In a back-and-forth battle worthy of their rivalry, Tulsa erased a late deficit and held off fellow American Conference member Wichita State 83-79 on Tuesday night to reach the National Invitational Tournament Final Four for the first time since their championship run in 2001.

The Golden Hurricane (29-7) built a commanding 24-point lead early but had to withstand a furious second-half comeback from the Shockers (24-12) in the fourth meeting between the longtime rivals this season.

The game was an instant classic from the opening tip. Tulsa exploded out of the gate, surging to a 30-6 lead just eight minutes in and draining 10 three-pointers en route to a 52-36 halftime advantage. Wichita State carried its late-first-half momentum into the second period, slicing the deficit to seven points at 55-48 just over four minutes after intermission.

Tulsa responded by stretching the lead back to 12 at 64-52 with 11 minutes remaining. But the Shockers refused to fade. They clawed all the way back, tying the game twice before seizing their first lead at 70-68 on a pair of free throws by T.J. Williams with 6:34 left.

The next three minutes featured four more ties and three lead changes in a gripping seesaw battle.

Miles Barnstable eventually delivered the decisive blows, sinking two free throws to put Tulsa ahead for good at 75-74 with 3:21 to play. The senior forward poured in a game-high 24 points — 15 of them in the second half — and knocked down five of Tulsa’s season-long 12 three-pointers.

Tylen Riley added 21 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Golden Hurricane, while Ade Popoola chipped in 12 points.

For Wichita State, Williams led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds in a 23-minute bench performance. Dillon Battie contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, Karon Boyd had 13 points and six boards and Kenyon Giles added 12 points.

The victory sends Tulsa into the NIT semifinals. The Golden Hurricane will face the winner of New Mexico versus Saint Joseph’s in the semifinals on April 2 in Indianapolis.

An American Conference release and Grok AI contributed to this article.