Tulsa escaped with a 58-57 win over Memphis here Sunday as Elijah Joiner paced the Golden Hurricane with 16 points and Brandon Rachal added 12 points – including 10 in the second half – as TU overcame a half-time deficit.

In the second half, the Hurricane forced 21 Memphis turnovers and scored 24 points off those takeaways. Memphis was led by Landers Nolley’s 13 points.

“Obviously a great, great win. Winning is hard. I say this all the time,” said Tulsa coach Frank Haith.  “I thought our guys fought hard. I thought offensively we were a little stagnant in the first half, but credit Memphis. They’re a really good defensive team. I think their numbers are really good in the league. I thought in the second half we got in a little bit better rhythm offensively, but the key was we got timely stops.”

Tulsa shot just 36-percent from the field and suffered 11 turnovers in the first half. In the second half, TU outscored the Tigers by seven points, shot 52-percent from the field and forced 12 Memphis turnovers – compared to just three of their own.

“Once the momentum swung our way offensively we got timely stops defensively and timely rebounds. Obviously, there were some big plays — Austin’s out-of-bounds play we ran, big 3, and once we got the lead Keyshawn’s backup play was big,” said Haith. “Once we started executing, I felt like that was key in terms of getting the momentum, getting the confidence we needed to finish the game. It was a grinder. I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding a way to finish it off.”

Tulsa played No. 11 Houston Wednesday night.