Tulsa On the Road to Face No. 11 Cincinnati on Sunday

GAME #27: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (17-10, 10-5) vs CINCINNATI BEARCATS (24-4, 13-2)
Date/Time:	Sunday • Feb. 25 • 11 a.m. (CT)
Site:	BB&T Arena (9,400) • Highland Heights, Ky.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year Mick Cronin – Mick Cronin (Cincinnati '97), 12th year
TV:	CBS Sports Network (Carter Blackburn, Pete Gillen & Jordan Daigle)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 12-7
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Cincinnati

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will look to extend its six-game winning streak when it takes to the road for an 11 a.m. matchup at No. 11 Cincinnati on Sunday, Feb. 25 at BB&T Arena.

The Golden Hurricane (17-10, 10-5) retained sole possession of fourth place with a 70-61 win over UCF on Wednesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center behind 19 points off the bench from DaQuan Jeffries. Junior Etou added 17 points, all of which came in the second half, as Tulsa used a late 12-2 run to build a double-digit lead with two minutes to play.

TU finished with a season-high 18 assists on its 23 baskets and the Hurricane shot 53.5-percent to become the first UCF opponent this season to shoot better than 46-percent in a game.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats (24-4, 13-2) snapped a two-game skid with a 77-52 win over UConn on Thursday night at BB&T Arena. Cincinnati has won 40 of their last 41 home games, with the lone loss during that stretch coming against then-No. 19 Wichita State on Feb. 18. Jacob Evans leads four players averaging in double-figures at 13.3 ppg, while Gary Clark is averaging 12.9 points and a conference-leading 8.5 rebounds per game.

Cincinnati leads the all-time series 25-12.

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 six-game winning streak when it faces No. 11 Cincinnati at 11 a.m. (CT) on Sunday, Feb. 25 at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky.
• Sunday's game will mark the 38th all-time meeting betwen the programs and Cincinnati leads the series 25-12.
• Tulsa is coming off a 70-61 win over UCF on Wednesday night at the Reynolds Center. DaQuan Jeffries scored 19 points off the bench and TU (.535) became the first UCF opponent this season to shoot better than 46-percent.
• Tulsa has surpassed last season's overall (15) and conference (8) win totals and the program now has recorded at least 15 wins in 11 consecutive seasons.
• Tulsa's six-game winning streak is its longest since winning 12 straight games during the 2014-15 campaign, which was head coach Frank Haith's first season at TU.
• 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 15.4 ppg and 7.8 rpg and those marks rank seventh and third in The American, respectively. His 8.9 rpg during conference play lead the league.
• After posting a -4.5 rebound margin through its first six games, TU has recorded a +4.9 rebound margin since. TU has outrebounded its opponent by double-digits six times during that stretch.
• TU has notched 44 league wins since joining The American, which ranks third behind only Cincinnati (54) and SMU (51) 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 11 a.m. (CT) on Sunday, Feb. 25, when it will face No. 11 Cincinnati at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky.
• This will be the only meeting between the Bearcats and Golden Hurricane this season. Tulsa also faces UCF, SMU and Houston only once during the regular-season.
• Sunday's game can be seen on CBS Sports Network, 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
• Sunday's game will mark the 38th all-time meeting between Tulsa and Cincinnati. The Bearcats own a 25-12 lead in the series and have won 15 of the 17 matchups on their home court.
• Cincinnati has won five of the six meetings since Tulsa joined the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2014-15 season. The Hurricane and the Bearcats also were members of the Missouri Valley Conference together from 1957-69.
• The series dates back to Dec. 30, 1946, when the Bearcats took a 43-42 win over Tulsa in Cincinnati.

Scouting the Bearcats
• Cincinnati snapped a two-game skid with a 77-52 win over UConn on Thursday night at BB&T Arena. The American preseason favorites sit atop the conference standings with a 24-4 overall record and 13-2 league mark.
• The Bearcats have won 40 of their last 41 home games, with the lone loss during that stretch coming against then-No. 19 Wichita State on Feb. 18.
• Jacob Evans leads four players averaging in double-figures at 13.3 ppg, while Gary Clark is averaging 12.9 points and a conference-leading 8.5 rebounds per game.
• Cincinnati leads the nation in scoring margin (+18.9) and ranks second in scoring defense (56.9 ppg).

Last Meeting
• Corey Henderson Jr. had 15 points and Sterling Taplin added 10, but No. 7-seed Tulsa dropped an 80-61 decision to No. 2-seed Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on March 10, 2017, at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
• Cincinnati slowly built a double-digit lead in the first half after a 7-7 tie in the early minutes and the Bearcats had a 15-point edge at halftime.
• Kyle Washington led Cincinnati with 21 points, while Jacob Evans added 20 and Troy Caupain finished with 15.

