Game is ON Tonight… Tulsa vs. UCF at 8 PM

Wednesday, February 21

Reynolds Center

8 PM

Tulsa

UCF

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Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Game is ON Tonight… Tulsa vs. UCF at 8 PM

2/20/2018 10:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME #27: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (16-10, 9-5) vs UCF KNIGHTS (17-9, 8-6)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • Feb. 21 • 8 p.m.
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year UCF – Johnny Dawkins (Duke '86), 2nd year
TV:	ESPNEWS (Matt Stewart and Mark Wise)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 12-7
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| UCF

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team hosts UCF tonight in a pivotal American Athletic Conference contest. The game is set for an 8 p.m. tip-off at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The Golden Hurricane (16-10, 9-5) sit one game ahead of the Knights (17-9, 8-6) in fourth place in the conference standings and Wednesday's matchup will be the only game between the two during the regular-season.

Tulsa enters the game on a five-game winning streak after victories last week at UConn and against USF. Sterling Taplin averaged 18.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game during the week to earn a spot on The American Weekly Honor Roll. The junior went 10-of-12 from the floor and poured in a career-high 30 points in the squad's first-ever win at UConn.

Meanwhile, UCF will come to the Reynolds Center riding a three-game winning streak that includes victories over Memphis, SMU and USF. The Knights were picked to finish third in the league after returning three starters and six letterwinners from last year's team, which went 24-12 and reached the semifinals of the NIT. B.J. Taylor has been limited to 10 games this season due to an injury, but his 14.0 ppg leads the team. AJ Davis is averaging 11.7 ppg, while Dayon Griffin has appeared in each contest and is averaging 8.9 ppg.

Tulsa leads the all-time series, 12-7, and has won all nine matchups at the Reynolds Center.

In addition, the Storm Center fan shop will be discounting everything in the store 25-percent on game day.

Fast Break Points
• Tulsa is in its 107th season of basketball and fourth season in the American Athletic Conference.
• TU will look to extend its season-best five-game winning streak when it hosts UCF at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
• Wednesday's game will mark the 20th all-time meeting between Tulsa and UCF and the Golden Hurricane lead series, 12-7, including a 9-0 mark in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• Tulsa is coming off a 73-61 win over USF on Sunday afternoon at the Reynolds Center. Martins Igbanu scored 14 of his team-high 16 points after halftime and TU bridged the halves with a combined 19-0 run to break the game open.
• With the win over USF, Tulsa surpassed last season's win total and the program now has recorded at least 15 wins in 11 consecutive seasons.
• Sterling Taplin was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after he averaged 18.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in wins last week over UConn and USF.
• Junior Etou leads the team at 15.3 ppg and 7.9 rpg and those marks rank seventh and third in The American, respectively. His 9.2 rpg during conference play lead the league.
• Tulsa is the only team in The American to have three different players score at least 30 points in a game this season.
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 11.9 ppg in his last 20 contests.
• After posting a -4.5 rebound margin through its first six games, TU has recorded a +4.8 rebound margin since. TU has outrebounded its opponent by double-digits six times during that stretch.
• TU has notched 43 league wins since joining The American, which ranks third behind only Cincinnati (53) and SMU (50) during that span (2014-present).
• 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 continue American Athletic Conference play at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, when it will host UCF at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• This will be the only meeting between the Knights and Golden Hurricane this season. Tulsa also faces Cincinnati, SMU and Houston only once during the regular-season.
• Wednesday's game can be seen on ESPNEWS, 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
• Wednesday's game will mark the 20th all-time meeting between Tulsa and UCF. The Golden Hurricane own a 12-7 lead in the series and it has won all nine matchups in Tulsa.
• TU has won four of the last five matchups with UCF. The Knights took a 71-53 win over the Hurricane in the last meeting, on Feb. 14, 2017, in Orlando, Fla.
• The series dates back to Dec. 19, 1981, when the Hurricane claimed a 69-58 win in Tulsa. The teams have met 17 times as conference foes in Conference USA (2005-13) and The American (2014-present).

