Tulsa Hosts ORU Tonight in Mayor's Cup Game

Monday, November 13

Reynolds Center

7 PM

Tulsa

Oral Roberts

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Hosts ORU Tonight in Mayor's Cup Game

11/12/2017 1:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME #2 ... TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (0-1) vs. ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (1-0)
Date/Time:	Monday • November 13, 2017 • 7:00 p.m.
Site:	Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355), Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year Oral Roberts – Paul Mills (Texas A&M '96), 4th year
Video:	Live Video
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 33-19
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa I Oral Roberts

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will look to bounce back from Friday's season-opening setback against a veteran Lamar squad when it hosts Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in the annual Mayor's Cup game.

Prior to Monday's game, TU and Rolling Thunder Oklahoma will unveil a POW/MIA Chair of Honor on the concourse level near section 107 at 6 p.m. The unoccupied seat will forever be reserved at The University of Tulsa to honor prisoners of war and those missing in action. Fans attending the ceremony must have a game ticket.

The Golden Hurricane (0-1) nearly erased a second-half deficit with a 12-0 run against the Cardinals as Sterling Taplin scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the final 20 minutes. Tulsa got within a point twice, only to see Lamar escape with the 74-67 win. DaQuan Jeffries and Martins Igbanu each added a dozen points.

Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles (1-0) defeated Avila of the NAIA, 86-72, on Friday to give head coach Paul Mills his first career victory. ORU returns four letterwinners and a pair of starters from last year's team that went 8-22. The squad is led by Albert Owens, who averaged 17.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season and was a preseason All-Summit League selection prior to the 2017-18 campaign.

TU leads the all-time series against Oral Roberts, 33-19, including a 79-65 win last season at the Mabee Center.

Fast Break Points
• Tulsa is in its 107th season of basketball and fourth season in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa will host Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13, in the annual Mayor's Cup game.
• The Golden Hurricane lead the all-time series against ORU, 33-19, including an 18-7 advantage at home. TU defeated ORU last season, 79-65, at the Mabee Center.
• The Hurricane will look to bounce back from a 74-67 setback against a veteran Lamar team in last Friday's season opener. Sterling Taplin led TU with 18 points, while DaQuan Jeffries and Martins Igbanu each added a dozen.
• TU averaged 104.5 ppg and shot 56.6-percent, including 46.9-percent from behind the arc, while holding its opponents to just 60.5 ppg and 33.6-percent shooting in two exhibition contests before the start of the season.
• A year after adding 10 new players to the roster, Tulsa returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last season's team. In all, Tulsa returns five of its top six scorers and 72-percent of its offense from last season.
• Junior Etou led the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) last season. He was named preseason second-team American Athletic Conference in a vote by the league's head coaches prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
• All four TU newcomers made their regular-season debuts in Friday's game against Lamar. The group totaled 24 points, led by 12 from DaQuan Jeffries.
• The schedule will see Tulsa face up to 12 opponents that participated in the postseason last year, with four of those matchups coming at home.
• TU has posted 34 league wins since joining The American, which is tied for the third-most behind SMU (44) and Cincinnati (41).
• Tulsa was picked to finish eighth in The American Preseason Poll. TU has finished better than its preseason prediction in all three previous seasons under head coach Frank Haith.

Notes
The Game
• Tulsa will host Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13, in the annual Mayor's Cup game
• Monday's game can be heard in the Tulsa area on Big Country 99.5 FM with Bruce Howard and former Hurricane player J.R. Rollo calling the action. The game also can be heard on tulsahurricane.com or by using the TuneIn app. Live video of the contest is available on tulsahurricane.com.
• Live stats for Monday's Mayor's Cup game and every home contest during the 2017-18 season can be found online at tulsastats.com.

The Series
• Monday's contest will be the 53rd all-time meeting between the Golden Hurricane and Golden Eagles, with TU holding a 33-19 lead in the all-time series.
• This will be the 26th meeting on TU's home floor, where the Hurricane own an 18-7 advantage.
• TU won the last meeting, 79-65, behind 15 points from Jaleel Wheeler and another 14 from Corey Henderson Jr.

Scouting the Golden Eagles
• Oral Roberts returns four letterwinners and a pair of starters from last year's team, which went 8-22 overall and finished ninth in the Summit League with a 4-12 conference record.
• The squad is led by preseason first-team all-conference forward Albert Owens. Owens appeared in 30 games, including 27 starts, and he averaged 17.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season.
• ORU defeated Avila (NAIA) in last Friday's season-opener, 86-72, led by 23 points and nine rebounds from Owens to give head coach Paul Mills his first career victory.

Last Time Out
• Tulsa nearly erased a double-digit second-half deficit with a 12-0 run, but fell just short in a 74-67 loss to a veteran Lamar squad last Friday in the season opener at the Reynolds Center.
• Sterling Taplin led the Hurricane with 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half, while DaQuan Jeffries made his regular-season debut with 12 points and Martins Igbanu came off the bench to score a dozen.

