Tulsa Set to Close Non-Conference Play at Oklahoma State on Tuesday

Tuesday, December 19

Stillwater, Okla.

8 PM

Tulsa

Oklahoma State

Tulsa Set to Close Non-Conference Play at Oklahoma State on Tuesday

12/18/2017 1:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME #12 ... TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (7-4) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (8-2)
Date/Time:	Tuesdsay • Dec. 19 • 8 p.m.
Site:	Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) • Stillwater, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year Oklahoma State – Mike Boynton (South Carolina), 1st year
TV:	FOX Sports Oklahoma (Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer and Allison Gappa)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 1-0
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Oklahoma State

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa will close out non-conference play at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19, when it makes the short drive west for a matchup at Oklahoma State.

The Golden Hurricane (7-4) has won five of its last six games and recorded a 5-1 non-conference record at the Reynolds Center after an 80-66 victory over Manhattan on Saturday night. Junior Etou led all scorers with 24 points to record his fifth game this season of at least 20 points this season. The output pushed the senior's season average to 18.1 ppg, which ranks fourth in the American Athletic Conference.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys (8-2) are coming off a 71-70 neutral-site win over Florida State last Saturday. Jeffrey Carroll leads a balanced scoring effort for OSU at 14.1 ppg and the Cowboys have eight players that average at least 7.6 ppg. Oklahoma State's scoring defense (64.6 ppg) ranks 42nd in the nation and opponents are shooting just 40.4-percent from the floor this season.

OSU leads the all-time series against TU, 73-38, but the Hurricane took a 66-56 win over the Cowboys on Dec. 2, 2015, in its last trip to Stillwater. Wichita State (126 games) and Drake (119) are the only programs that TU has faced more than Oklahoma State.

Fast Break Points
• Tulsa is in its 107th season of basketball and fourth season in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa will close non-conference play with an 8 p.m. matchup at Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
• OSU leads the all-time series against the Hurricane, 73-38, but TU won the last meeting in Stillwater, 66-56, back on Dec. 2, 2015.
• Tulsa is coming off n 80-66 win over Manhattan last Saturday. Junior Etou led the way with 24 points, while Corey Henderson Jr. added 13 points.
• Junior Etou leads the team at 18.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg and those marks rank fourth and 12th in The American, respectively. The senior also ranks fifth in the circuit with a .575 field goal percentage.
• Tulsa is shooting 47.1-percent from the floor, which ranks third in The American. TU has shot at least 45-percent in eight contests, including five games of at least 50-percent shooting.
• The Hurricane also rank fifth in the conference by averaging 77.5 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points six times.
• Sterling Taplin is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 ppg to go along with a team-high 4.3 assists per outing.
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 12.3 ppg in his last six contests.
• After posting a -4.5 rebound margin through its first six games, TU has out-rebounded its opponent in each of its last five games for a +11.6 rebound margin. TU has outrebounded its opponent by double digits in three of those five games.
• 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 make the short drive west to Stillwater for an 8 p.m. matchup at Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Dec. 19, to close non-conference action.
• Tuesday's game can be seen on FOX Sports Oklahoma, while fans in the Tulsa area can tune to Big Country 99.5 FM with Bruce Howard and former Hurricane player J.R. Rollo calling the action. Live audio from the game also can be found on tulsahurricane.com or by using the TuneIn app.

The Series
• Tuesday's contest will mark the 112th all-time meeting between Tulsa and Oklahoma State. The Cowboys lead the series 73-38, including a 41-15 mark in Stillwater.
• TU defeated OSU, 66-56, on Dec. 2, 2015, in its last trip to Gallagher-Iba Arena. It was the program's first win in Stillwater since 1985.
• Wichita State (126 games) and Drake (119) are the only programs that TU has faced more than Oklahoma State.

Scouting the Cowboys
• Oklahoma State comes into Tuesday's game having won five of its last six games, including a 71-70 neutral-site victory over Florida State last Saturday.
• Jeffrey Carroll leads a balanced scoring effort for OSU at 14.1 ppg and the Cowboys have eight players that average at least 7.6 ppg.
• The Cowboys' scoring defense (64.6 ppg) ranks among the top 50 in the nation and opponents are shooting just 40.4-percent from the floor this season.

