Brandon Rachal scores 18 points, but it was not enough as the Hurricane fall to the No. 8 Houston Cougars 86-59 Wednesday night in the Fertitta Center.

Rachal went 6-13 (46.2-percent) from the field, 2-5 (40-percent) from three and 4-8 (50%) from the free throw line on the night. The senior grabbed three rebounds, dished out 3 assists and had 2 steals for Tulsa.

Elijah Joiner put in 9 points, while freshman Keshawn Williams scored 10 points on 2-6 shooting from the field and went 6-6 from the charity stripe.

The Hurricane fall to 8-5 on the season and 5-3 in American Athletic Conference play, while the No. 8 Cougars move to 12-1 and 7-1 in AAC competition.

Tulsa, led by 9 from Rachal, opened the second half on an 11-2 run which was capped off by Emmanuel Ugboh's offensive rebound and put back. The Hurricane cut the Cougars lead to 17 at 47-30 with 17:24 left in the game.

TU doubled their first half scoring in the second half scoring 40 points on 13-31 (41.9-percent) shooting from the field. The Hurricane knocked down 12 of is 15 (80-percent) free throw attempts in the second half.

Joiner, Williams and Ugboh each scored all of their points in the second half, combining for 25 points. The trio went 8-12 (67-percent) from the field and 7-7 (100%) from the free throw line in the second.

Tulsa and Houston started the game strong tied at 6-6 after an Austin Richie three-pointer at the 17:00 of the first half. However, the Cougars went on a 14-0 run over the next 4:30 to take a 20-6 lead, with the run broken by a layup by Darien Jackson.

Houston ended the half on 7-0 run to take a 26-point lead at halftime, leading the Hurricane 45-19.

The Cougars outshot the Hurricane on the night, going 29-68 (43%) compared to TU who went 19-51 (37%) from the field and 13-32 (41%) to 7-22 (32%) from three; however, Tulsa knocked down 14-19 (74%) of its free throws compared to Houston's 15-22 (68%) from the line.

The Hurricane was outrebounded 52-24 on the night, as Houston grabbed 25 offensive rebounds resulting in 26 second chance points.

Tulsa forced 15 Houston turnovers and were able to convert those into 12 points. Tulsa's bench scored 18 points, and the Hurricane scored 20 points in the paint.

Tulsa is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 23 as the Hurricane take on the Tulane Green Wave in the Reynolds Center at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.