the final blow to TU's chances.
Seneca Collins' 3-point basket with 6:58 to go in the first half ignited a 9-0 run that brought the Golden Hurricane within 7 points at 22-15. But Tulsa shot just 32.7 percent from the field and just 15 percent from three-point range for the game and never came closer.
The final total for the Hurricane was the lowest ever in the Reynolds Center. It also was the fewest points Tulsa has scored in a game since 1997.
Collins led the Golden Hurricane with 11 points. Jason Parker, who entered sixth in the WAC at 18.6 points per game, tallied only six.
