Tulsa vs. Temple: MBB Game 22 Preview

TULSA (14-7, 6-3 American) at TEMPLE (12-8, 6-3 American)
Date/Time:	Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Site:	Liacouras Center (10,206)
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88) – 37-18, 2nd year Temple – Fran Dunphy (LaSalle '70) – 206-116, 10th year
TV:	ESPNU (Alex Faust and Brooke Weisbrod)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 4-0
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Temple

TULSA, Okla. – The Tulsa men's basketball team plays a big American Athletic Conference contest at Temple Thursday at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

Both teams are 6-3 in The American, and tied for second place, along with Cincinnati, one game in the loss column behind SMU. The Golden Hurricane is 14-7 overall, while the Owls are 12-8 overall on the ledger. The Hurricane has won six of its last seven games, including a 62-48 win over Tulane on Saturday.

The game will be broadcast on Big Country 99.5 FM and the Golden Hurricane Radio Network, and televised on ESPNU.

The Series
This will be the fifth meeting between Tulsa and Temple. Tulsa leads the series, 4-0. The Golden Hurricane won both meetings last season, 63-56 in Philadelphia on Jan. 10, and 55-39 in Tulsa on Feb. 22. The Hurricane also won the first-ever meeting between the schools on Dec. 9, 1995 – a 64-60 win in Philadelphia. Tulsa won the following year at home, 67-60, on Dec. 14, 1996.

About Temple
Temple averages 69.1 points and 36.5 rebounds per game, as well as a .405 field goal and .331 3-point percentage, while allowing 67.8 ppg, 38.0 rpg, a .413 field goal and a .300 3-point percentage. Quenton Decosey leads the Owls with 16.4 points per game, and adds 6.2 rebounds, while Jaylen Bond scores 9.8 points, and leads the team with 7.9 rebounds per contest. Devin Coleman and Obi Enechionyia add 9.6 and 9.2 points per outing, respectively.

Tulsa Statistical Leaders
James Woodard leads the Golden Hurricane with 16.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while Shaquille Harrison averages 15.1 points and a matching 5.2 rebounds, along with 3.8 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. Pat Birt adds 9.8 points, Rashad Smith scores 7.0 points, and Brandon Swannegan puts up 6.4 points. Tulsa averages 72.9 ppg, 34.9 rpg, a .436 field goal percentage, .325 3-point pct. and a .665 free throw pct. The Hurricane allows opponents 67.5 ppg, 37.2 rpg, a .408 field goal pct. and a .343 3-point pct.

Quick Hits
• Tulsa has won six of its last seven games.
• Tulsa defeated Tulane, 62-48, Saturday at the Reynolds Center to sweep the season series. Brandon Swannegan put up his second career double-double with a career-best 19 points and adding 11 rebounds. Sterling Taplin scored 12 points, and James Woodard added 10 points.
• Through 21 games this season, Tulsa has a 1.2 assist/turnover ratio. TU has totaled 285 assists to 232 turnovers. In 2014-15 through 21 games, the Hurricane had 224 assists-242 turnovers–0.9 ratio.
• James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison make up the top scoring duo in the American Athletic Conference, averaging a combined 31.3 points per game and 43 percent of the team's total points.
• Tulsa is 4-3 on the road this season.
• In its last seven games (6 of 7 wins), the Hurricane has held opponents to 59.9 points, a .379 field goal percentage and a .262 3-point percentage. TU has also forced 111 turnovers (15.8) during that span.
• Rashad Ray has a 3.4 assist-turnover ratio this season (48 assists to 14 turnovers). For his career, Ray has a 1.9 assist-turnover ratio, including a 2.5 ratio over his last three years (231 assists to 94 turnovers).
• Harrison ranks 27^th in the nation in steals (2.1 spg).
• The Hurricane has scored 90 points in four games so far this season. It is the most 90-point games since 2013-14, when Tulsa scored 90 points five times, and is the second-most since 2000-01.
• Harrison is on the 2016 Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Early Season Watch List, from the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
• Harrison has been nominated for the Allstate NABC Good Works Team, which recognizes players at all levels of college basketball who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of volunteerism and civic involvement.
• TU nabbed the first two American Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards of the season. Woodard won the award on Nov. 16, and Harrison received the honor on Nov. 23.
• Tulsa is playing this season with nine seniors – the most seniors on one roster in the country.
• Tulsa is in its second year season under the direction of head coach Frank Haith. In his first season, the Hurricane posted a 23-11 overall record and a 14-4 conference record. TU finished second in the American Athletic Conference regular season, played in the semifinals of the conference tournament, and reached the second round of the postseason NIT.

Tulsa Career Top-10 Rankings
     James Woodard ranks fifth in TU career scoring with 1,728 points, and fifth with 238 career 3-pointers. He needs two threes to match Marcus Hill (1997-01) for fourth place, and needs 95 points to match Tracy Moore (1984-88) for fourth place.
     Harrison ranks third at TU with 228 career steals, and fourth with 409 career assists. He needs 43 steals to match Steve Harris (1981-85) for second place (271), and 16 assists to match Ben Uzoh (2006-10) for third place (425).
     Brandon Swannegan has 136 career blocks, ranking fifth in TU history. He has matched Eric Coley (1996-00) for fourth place, and needs 115 blocks to match Kevin Johnson (1999-03) for third place.

TulsaMBB    TulsaRISING     #ReignCane

Tulsa vs. Temple: MBB Game 22 Preview

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pat Birt

Shaquille Harrison

Rashad Ray

Rashad Smith

Brandon Swannegan

Sterling Taplin

James Woodard