Tulsa 61, Miami (Ohio) 45

3/19/2008 9:21 PM

By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -Brett McDade scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half to lead Tulsa to a 61-45 win against Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday night in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.

Ben Uzoh had the first seven points in Tulsa's 9-0 run to start the second half, including a three-point play and a 3-pointer from the left wing that beat the shot clock buzzer. Calvin Walls followed with a layup to make it 42-27, restoring a 15-point lead for the Golden Hurricane (21-13) that had completely evaporated late in the first half.

The RedHawks (17-16), playing without leading scorer Michael Bramos (hand), couldn't overcome another big deficit. Miami never got within single digits, and Tulsa's advantage eventually swelled to 59-40 on Walls' jumper with 4:20 remaining.

Uzoh ended up with 16 points, Walls scored 10 and Jerome Jordan added six points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane, who will host Utah on Monday night in the second round of the 16-team tournament. The Utes beat UTEP 81-69 Wednesday night.

Rodney Haddix scored 12 points and Eric Pollitz had 10 to lead Miami, which was without head coach Charlie Coles for the seventh straight game. Coles had a heart procedure done last week but is expected to return to his job.

Tulsa reported attendance of 5,365, the highest for any of the CBI's games so far.

After McDade hit four 3-pointers to push Tulsa to a 23-8 lead, Haddix came off the bench to lead Miami's comeback. Haddix had a 3-pointer and a three-point play as the RedHawks reeled off 12 straight points to cut the deficit to three.

Kenny Hayes tied the game at 27 with his 3-pointer from the right wing with 2:30 to go before halftime, but McDade then scored the final six points of the half on a three-point play and a 3-pointer.

The Golden Hurricane have won 11 of 14, including a run to the championship game of last week's Conference USA tournament.