EL PASO, Texas -- Danny Manning is taking Tulsa back to the NCAA tournament. James Woodard scored 27 points to lead the Golden Hurricane to its first NCAA berth since 2003 with a 69-60 victory Saturday against Louisiana Tech in the Conference USA tournament final. "Its an indescribable feeling," said Woodard, who is from Tulsa. "Growing up as a kid, you cant wait for March Madness. To be a part of that, this time around, and for us being so young as a team, its definitely a dream come true." Woodard, who scored 18 points in the second half, made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to help Tulsa hold off the Bulldogs. Tulsa (21-12), which was the No. 2 seed, will carry an 11-game win streak into the tournament. Top-seeded Louisiana Tech came up short, extending an NCAA tournament drought dating to 1991. The Bulldogs (27-7) were led by Kenneth Smith with 16 points and Kenyon McNeail with 15. Alex Hamilton finished with 12. The Bulldogs led 35-34 at the half in a game with 16 lead changes. Neither team led by more than five points until Tulsa took control in the final 5 minutes, pushing the advantage to 10 points on a free throw by Woodard with 1:12 left. "This was a lot of fun," said Tulsa second-year head coach Danny Manning, who won an NCAA title playing for Kansas in 1988. "It was a hard-fought game. Louisiana Tech is a talented team. We have three other teams in our league deserving of a bid." Louisiana Tech, which made 7 of 10 3-pointers in the first half and shot 45 per cent from the field, cooled off in the second half. The Bulldogs, limited by a stingy Tulsa defence, shot 32 per cent for the game. They went just 4 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half and 15 of 23 from the free-throw line. "Right now, I feel bad for the four seniors," Techs Alex Hamilton said. "I just wish there was more could do. We came out on the short end. I feel bad for the guys." 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"Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much. Clark Griffith Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, The recent issues in the Boston-Pittsburgh game have highlighted a number of officiating, game control, and player sportsmanship aspects.Members of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office and coaching staff are on the same page, assistant general manager Kyle Dubas said. And its not the same page that includes the NHL standings.Despite the teams stretch of seven victories in its past nine games, Dubas said president Brendan Shanahan, general manager Dave Nonis and coach Randy Carlyle arent happy with the way the Leafs have been outshot and outplayed.Theres nobody content that weve gone 7-1-1 in this stretch, Dubas said on a conference call Thursday. Theres no one really content with it. Its trying to continue to hone in on our process and really maximize our potential as a team.This state-of-the-team address by Dubas mightve been necessary after the Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night in a game where they owed everything to backup goaltender James Reimer. Toronto was outshot 42-19 but won in a shootout almost single-handedly because of Reimer.Dubas said Thursday that no one has to be an analytics expert to recognize thats not great. Recent trends beyond that game are also troubling, like the Leafs being outshot 303-247 over this nine-game run, an average of around 34-27 a game.In the process, the Leafs have picked up 15 points and moved into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Thats with some smoke, a few mirrors and mostly No. 1 goaltender Jonathan Bernier saving their hides.Weve managed to find a way to win, Dubas said. Weve shot the puck well, weve made the most of our opportunities, weve gotten terrific goaltending.The Leafs got off to similar starts the past two seasons before collapsing under the weight of their own struggles. In 2013 it was a Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins after a lockout-shortened 48-game season, and in 2013-14 it was an eight-game regulation losing streak that dropped them out of playoff conteention.ddddddddddddAsked about the pattern of being outshot badly in certain stretches lately, Dubas said the team has ideas about whats wrong and how to fix it but didnt want to share much more than that. Given the past couple of years, this doesnt seem to be a new problem.Its a process, Dubas said. I can tell you that within the organization that everyone whos been here has been aware of the issues that have been there, and now were just trying to all work together to correct them and move ahead.One thing the Leafs need to do better, according to Dubas, is play with the lead. Evidence of how to do that came in the two games after the infamous 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 18, when the Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning and Red Wings.We did a really, really good job of closing out those games when we were up and we werent overly conservative, did a good job not giving up too much to two very good teams, Dubas said. Then in the last couple games here, thats started to sag a little bit. But I think thats the one area that if we can hone in on that and just continue to find ways where we can close out games better, where we dont let our goalie close it out for us on his own, thatd be terrific.Dubass comments werent all bad. How could they be for a team that has won seven of nine? He sees the potential in the Leafs strong momentsWeve shown stretches of playing the way were fully capable of, he said. Thats probably what intrigues me the most about the group moving forward is the way that weve shown we can play. Its been there. Its a prolonged process ahead, and thats the way I look at it. Im excited to see if we can start to put that together over the long run.Note — Dubas said theres no timetable for the return of forward Leo Komarov, who has missed the past five games with a concussion. ' ' '