Scouting the Knights
• UCF will come to the Reynolds Center on Wednesday riding a three-game winning streak that includes wins over Memphis, USF and SMU. The Knights sit a game back of Tulsa in the league standings at 8-6.
• The Knights were picked to finish third in the league after returning three starters and six letterwinners from last year's team, which went 24-12 and reached the semifinals of the NIT.
• BJ Taylor has been limited to 10 games this season due to an injury, but his 14.0 ppg leads the team. AJ Davis is averaging 11.7 ppg, while Dayon Griffin has appeared in each contest and is averaging 8.9 ppg.
• The Knights rank 11th in the league in scoring offense (63.0 ppg), but rank second in scoring defense (60.3 ppg).

Last Meeting
• Martins Igbanu scored a then-career-high 15 points, but Tulsa shot just 29-percent as UCF scored a 71-53 win over the Golden Hurricane on Feb. 14, 2017, at CFE Arena.
• Igbanu came into the game with just one 3-point attempt during his rookie campaign and proceeded to go 3-for-4 behind the arc on his way to 15 points.
• Nick Banyard led four UCF players in double-figures with 18 points, while BJ Taylor had 15 points.
• Tulsa trailed by just three points, 43-40, with 11:36 to play, but was outscored 28-13 the rest of the way.

Last Time Out
• Martins Igbanu led four players in double-figures with 16 points as Tulsa claimed its fifth consecutive win with a 73-61 victory over USF on Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• Igbanu went 7-of-9 from the floor and scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for the Golden Hurricane, who bridged the halves with a 19-0 run to take control.
• Junior Etou, Curran Scott and DaQuan Jeffries each added 11 points, while Etou neared a double-double with nine rebounds to go along with five assists.
• After closing the first half on an 8-0 run, Tulsa opened the final stanza with an 11-0 spurt to blow the game open.
• Tulsa forced nine missed USF shots to open the final period and the Bulls went 0-of-17 from the 5-minute mark of the first half to the 14:31-mark of the second half.
• Tulsa led by as much as 24 points in the second half and cruised to the victory.

The Schedule
• Tulsa experienced a tough January stretch that saw the the Golden Hurricane play all seven of its games against opponents that are currently ranked in the top 115 of the RPI, with four of those matchups coming on the road.
• TU faced Wichita State (16), Houston (19), Temple (44), UConn (108) and Memphis (114) in January.
• February started with a victory over SMU (99) and another over UConn (108). The month also includes games against UCF (65) and Cincinnati (11).
• TU head coach Frank Haith has dubbed the final nine games of the regular season (Feb. 1-March 4), "the back nine" and the Hurricane has started that stretch with five "birdies" (5-0).

Trending
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 11.9 ppg in his last 21 contests.
• Junior Etou has seven double-doubles this season, including six during conference play. Those six double-doubles during league play are tied with Cincinnati's Gary Clark for most in the circuit.
• With TU's win over USF on Sunday, the Hurricane surpassed last season's win total and the program now has recorded at least 15 wins in each of the last 11 seasons.
• TU is 54-7 under head coach Frank Haith when leading at halftime, including a 12-1 mark this season.

Pick Your Poison
• Tulsa's balanced offensive attack has kept opponents off-guard all season, but particularly during American Athletic Conference play.
• During conference action, TU has four different players averaging in double-figures: Junior Etou (12.9 ppg), Sterling Taplin (12.1 ppg), Corey Henderson Jr. (12.0 ppg) and Martins Igbanu (11.4 ppg).
• Five different players have led TU in scoring during its 14 conference games (four listed above and DaQuan Jeffries).
• For the season, Tulsa has three different players that have scored 30 points in a game, which is tops in the league, while five different players have scored at least 20 points in a game.

