Tulsa, Oklahoma: Golden Hurricane Beat Northern Illinois 94-75 as Jaylen Lawal Scores 25

Tulsa ran away early and never let Northern Illinois back into the game on Thursday night, beating the Huskies 94-75 at the Reynolds Center behind a career night from Jaylen Lawal.

Lawal matched his career high with 25 points. He made five of seven shots from three-point range and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Myles Rigsby added 17 points, his most since joining Tulsa, with seven rebounds and three three-pointers. Chris Loofe posted 13 points and 13 rebounds, made all nine of his free throws and blocked two shots.

The win moved Tulsa to 2-0. Northern Illinois fell to 0-2.

Lawal scored the first run by himself

Tulsa took control in the opening minutes. Lawal hit a three-pointer, followed with a jumper and made two more three-pointers to account for all 11 points in a run that made it 13-3. One account of the game noted that he made four straight three-pointers in a span of 97 seconds before three minutes had elapsed. Rigsby and Kobi Williams added three-pointers that stretched the lead to 19-5.

The Golden Hurricane kept building through the rest of the half. Aleksa Dimitrijevic scored on a tip-in, Rigsby scored around the rim, Williams hit a second three-pointer and Denton Forsythe and Lawal added free throws. Leon Sifferlin, Brent Moss and Loofe supplied the late scoring, and a Max Weisbrod three-pointer for the Huskies left Tulsa ahead 56-29 at halftime. Lawal had 16 of his 25 points before the break, in front of an announced crowd of 3,080.

Tulsa has now scored more than 90 points in each of its first two games. The program has done that only three times in its history. The other two teams were the 1968-69 and 1999-2000 squads, according to the university account of the game.

Huskies pushed, Tulsa answered

Northern Illinois opened the second half with consecutive three-pointers by Trevor Polite and Weisbrod. Tulsa answered with an 8-0 run. Rigsby hit back-to-back three-pointers and Lawal made two free throws to push the margin to 64-35.

Weisbrod added two more three-pointers as the Huskies worked the margin down to 68-44. Loofe then scored inside, and Lawal, Moss and Mike Williams III each hit from deep during a stretch that pushed Tulsa to 80-52.

Northern Illinois scored eight straight points later in the half, ending with a layup and a free throw from David Douglas Jr. that made it 84-64. Tulsa responded at the line, Loofe scored inside with an added free throw, and his late free throws pushed the score to 94-73 before the Golden Hurricane closed out the 94-75 win.

What comes next

Tulsa stays home for a game Tulsa fans circle every year. The Golden Hurricane host crosstown rival Oral Roberts at the Reynolds Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the annual Mayor's Cup. Northern Illinois visits Dayton on Saturday, according to the Associated Press account of the game.

For Tulsa, the early returns are simple. Two games, two wins, and more than 90 points in both. Lawal set the tone on Thursday in the first three minutes, and the rest of the roster kept the game out of reach for the remaining 37.