TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa made its first six shots from the field to open up an early lead as it went on to a 94-75 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team on Thursday night (Nov. 5) at the Reynolds Center.
David Douglas Jr. (Park Forest, Ill./Yorkville Christian) led the way for the Huskies with 21 points while
Max Weisbrod (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) chipped in 20 points.
It marked the first time since two Huskies scored 20 points since Feb. 15, 2025, against Ball State when Quentin Jones scored 21 and James Dent Jr. netted 20 points.
"After (Tulsa) got hot, we needed to adjust, knowing that they were going to shoot every open shot they had," said NIU head coach Matt Majkrzak. "So, the part I was frustrated with was that we didn't adjust to the three-point shooting. Tulsa is good, they are a really good basketball team."
Jaylen Lawal opened the contest 4-of-4 from the floor for Tulsa, including a trio of triples, as the Golden Hurricane led 13-3 inside the opening three minutes of the contest. The Tulsa lead stretched to 19-5 as the Golden Hurricane made its first six field goal attempts, five of which came from beyond the arc.
Tulsa (2-0) led 24-7 before Weisbrod knocked in a triple with 13:10 to play in the opening half.
The 20-point performance for Weisbrod was his first since netting 24 on March 16, 2024 vs. Ferris State, in his final game at Northern Michigan. Weisbrod also had a game-high eight assists with zero turnovers as the Huskies tallied 15 assists with just six miscues.
Tulsa took a 56-29 lead into the intermission. The Golden Hurricane shot 60 percent (18-of-30) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) from three-point range. Lawal had 16 points to lead all scorers in the first half while Douglas had 10 to pace the Huskies. Tulsa held a 24-10 rebounding advantage in the first half.
In the second half, NIU shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from the field, including 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from three-point range. The Huskies held the Golden Hurricane to just 37 percent (10-of-27) shooting in the second half, including 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from beyond the arc.
Five Huskies,
Uzziah Buntyn (Round Rock, Texas/Stony Point),
Mykolas Ivanauskas (Chicago, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy),
Izaya Larthridge (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central),
Akiva McBirney-Griffin (Hamilton, New Zealand/St. John's College) and
Nathan Ramus (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North), made their debut for NIU in the contest.
Ivanauskas finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field.
Lawel had a game-high 25 to lead all scorers for Tulsa, Myles Rigsby added 17 points while Chris Loofe scored 13 points with a game-high 13 rebounds.
NIU will travel to Dayton, Ohio, to take on the Dayton Flyers on Saturday, Nov. 7. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+.