Henderson Dialing Long Distance
• Senior guard Corey Henderson Jr. is TU's top threat behind the arc and he will enter Wednesday's matchup with UCF third in The American with 41 3-pointers (2.9 per game) made during conference action.
• After hitting just two treys in the first five games of the season, Henderson Jr. has had at least two 3-pointers in 16 of the last 21 games. He has hit at least four triples in a game seven times, including five times since the start of conference play.
• He is the 10th player in TU history to record 50 or more triples in two or more consecutive seasons and this is the 12th consecutive season that at least one TU player has scored 50 or more 3-point field goals.

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 +4.8 margin (40.0-35.2) in its last 20 contests.
• TU has outrebounded six opponents (UTSA, Illinois State, Kansas State, Tulane [2x], USF) during that stretch by double-digits, including three games (UTSA, Illinois State, Tulane) with at least a +20 rebound margin.
• During that stretch, Junior Etou has led the way by averaging 8.4 rebounds per game, including a career-high 15 boards against Temple (Jan. 17) and SMU (Feb. 1). Martins Igbanu also has helped crash the glass at 5.8 rpg.
• The Hurricane is 12-2 this season when outrebounding its opponent.

Free Fallin'
• The Hurricane rank second in the league and 50th in the nation with 616 free throws attempted, while it leads the league and ranks 37th in the country with 448 free throw makes.
• TU is connecting at a 72.7-percent mark at the charity stripe to rank fourth in The American.
• TU has shot more free throws than its opponent 20 times this season and own a 14-6 record in those games.
• TU is averaging more free throws made per game (17.2) than its opponents attempt (15.9). The Hurricane rank 21st in the nation with just 422 fouls committed (16.2 per game) this season.
• The Golden Hurricane rank 13th in the nation in free-throw rate (42.1) by kenpom.com.
• Junior Etou leads the team and ranks second in The American with 157 free throws attempted. In addition, his 112 free throws made rank third in the conference.

Tulsa 3 Party
• Tulsa hit a then-American Athletic Conference record 17 3-pointers in its Jan. 3 double-overtime win over UConn. The total was just one shy of the program's record, set against North Texas on Dec. 8, 1998.
• Other than its program-record 18 triples in 1998, TU last hit 15 3-pointers against Jackson State on Dec. 17, 2009.
• Corey Henderson Jr. hit eight 3-pointers, which ties for the second-most in a single game in program history. James Woodard went 10-of-16 from deep against SMU on March 8, 2015, for the program record, while Jason Parker also hit eight treys against Wichita State on Dec. 4, 2002.
• Henderson became the sixth player in American Athletic Conference history to hit at least eight 3-pointers in a game and the first to do it since UCF's Matt Williams hit a league-record 11 on Jan. 17, 2017.

Tulsa's Success in The American
• Since joining the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2014-15 season, the Golden Hurricane has posted 43 league wins, ranks third in the circuit during that time.
• Only Cincinnati (53 wins) and SMU (50 wins) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 43, which tops UConn (36) and Memphis (34) along with six 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.

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.
•So far, Tulsa has made 109 3-pointers in 12 games during the challenge.

Haith In His Fourth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fourth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 74-50 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 279-179 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 has faced three other coaches on that list this season when TU matched up against Tubby Smith (Memphis), Kelvin Sampson (Houston) and Bruce Weber (Kansas State).

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 (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg). Those marks rank seventh and third in the conference, respectively.
• Etou has scored in double-figures 23 times, including six games of at least 20 points. He has recorded seven double-doubles, six of which have come during conference play.
• Etou has been named the conference's Player of the Week twice (Jan. 2, Feb. 5) and to the league's weekly honor roll three times.

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 461 points (17.7 ppg), led by 200 points (10.0 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 237-72 (.767) in its 19+ seasons, including an 11-2 mark this season.
• The building has seen 42 sellouts and 1,845,483 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 is averaging 10.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. 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 coach Gerard Moore, and he averaged 21.1 ppg as a senior.

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