Last Time Out
• DaQuan Jeffries came off the bench to score 19 points and Tulsa used a late 12-2 run to pull away for its sixth consecutive win with a 70-61 victory over UCF on Wednesday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• With the victory, the Hurricane retained sole possession of fourth place in the American Athletic Conference standings with three games to go in the regular-season.
• Junior Etou added 17 points, all of which came in the second half, and Tulsa shot 53.5-percent to become the first UCF opponent to shoot better than 46-percent this season.
• TU also finished with a season-high 18 assists on its 23 baskets, led by six from Sterling Taplin.
• A highlight, and-1 dunk from Jeffries sparked a 9-1 run for a 51-46 lead. UCF came back to tie the score at 53 with 7:38 remaining before Tulsa's game-deciding 12-2 run made it 65-55 with two minutes to play.

We're Going Streaking!
• Here's a closer look at Tulsa's six-game winning streak, which has allowed the Hurricane to climb out of a tie for seventh place to sole possession of fourth place in The American standings.
• During the streak, Tulsa has outscored its opponents by an average of 7.1 ppg (74.3-67.2). Five of the six wins have come by single-digits, including a pair of two-point wins over Tulane (Feb. 8) and UConn (Feb. 15).
• TU has produced a +7.2 rebound margin (38.0-30.8) during the stretch by outrebounding five of its six opponents during the streak, including a pair of games with a double-digit rebound margin.
• Tulsa has taken care of business at home, where four of its wins have come during the streak. TU is 12-2 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center this season.
• In addition to holding teams to an average of 30.8 rebounds, the TU defense has limited opponents to just 41.7-percent shooting and has committed just 91 fouls (15.2 pg) that have led to just 85 free throws (14.2 pg).

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 125 of the RPI, with four of those matchups coming on the road.
• TU faced No. 13 Wichita State (15), Houston (19), Temple (44), UConn (108) and Memphis (116) in January.
• Tulsa has wins over SMU (93), UConn (108) and UCF (65) in February and the month also concludes with a matchup at No. 11 Cincinnati (12).
• 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 six "birdies" (6-0).

Trending
• Tulsa's six-game winning streak is its longest since winning 12 straight games during the 2014-15 campaign, which was head coach Frank Haith's first season at TU.
• 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.
• The Hurricane has surpassed last season's overall (15) and conference (8) win totals and the program now has recorded at least 15 wins in each of the last 11 seasons.
• TU is 55-7 under head coach Frank Haith when leading at halftime, including a 13-1 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 (13.2 ppg), Sterling Taplin (11.9 ppg), Corey Henderson Jr. (11.6 ppg) and Martins Igbanu (10.9 ppg).
• Five different players have led TU in scoring during its 15 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 Sunday's matchup at No. 11 Cincinnati fourth in The American with 43 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 17 of the last 22 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 +4.9 margin (39.4-34.5) in its last 21 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 8.2 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 5.7 rpg.
• The Hurricane is 13-2 this season when outrebounding its opponent.

Free Fallin'
• The Hurricane rank second in the league and 51st in the nation with 635 free throws attempted, while it leads the league and ranks 39th in the country with 464 free throw makes.
• TU is connecting at a 73.1-percent mark at the charity stripe to rank third in The American.
• TU has shot more free throws than its opponent 21 times this season and own a 15-6 record in those games.
• TU is averaging more free throws made per game (17.2) than its opponents attempt (15.9). The Hurricane rank 25th in the nation with just 438 fouls committed (16.2 per game) this season.
• The Golden Hurricane rank 12th in the nation in free-throw rate (42.2) by kenpom.com.
• Junior Etou leads the team and ranks second in The American with 165 free throws attempted. In addition, his 119 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 44 league wins, ranks third in the circuit during that time.
• Only Cincinnati (54 wins) and SMU (51 wins) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 44.
• 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. No program in The American has finished better than its preseason prediction in four straight seasons, which Tulsa is on-pace to accomplish.

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 117 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 75-50 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 280-179 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.
• 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.
• In 2017-18, Etou leads the Hurricane in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). Those marks rank seventh and third in the conference, respectively.
• Etou has scored in double-figures 24 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.

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 482 points (17.9 ppg), led by 219 points (10.4 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 238-72 (.768) in its 19+ seasons, including a 12-2 mark this season.
• The building has seen 42 sellouts and 1,848,825 fans have witnessed Tulsa basketball at the Reynolds Center.

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.

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.

Up Next
• Tulsa will play its final road game of the regular-season at 6 p.m. (CT) on Thursday, March 1 when it heads back east for a matchup at ECU (10-16, 4-11).

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Tulsa On the Road to Face No. 11 Cincinnati on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Geno Artison

Junior Etou

Alex Foree

Corey Henderson Jr.

Jeriah Horne

Martins Igbanu

Darien Jackson

DaQuan Jeffries

Elijah Joiner

Lawson Korita

Curran Scott

Sterling Taplin

Jaleel Wheeler