Last Time Out
• Junior Etou scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting and TU neared a season high by shooting 54.2-percent on its way to an 80-66 win over Manhattan on Saturday night at the Reynolds Center.
• The Hurricane went on an early 13-0 run and led by double-digits the entire second half.
• The victory gave the Hurricane its fifth win in its last six games.
• TU outrebounded its fifth consecutive opponent with a 35-29 advantage on the glass.

Sharp Shooting
• TU is shooting 47.1-percent from the floor to rank third in the American Athletic Conference. The squad has shot better than 45-percent eight times, including at least 50-percent in five contests.
• Junior Etou ranks fifth in the league by shooting 57.5-percent (61-of-106) this season. In all, seven players are shooting better than 45-percent during the campaign.
• The team's hot shooting has helped the offense rank fifth in the circuit by averaging 77.5 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points six times this season.
• Freshman Elijah Joiner is shooting 48.4-percent behind the arc and is second on the team with 15 3-pointers made.

Trending
• Junior Etou has attempted at least 10 free throws four times this season. Etou ranks eighth in the nation with 94 free-throw attempts this season and seventh in the nation in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (8.4) via kenpom.com.
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 12.3 ppg in his last six contests.
• TU is 2-0 on the road against Big 12 Conference opponents under head coach Frank Haith, which includes a 66-56 win at Oklahoma State on Dec. 2, 2015. In all, Haith's teams have won eight of their last 10 road games against Big 12 competition.

Crashing The Boards
• After being outrebounded in five of its first six games with a rebound margin of -4.5 rpg, Tulsa has crashed the glass and outrebounded its opponents by a combined 208-150 (41.6-30.0; +11.6 rpg) in its last five contests.
• TU has outrebounded three opponents (UTSA, Illinois State, Kansas State) during that stretch by double-digits, including two games (UTSA, Illinois State) with a +20 rebund margin.
• During that stretch, Junior Etou has led the way by averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, while Martins Igbanu (6.2) and DaQuan Jeffries (6.0) are not far behind.
• The Hurricane is 5-1 this season when outrebounding its opponent.

Haith In His Fourth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fourth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 65-44 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 270-173 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.
• So far in 2017-18, Etou leads the Hurricane in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). Those marks rank fourth and 12th in the conference, respectively.
• Etou has scored in double-figures 10 times, including five games of at least 20 points.

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.
• 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.
• TU's four newcomers have totaled 260 points (23.6 ppg), led by 91 points (11.4 ppg) from DaQuan Jeffries.

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 231-71 (.765) in its 19+ seasons, including a 5-1 mark this season.
• The building has seen 41 sellouts and 1,811,427 fans have witnessed Tulsa basketball at the Reynolds Center.

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).

TU Adds Three in the Early Signing Period
• Tulsa has signed three student-athletes — Chris Barnes, Peter Hewitt and Zeke Moore — to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period.
• All three signees are enrolled at junior colleges and will have three years of eligibility at TU.
• Barnes is a 6-foot-4 guard from Compton, Calif., who played his freshman season at UTEP. He appeared in 16 games for the Miners after earning all-conference honors as a senior at Compton HS. He is redshirting this season at Angelina College.
• Peter Hewitt is a 6-foot-10 forward from Mountain View, Calif., who redshirted last season at UC Davis. He currently plays for Las Positas College and he has helped the team average 84.2 ppg and start 10-4 this season. Hewitt was a three-year letterwinner at Saint Francis High School and led the Lancers to a pair of West Coast Athletic League titles.
• Zeke Moore is a 6-foot-7 guard from St. Louis, Mo., who played his freshman season at Saint Louis. He saw action in 29 games and averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 rebounds before transferring to Southwest Illinois CC, where he is redshirting this season. Moore was a standout at Riverview Gardens HS for his father, head caoch Gerard Moore, and he averaged 21.1 ppg as a senior.

Next Up
• Tulsa will open American Athletic Conference play against ECU (5-4) at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, at the Reynolds Center. The squad then will close out the calendar year at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31, at Tulane (7-3).

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