Senior guard James Woodard scored 19 points, grabbed nine rebounds and made a miraculous shot from his own side of the court to end the first half, and Tulsa recorded a 70-68 overtime victory over Cincinnati on Thursday in American Athletic Conference play at Tulsa, Okla.

Woodard's 75-foot swish allowed the Golden Hurricane to trail by just five at halftime ahead of a strong second half. Junior guard Pat Birt scored 13 points, and senior forward Rashad Smith added 12, including the go-ahead basket, as Tulsa (17-9, 9-5) won for the ninth time in 12 games.

Sophomore forward Gary Clark had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Bearcats (19-8, 9-5), who lost for just the second time in eight games. Junior guard Troy Caupain added 15 points and nine rebounds, and senior forward Octavius Ellis had 11 points and nine rebounds for Cincinnati.

Smith scored on a put-back with 1:01 remaining in overtime to give the Golden Hurricane a 66-65 lead. The Bearcats trailed 70-68 when senior forward Shaq Thomas stole the ball in the final seconds, but his 3-point attempt bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.

Birt hit two free throws with 1:40 left in regulation to put Tulsa ahead 60-58 before Caupain made a tying 17-footer 19 seconds later.

Woodard's layup with 1:11 to play gave the Golden Hurricane a 62-60 edge and the lead held up until Caupain drove through the lane and scored on a layup with one second left to force overtime.

Woodard provided Tulsa with momentum by swishing a last-second 3-pointer from just past his own free-throw line to cut Cincinnati's lead to 32-27 at halftime.

The Golden Hurricane ran off the first six points of the second half to take a one-point lead. The Bearcats moved ahead 49-44 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Farad Cobb with 9:40 remaining before Tulsa scored the next five and tied the score on senior guard Shaquille Harrison's three-point play.