Justin Hurtt scored 25 in his final home game and freshman Jordan Clarkson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half as Tulsa rallied past Southern Mississippi 78-70 on Saturday.
The win gave the Golden Hurricane (18-12, 11-5) the second seed behind Alabama-Birmingham in the Conference USA tournament next week in El Paso, Texas.
The game was tied 15 times, the last at 67 before Joe Richard, a 53 percent free-throw shooter, made two with 3 minutes left to put Tulsa ahead for good, the 11th lead change of the game.
Clarkson then was fouled on a 3-pointer with a second remaining and made all three.
R.L. Horton scored 18 points, Gary Flowers had 15 and LaShay Page had 12 for Southern Miss (21-9, 9-7).
The Golden Eagles held Tulsa to 21.7 percent first-half shooting (5 of 23), but Tulsa made 14 of 18 free throws to hang within 31-26 at the break. Hurtt and Scottie Haralson, Tulsa's most potent 3-point shooters, combined to make 1 of 10 in the first half, but bounced back to make 4 of 6 in the second half.
Hurtt, the league's leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, scored 13 of Tulsa's 16 points in a second-half run to keep Tulsa close until the final run.
