Illinois State cruises to 3rd place in Diamond Head Classic (Dec 25, 2016)
HONOLULU (AP) Paris Lee scored 18 points, Deontae Hawkins added 16 and Illinois State cruised past Tulsa 68-56 on Sunday for third place in the Diamond Head Classic.
Illinois State (8-4) opened the game on a 16-0 run and Tulsa (6-6) didn't get on the board until freshman Joseph Battle hit a 3-pointer at the 13:19 mark. The Golden Hurricane's were just one for their first 11 shots from the field.
Pat Birt made Tulsa's second basket - also a 3 - with 9:39 left and the Golden Hurricane's trailed 23-7. Their third make was also from behind the arc but Illinois State answered with a 3 for an 18-point lead and the Redbirds led by double figures until the final minutes of the game.
The Redbirds led by as many as 20 points in the first half and had a 16-point advantage at the break.
Junior Etou made 13 of 14 free-throw attempts and scored a career-high 22 points for Tulsa, which missed its first eight field-goal attempts of the second half. The Golden Hurricane's were just 14-of-52 shooting (26.9 percent) and turned it over 18 times.
