Tulsa Set to Take On Kansas State in Wichita on Saturday

Saturday, December 9

Wichita, Kan.

7 PM

Tulsa

Kansas State

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Set to Take On Kansas State in Wichita on Saturday

12/7/2017 11:22:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME #9 ... TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (4-4) vs. KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (8-1)
Date/Time:	Saturday • Dec. 9 • 7 p.m.
Site:	INTRUST Bank Arena (15,004) • Wichita, Kan.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year Kansas State – Bruce Weber (Wisconsin-Milwaukee '78), 6th year
TV:	ESPN3 (Ben Boyle and Stan Weber)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 5-1
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Kansas State

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will face Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9, in the Wichita Wildcat Classic at INTRUST Bank Arena.

The Golden Hurricane (4-4) will look to bounce back from a 65-58 setback at Illinois State last Saturday in Normal, Ill. Tulsa pulled down a season-high 49 rebounds in the contest and had a +20 rebound margin for the second straight contest after also doing so against UTSA.

For the season, the Hurricane is averaging 79.2 ppg, which ranks fifth in the American Athletic Conference, and shooting 47.1-percent. Junior Etou continues to lead the way by averaging 16.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest, while Sterling Taplin checks in at 13.4 ppg and a team-leading 3.8 assists per contest.

Picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 Conference, Kansas State returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's team that went 21-14 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have four players averaging in double-figures, led by junior guard Kamau Stokes' 15.3 ppg. Junior guard Barry Brown is not far behind at 14.8 ppg and junior forward Dean Wade is averaging 13.0 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game.

K-State is coming off an 86-49 win over USC Upstate on Tuesday night and the squad is averaging 78.9 ppg.

Tulsa leads the all-time series against the Wildcats, 5-1. The series dates back to 1965 and TU won the last meeting, 72-61, on Dec. 12, 1990, in Tulsa behind 18 points from Reggie Shields.

Fast Break Points
• Tulsa is in its 107th season of basketball and fourth season in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa will face Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9, in the Wichita Wildcat Classic at INTRUST Bank Arena. TU played in the arena's first-ever basketball game, an 82-79 setback against Wichita State on Dec. 21, 2010.
• TU leads the all-time series against Kansas State, 5-1, including a pair of wins on the Wildcats' home floor. The series dates back to 1965 and Tulsa won the last meeting, 72-61, on Dec. 12, 1990.
• Tulsa is coming off a 65-58 loss last Saturday at Illinois State. Junior Etou led the way with 10 points and eight rebounds, but the Redbirds went on a late 11-0 run to rally for the victory.
• Junior Etou leads the team at 16.8 ppg and 6.4 rpg and those marks rank ninth and 10th in The American, respectively. The senior also ranks ninth in the circuit with a .574 field goal percentage.
• Tulsa is shooting 47.1-percent from the floor, which ranks fifth in The American. TU has shot at least 45-percent in six of its eight contests, including four games of at least 50-percent shooting.
• The Hurricane also rank fifth in the conference by averaging 79.2 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points five times.
• Sterling Taplin is second on the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg to go along with a team-high 3.8 assists per outing. Taplin and Etou lead the team with seven games scoring in double-figures.
• The 2017-18 schedule will see Tulsa play 11 games against opponents that participated in the postseason last year, with four of those matchups coming at home. K-State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season.
• 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 face Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9, in the Wichita Wildcat Classic at INTRUST Bank Arena. TU played in the arena's first-ever basketball game, an 82-79 setback against Wichita State on Dec. 21, 2010.
• Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN3, FOX Sports Kansas City and K-StateHD.tv, 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
• Saturday's contest will mark the seventh all-time meeting between the Golden Hurricane and the Wildcats and TU leads the series 5-1. TU has won two of the three meetings on the Wildcats' home floor.
• The series dates back to the 1965-66 season, when TU took a 70-63 win in Manhattan, Kan., on Dec. 4, 1965. TU won the first four games of the series before K-State defeated the Hurricane, 75-69, on Dec. 14, 1989.
• TU won the last meeting, 72-61, on Dec. 12, 1990, in Tulsa behind 18 points from Reggie Shields.

Scouting the Wildcats
• Picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 Conference, Kansas State returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's team that went 21-14 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Wildcats have four players averaging in double-figures, led by junior guard Kamau Stokes' 15.3 ppg. Junior guard Barry Brown is not far behind at 14.8 ppg and junior forward Dean Wade is averaging 13.0 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game.
• K-State is coming off an 86-49 win over USC Upstate on Tuesday night and the squad is averaging 78.9 ppg.

Last Time Out
• Illinois State erased a Tulsa lead with an 11-0 run late in the second half to rally for a 65-58 win over the Golden Hurricane last Saturday at Redbird Arena.
• Junior Etou neared a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Jaleel Wheeler tied a career high with nine boards.
• TU led 49-47 with 8:31 to play, but was limited to just a pair of field goals and two free throws the rest of the way.
• Tulsa registered a season-high 49 rebounds and had a +20 advantage on the glass.

Sharp Shooting
• TU is shooting 47.1-percent from the floor to rank fifth in the American Athletic Conference. The squad has shot better than 45-percent in six of the team's eight games, including at least 50-percent in four contests.
• DaQuan Jeffries ranks second in the league by shooting 62.1-percent (36-of-58), while Junior Etou ranks ninth at 57.4-percent. In all, six players are shooting better than 45-percent this season.
• The team's hot shooting has helped the offense rank fifth in the circuit by averaging 79.2 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points in all but three contests.

Trending
• 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 96-56 (+20 rpg) in its last two contests. TU held a 49-29 rebounding advantage in last Saturday's game at Illniois State after the Redbirds owned a 34-32 rebounding edge in the first meeting between the teams.
• Junior Etou has attempted at least 10 free throws in four of his last five games. During that time he is 38-53 (.717) at the charity stripe. Etou ranks 12th in the nation with 72 free-throw attempts this season.
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 13.3 ppg in his last three contests.

Haith Enters Fourth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fourth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 62-44 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 267-173 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 (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). Those marks rank ninth and 10th in the conference, respectively.
• Etou has scored in double-figures seven times, including three 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 222 points (27.8 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 229-71 (.763) in its 19+ seasons, including a 3-1 mark this season.
• The building has seen 41 sellouts and 1,804,730 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 99.0 ppg and start 3-0 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.

Season Tickets Available Now
• Season tickets for Tulsa's full home schedule are on sale now.
• 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).

Next Up
• Tulsa will return home for a pair of matchups next week, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday, Dec. 14, against Prairie View A&M. The game can be seen on ESPN3.