Tulsa Opens Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Thursday

TULSA BASKETBALL

GAME #10 ... TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (5-4) vs. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN LUMBERJACKS (4-5) 2016 HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC • FIRST ROUND
Date/Time:	Thursday • December 22, 2016 • 3:30 p.m. (CT)/11:30 a.m. (HT)
Site:	Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) • Honolulu, Hawaii
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 3rd year SFA – Kyle Keller (Oklahoma State '90), 1st year
TV:	ESPNU (Kanoa Leahey and Corey Alexander)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	SFA leads 2-0
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa I Stephen F. Austin

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC BRACKET (central time zone bracket)
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC OFFICIAL WEBSITE

THE GAME & HAWAII . . .
•    The Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-4) and the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (4-5) will play the opening game of the eight-team Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
•    Tulsa will play either San Diego State or Southern Miss in second round action on Dec. 23.
•    This is the 7th in-season tournament in Hawai'i that Tulsa has played in school history, as the Hurricane has a 12-5 record . . . among the previous 6, Tulsa played the first 4 in Honolulu (1965, 1974, 1988, 1992) and the last 2 on the northshore of Hawai'i (1998, 2001).
•    Tulsa won the 1965 Rainbow Classic and the 2001 Yahoo Invitational with 3-0 records.

THE SERIES . . .
•    This is the third meeting between Tulsa and Stephen F. Austin, as SFA leads the series 2-0.
•    The two previous games were each played in Tulsa, as SFA grabbed an 82-72 win on Dec. 19, 2005 and a 57-41 win on Nov. 24, 2012.
•    SFA has a 13.0 win margin in the two games.

QUICK HITS . . .
•    Tulsa is playing its 106th season of basketball.
•    Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith is in his third season at Tulsa and averaged 21.5 wins in his first two seasons, while leading Tulsa to an NIT in 2014 and the NCAAs in 2015.
•    Tulsa features only three players on its roster that appeared in a game at TU prior to this season – Pat Birt, TK Edogi and Sterling Taplin.
•    Tulsa has 10 newcomers to its roster, including two juniors, one sophomore and five freshmen.
•    Tulsa is in its third season as a member of the American Athletic Conference.
•    In two seasons as a member of The American, Tulsa finished second and tied for third place in the regular season, respectively.

IN THE EARLY GOING . . .
•    Ten players have made their Tulsa debuts this season . . . they have accounted for 69.5 percent of Tulsa's total points, scoring 438 of Tulsa's 630 points thru 9 games.
•    Tulsa has out-rebounded 6 of its first 9 opponents this season, winning 5 of those games.
•    After allowing 80+ points in the first two games (82.0 ppg), both losses, Tulsa held its next three opponents to 65.7 points per game for a difference of 16.3 points.
•    Tulsa has used 6 different starting lineups through 9 games this year.

LAST TIME OUT . . .
•   After trailing by as many as 7 points in the first half, Tulsa tied the score at 35-35 at the half en route to a 74-59 win against Texas State.
•   Jaleel Wheeler's three-pointer at the 16:57 mark of the second half snapped a 39-39 deadlock and the Hurricane never trailed again.
•   When the second of two Pat Birt free throws put Tulsa ahead by 10 points at 62-52, Tulsa never dipped back into a single-digit lead.
•   Tulsa shot 51-percent from the field and 42.9-percent from 3-point range for the game, while out-rebounding Texas State 38-27.
•   The Tulsa bench out-scored the Bobcats' bench 34-0.

TAPLIN IN THE LAST THREE GAMES . . .
•   Sophomore guard Sterling Taplin has averaged 14.6 points (44), 5.3 assists (16) and 4.3 rebounds (13), while also shooting 56-perent from the field (14-of-25) and 82-percent from 3-point range (14-of-17) in Tulsa's last 3 games.
•   He had career-highs of 16 points vs. Oklahoma State, 7 assists vs. Texas State and 6 rebounds vs. OSU.
•   He led Tulsa back from a 14-point deficit to a 70-68 victory over Illinois State, while scoring the game-winning layup with 0:11 left on the clock to put Tulsa ahead by 2 points at 69-67
•   Taplin also led Tulsa back from a 13-point deficit against Oklahoma State, despite losing 71-67, as he scored 5 straight points to bring Tulsa to within two points at 67-65.
•   He combined to average 15.5 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in the games against Illinois State and OSU, while shooting 57.8 percent from the field.
•   For his performances in those two games, Taplin was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll.

SINCE HIS ARRIVAL . . .
•   Junior College transfer Jaleel Wheeler missed the first two games for the Hurricane, but since he has been on the floor, has averaged a team-leading 13.4 points, ranks second in rebounding at 6.0 and assists at 3.3 in 7 games and 32.6 minutes of playing time per game.
•   Wheeler has scored in double-digits in all but one game this year, including scoring at least 15 points in 5 of 7 games.
•   He had a season-best 17 points at Little Rock, and a personal-best 9 rebounds at Oral Roberts.
•   He did not reach double-figures vs. Illinois State, but had 9 rebounds and 3 assists to go along with 6 points in 34 minutes.

HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 50 PERCENT . . .
•   Under Frank Haith, Tulsa has held the opposition to under 50-percent from the field in 62 of 75 games.
•   This year, Jacksonville State in the season opener was the only opponent to shoot over 50-percent from the field, shooting .556.
•   The Hurricane has held three opponents under 40-percent from the field – Oral Roberts, Illinois State and Oklahoma State.
•   Tulsa held Oral Roberts to a opponent season low of .369 percent.
•   The Hurricane has prevented its opponent from reaching 50 points nine times under Haith.

THE POSSIBLE SECOND ROUND OPPONENTS . . .
Vs. SAN DIEGO STATE . . .
•    Tulsa has a 6-1 record against San Diego State, including a 4-1 record at home, 1-0 in San Diego and 1-0 on a neutral site.
•    Tulsa has won the last five meetings with the last game being played on Feb. 19, 1998, as Tulsa grabbed a 65-60 win.
•    The Hurricane has a 14.5 win margin in the series against the Aztecs.
Vs. SOUTHERN MISS . . .
•    Tulsa leads the series 7-5 vs. Southern Miss, including winning five of the last seven games.
•    The Hurricane won the last meeting on Jan. 12, 2014, 75-71, while the two schools were members of Conference USA.
•    Tulsa is 6-2 against USM in Tulsa, 1-2 in Hattiesburg and 0-1 in a neutral site game.

Tulsa Opens Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Pat Birt

TK Edogi

Sterling Taplin

Jaleel Wheeler