TU to Host ECU on Thursday in American Athletic Conference Opener

Thursday, December 28

Reynolds Center

4 PM

Tulsa

ECU

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Photo by: Bill Powell

TU to Host ECU on Thursday in American Athletic Conference Opener

12/27/2017 11:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME #13 ... TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (7-5) vs. ECU PIRATES (6-5)
Date/Time:	Thursday • Dec. 28 • 4 p.m.
Site:	Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year ECU – Michael Perry (Richmond, '81), 1st year
TV:	ESPNU (Chuckie Kempf and Bryndon Manzer)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 16-3
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| ECU

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will open its fourth season in the American Athletic Conference at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, when it will host ECU at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The Golden Hurricane (7-5) went 5-1 at home during non-conference action and will look to improve that mark against the Pirates (6-5), who will be playing just their second game away from home this season. TU is 51-47 all-time in conference openers, including a 2-1 mark since it joined The American.

Junior Etou leads TU and ranks fourth in the conference at 18.1 ppg, while his .559 shooting percentage ranks sixth. The senior needs just nine points to reach 1,000 for his Division I career. Etou scored 372 points in two seasons at Rutgers and he has registered 619 points (14.4 ppg) in 44 games at TU.

Meanwhile, ECU comes into Thursday's matchup having won four of its last five games since head coach Jeff Lebo resigned and Michael Perry was elevated to interim head coach. The Pirates were picked to finish 11th in The American preseason poll. The squad returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's team, which went 15-18 overall and finished ninth in the league with a 6-12 mark. Senior guard B.J. Tyson leads three players averaging in double-figures at 15.5 ppg. Fellow guard Isaac Fleming is not far behind at 14.6 ppg, while guard/forward Kentrell Barkley checks in at 13.0 ppg to go along with a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game.

TU leads the all-time series against ECU, 16-3, including an 8-1 mark at home. This is the second time that the programs will meet in a conference-opening game. The Hurricane took a 67-49 win over the Pirates on Jan. 10, 2007, to open Conference USA action that season.

Fast Break Points
• Tulsa is in its 107th season of basketball and fourth season in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa will open American Athletic Conference play at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, when it hosts ECU at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• TU leads the all-time series against the Pirates, 16-3, including an 8-1 mark in Tulsa.
• Tulsa is coming off a 71-59 setback at Oklahoma State on Dec. 19 in the squad's final non-conference game.
• TU is 51-47 all-time in conference openers and it has won two of three conference openers since joining The American.
• Junior Etou leads the team at 18.1 ppg and 6.4 rpg and those marks rank fourth and 12th in The American, respectively. The senior also ranks sixth in the circuit with a .559 field goal percentage.
• Etou needs just nine points to reach 1,000 for his Division I career. The senior scored 372 points in two seasons at Rutgers and has registered 619 points in 44 games (14.1 ppg) at TU.
• Tulsa is shooting 46.3-percent from the floor, which ranks sixth 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 sixth in the conference by averaging 75.9 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points six times.
• After posting a -4.5 rebound margin through its first six games, TU has out-rebounded its opponent in five of its last six games for a +8.5 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 will open its fourth season of American Athletic Conference play at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, when it will host ECU at the Reynolds Center.
• Thursday's game can be seen on ESPNU, 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
• Thursday's contest will mark the 20th all-time meeting between Tulsa and ECU with the Golden Hurricane holding a 16-3 lead in the series. The teams split a pair of meetings last season with each team defending its home court.
• Tulsa has won seven of the last eight meetings against ECU.
• TU is 8-1 against ECU in Tulsa, including wins in its last five matchups against the Pirates at home.
• This is the second time that the programs will meet in a conference-opening game. The Hurricane took a 67-49 win over the Pirates on Jan. 10, 2007, to open Conference USA action.

Scouting the Pirates
• ECU comes into Thursday's game having won four of its last five games since head coach Jeff Lebo resigned on Nov. 29 and Michael Perry took over as interim head coach.
• The Pirates were picked to finish 11th in The American preseason poll. The squad returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's team, which went 15-18 overall and finished ninth in the league with a 6-12 mark.
• Senior guard B.J. Tyson leads three players averaging in double-figures at 15.5 ppg. Fellow guard Isaac Fleming is not far behind at 14.6 ppg, while guard/forward Kentrell Barkley checks in at 13.0 ppg to go along with a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game.

Last Time Out
• Junior Etou scored a game-high 18 points, but Oklahoma State went on a late 8-0 run to pull away for a 71-59 victory over Tulsa on Dec. 19 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• The contest served as the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Hurricane.
• TU led for all but three minutes of the first half and held a 46-44 edge with 11:30 to play before the Cowboys went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. The Hurricane got within 63-59 late, but OSU closed out the game with its 8-0 spurt.

Sharp Shooting
• TU is shooting 46.3-percent from the floor to rank sixth 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 sixth in the league by shooting 55.9-percent (66-of-118) 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 sixth in the circuit by averaging 75.9 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points six times this season.
• Freshman Elijah Joiner is shooting 44.1-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 ninth in the nation with 94 free-throw attempts this season and seventh in the nation in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (8.3) via kenpom.com.
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 11.7 ppg in his last seven contests.
• TU is 51-47 all-time in conference openers, including a 2-1 mark since joining The American. The Hurricane will open its conference slate at home for the third consecutive season.

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 240-189 (40.0-31.5; +8.5 rpg) in its last six 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 rebound margin.
• During that stretch, Junior Etou has led the way by averaging 6.5 rebounds per game, while Sterling Taplin (5.5 rpg) and Martins Igbanu (5.3 rpg) are not far behind.
• The Hurricane is 5-1 this season when outrebounding its opponent.

Free Fallin'
• Tulsa ranks fourth in The American with a 71.7-percent mark at the free-throw line.
• The Hurricane lead the league and rank 36th in the nation with 307 free throws attempted.
• TU has shot more free throws than its opponent nine times this season and own a 6-3 record in those games.
• Junior Etou leads the conference and ranks ninth in the nation with 102 free throws attempted. His 72 makes at the charity stripe also pace the league and rank 21st in the nation.

TU To Participate In Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge
• Making 3-point shots this basketball season takes on even more meaning this year for head coach Frank Haith and The University of Tulsa men's basketball team. The Golden Hurricane will square off against teams across the nation to fight cancer as part of the American Cancer Society's Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge.
• Fans can pledge a donation for each 3-point shot that TU makes over the final 16 games of the regular-season (Jan. 3-March 4) to support American Cancer Society research, education and patient programs at:
pledgeit.org/cvc18-tulsa.
• Fans also have the option of a fixed donation and Haith started the Golden Hurricane campaign with a contribution of $500.

Haith In His Fourth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fourth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 65-45 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 270-174 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 (6.4 rpg). Those marks rank fourth and 12th in the conference, respectively.
• Etou has scored in double-figures 11 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 268 points (22.3 ppg), led by 93 points (7.8 ppg) from Curran Scott.

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 continue American Athletic Conference play and close out 2017 when it travels south for a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday, Dec. 31, at Tulane (9-3). The Hurricane then will return home for a 6 p.m. matchup with UConn (7-5) on Jan. 3.

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