Basketball Opens C-USA Play at Home vs. Tulane Thursday
1/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2014
TULSA, Okla. - The Tulsa men's basketball team opens Conference USA play at home Thursday when it plays host to Tulane at 8 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
The Golden Hurricane (5-9, 0-0 C-USA) will begin conference play in its home arena for the first time since the 2009-10 season when it also opened against Tulane. The Hurricane has won four in a row at home this season. The Green Wave (8-7) has won three of its last five games.
Tickets for the games are available by visiting the TU Athletics Ticket Office in the Reynolds Center, by calling 918-631-GoTU (4688), or online at www.TulsaHurricane.com. The game will be broadcast on the Hurricane Radio Network, KRMG AM 740/102.3 FM in Tulsa, and network affiliates. The game will also be televised by Comcast Sports Net in select Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia and on CSS in the Southeast.
Sophomore guard James Woodard leads Tulsa in scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Rashad Smith scores 12.4 points with 5.4 rebounds per game. Shaquille Harrison averages 9.5 points and 3.4 assists per contest. Senior guard Pat Swilling Jr. averages 8.4 points per contest. Sophomore forward D'Andre Wright averages 7.1 points, sophomore guard Rashad Ray scores 4.2 points with 2.4 assists and Lew Evans scores 5.2 points per outing.
The Golden Hurricane averages 72.3 points and 34.1 rebounds per game, shooting .431 from the field, including .352 from 3-point territory. Hurricane opponents average 74.5 points and 37.6 rebounds, while shooting .432 from the field.
Tulane is led in scoring by Louis Dabney, who averages 18.3 points per game, and by Jonathan Stark, who scores 16.7 points per contest. Jay Hook averages 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per outing, and Tre Drye leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game. Starks adds 4.3 assists per contest. The Green Wave averages 68.2 points and 34.0 rebounds per game, shooting .423 from the field. Tulane opponents average 72.2 points and 32.6 rebounds per contest, while shooting .464 from the field.
This is the 16th meeting between Tulsa and Tulane. Tulsa leads the series, 10-5. The Golden Hurricane has won six of the last seven meetings, including four in a row in Tulsa. The Hurricane won 78-66 at home on March 2 last season, overcoming a 22-point second-half deficit to win. The Green Wave took a 75-72 win in New Orleans on Jan. 19. The Golden Hurricane won five in a row in the series between 2010-12. The Hurricane has won eight games in the series since joining Conference USA in 2005-06, by an average margin of 6.3 points. The Green Wave has won four games in the series since 2005-06, by an average margin of 2.0 points, including two overtime contest. The Hurricane is 6-1 against Tulane all-time in Tulsa.
Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa Men's Basketball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TUMBasketball and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaMBasketball.