Offense Shines In Exhibition Wins
• Tulsa improved to 66-2 all-time in exhibition games, including a run of 37 consecutive victories, with wins over Northwestern Oklahoma State (96-65) and Missouri S&T (113-56) prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
• TU put up impressive numbers in the wins as the team averaged 104.5 points and shot 56.6-percent from the floor, including 46.9-percent from behind the arc. Tulsa also recorded 46 assists to just 21 turnovers and out-rebounded its two opponents by a combined total of 99-46.
• Five players averaged in double-figures during exhibition play, led by Junior Etou's 17.0 ppg. Joining him were Corey Henderson Jr. (16.0 ppg), DaQuan Jeffries (12.5 ppg), Curran Scott (12.5 ppg) and Geno Artison (11.5 ppg).
• TU made 20 3-pointers in the win over Missouri S&T (the program's regular-season record for a game is 18), with half of that total coming from Henderson (6) and Artison (4).

Haith Enters Fourth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fourth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 58-41 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 263-170 in his 14th season.
• Haith has led the Golden Hurricane to a pair of 20-win seasons and postseason appearances (2015 NCAA Tournament, 2016 NIT) during his first three seasons.
• With a win over No. 9 Wichita State in 2015-16, he led TU to its first win over a top-10 squad since 2000. Later that season, TU won at No. 16 SMU for its first road win against a top-16 program since 1981.

Haith in Exclusive Coaching Company
• Head coach Frank Haith is the only active Division I coach to take teams in four of the Power 6 conferences to the NCAA Tournament. Haith guided Tulsa (The American) to the Big Dance in 2015, Missouri (SEC) in 2013, Missouri (Big 12) in 2012 and Miami (ACC) in 2008.
• In addition, Haith is one of just 20 active coaches that have taken at least three different teams to the NCAA Tournament.
• Haith will face three other coaches on that list this season when TU matches up against Tubby Smith (Memphis), Kelvin Sampson (Houston) and Bruce Weber (Kansas State).

Tulsa's Success in The American
• Since joining the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2014-15 season, the Golden Hurricane has posted 34 league wins, which is tied with Temple for third-most in the circuit.
• Only SMU (44 wins) and Cincinnati (41 wins) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 34, which tops UConn (30) and Memphis (27) along with five other conference programs.
• TU has finished better than its preseason prediction in each of Haith's three seasons. The Golden Hurricane was picked to finish eighth in the conference prior to the 2017-18 season.

Etou Named Preseason Second-Team American Athletic Conference
• Senior forward Junior Etou was named preseason second-team American Athletic Conference in a vote by the league's head coaches.
• Last season, Etou led the Golden Hurricane in scoring (12.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) and was the only player to start all 32 games. He was even better in conference play as he averaged 13.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg.
• Etou scored in double-figures 18 times with six games of at least 20 points, including a career-high 31 points against ECU, and produced four double-doubles.
• He led the team in scoring 12 times, rebounding 17 times, steals eight times, assists five times and blocks twice.

Look Who's Back
• Tulsa returns eight letterwinners, including four starters, and 72-percent of its offense from last season's team.
• Returning starters include senior forward Junior Etou (32 starts), sophomore forward Martins Igbanu (17), junior guard Sterling Taplin (30) and senior guard Jaleel Wheeler (29).
• Other returners include junior forward Geno Artison, senior guard Corey Henderson Jr., sophomore guard Lawson Korita and junior forward Alex Foree.
• In all, Tulsa returns 68.8-percent of its minutes, 66.9-percent of its rebounding, 79.8-percent of its assists and 65.5-percent of its steals.

New Faces
• Along with the eight returning letterwinners, Tulsa has five newcomers, four of which made their debut in the season opener against Lamar.
• The newcomers eligible for 2017-18 are sophomore guard Curran Scott, junior guard/forward DaQuan Jeffries, freshman guard Darien Jackson and freshman guard Elijah Joiner. Sophomore forward Jeriah Horne will sit out the season after transferring from Nebraska.
• Against the Cardinals, TU's four newcomers totaled 24 points, led by 12 points from DaQuan Jeffries. Elijah Joiner came off the bench to add eight points in 24 minutes.
• Scott redshirted the 2016-17 season after transferring from Charlotte, where he averaged 10.3 ppg as a freshman in 2015-16. He practiced with the Golden Hurricane last season.

Tulsa Enters 20th Season at the Reynolds Center
• After hosting the first TU men's basketball game on Dec. 29, 1998, the Golden Hurricane will play its 20th season in the Donald W. Reynolds Center this year.
• Tulsa has posted an overall record of 226-71 (.761) in its 19 seasons.
• The building has seen 41 sellouts and 1,793,797 fans have witnessed Tulsa basketball at the Reynolds Center.

Season Tickets Available Now
• Season tickets for Tulsa's full home schedule are on sale and can be purchased at Monday's game, while fans will be able to select their preferred seats from the available allotment.
• A four-game Mini-Plan also is available, which features four American Athletic Conference matchups (Jan. 3 vs. UConn; Jan. 13 vs. Wichita State; Feb. 1 vs. SMU; March 4 vs. Temple).
• Additionally, discounted group tickets are available to groups of 15 or more and fans also can purchase an All-Sport FlexBook, which allows flexibility in attending games for basketball, football and ticketed Olympic sports.
• Fans can purchase tickets in person at the TU Athletics Ticket Office in the Reynolds Center or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688).