Tulsa Heads to Wichita for Havoc in the Heartland Matchup on Saturday

Saturday, February 2

Wichita, Kan.

1 PM

Tulsa

Wichita State

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Heads to Wichita for Havoc in the Heartland Matchup on Saturday

2/1/2019 11:25:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME #23: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (13-9, 3-6) vs WICHITA STATE SHOCKERS (9-11, 2-6)
Date/Time:	Saturday • Feb. 2 • 1 p.m.
Site:	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) • Wichita, Kan.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 5th year Wichita State – Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon '85), 12th year
TV:	ESPNU (Matt Schick & Sean Harrington)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Wichita State leads, 67-61
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Wichita State

Fast Break Points

• Tulsa is in its 108th season of basketball and fifth season in the American Athletic Conference.

• Tulsa will continue American Athletic Conference play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2 when it will take to the road for a matchup at Wichita State in the first Havoc in the Heartland game of the season.

• Both coaching staffs will wear green ties and a special lapel pin for Saturday's game, which has been designated a Fight for Literacy Game in conjunction with Coaching for Literacy to raise awareness about the issue of illiteracy.

• Wichita State leads the all-time series, 67-61, and the Shockers have won the last six games played in Wichita. Tulsa's last win in Wichita came on Dec. 8, 2001.

• Tulsa has faced Wichita State more than any other opponent in program history. The series dates back to Dec. 20, 1930, when the Hurricane defeated WSU, 32-30, in Wichita.

• Tulsa is coming off a 95-79 win over Memphis on Wednesday night. The Hurricane set season highs for points, field goals, field goal percentage, assists and steals. DaQuan Jeffries led the way with a career-high 25 points.

• DaQuan Jeffries leads the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg and rebounding at 5.7 rpg. Jeffries has led the team in scoring 11 times, including a career-high 25 points in a win over Memphis (Jan. 30). The Edmond native also averages a team-leading 14.8 ppg during conference play.

• TU has notched 49 league wins since joining The American, which is tied with Houston for the third-most in the circuit behind only Cincinnati (64) and SMU (55) during that span (2014-present).

• Tulsa was picked to finish ninth in The American Preseason Poll. TU has finished better than its preseason prediction in all four seasons under head coach Frank Haith.

• With a 10-3 non-conference record, Tulsa had its best start under head coach Frank Haith. The Hurricane registered 10 wins before the start of league play for the first time since 2009-10.

Notes

The Game

• The game can be seen on ESPNU, while fans in the Tulsa area can tune to Big Country 99.5 FM with Bruce Howard and former Hurricane player J.R. Rollo on the call. Live audio from the game also can be found by using the TuneIn app.

Scouting the Shockers

• Wichita State was picked to finish eighth in The American as the team returned no starters and just five lettermen from last year's team, which went 25-8 and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

• The Shockers rallied to snap a three-game skid with an 85-83 win over SMU on Wednesday night. WSU trailed by 11 in the first half and Samaje Haynes-Jones scored the game-winner with less than a second to play.

• Markis McDuffie leads the offense by averaging 18.5 ppg, a mark that ranks second in the league. Haynes-Jones is the only other player averaging in double-figures with 13.4 ppg.

• During conference play, the Shockers are averaging 67.6 points per outing, while opponents have shot 45.2-percent and averaged 74.9 ppg.

The Series

• Saturday's matchup marks the 129th all-time meeting between Tulsa and Wichita State. The Shockers hold a 67-61 lead in the series and WSU has won the last six games in Wichita. TU's last win in Wichita came on Dec. 8, 2001.

• Tulsa has faced Wichita State more than any other opponent in program history. The series dates back to Dec. 20, 1930, when the Hurricane defeated WSU, 32-30, in Wichita.

• Tulsa and Wichita State were members of the Missouri Valley Conference together from 1945-96.

Last Meeting

• Corey Henderson Jr. led all scorers with 28 points, but No. 17 Wichita State withstood a Tulsa rally in the second half and pulled away for a 90-71 win on Jan. 28. 2018, at Charles Koch Arena.

• Austin Reaves scored a career-high 23 points on the strength of seven 3-pointers to lead the Shockers.

• Tulsa used a 17-3 run in the second half to trim what was a 19-point deficit down to 57-52 with 12:45 to play. The Hurricane would get as close as 66-62 with 7:48 left before the Shockers pulled away for good with a 17-2 run over the next five minutes.

A Tulsa Win Would ...

• Improve Tulsa's record to 14-9 on the season and improve its conference record to 4-6.

• Snap a three-game losing streak overall against the Shockers and snap a six-game losing streak against WSU in Wichita. It would be Tulsa's first win in the Roundhouse since Dec. 8, 2001.

• Improve Tulsa's all-time record against Wichita State to 62-67.

Last Time Out

• Tulsa recorded season highs in points, field goals, field goal percentage and assists and got a career-high 25 points from DaQuan Jeffries in a 95-79 win over Memphis on Wednesday night at the Reynolds Center.

• Memphis scored the first basket, but Tulsa answered with an 11-0 run and led the rest of the night. The Hurricane lead was 21 points with 12:09 to play and it never dipped below nine the rest of the way.

• Curran Scott added 20 points for TU, which was his highest output since joining the Hurricane from Charlotte.

TU To Participate in Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge

• Making 3-point shots this basketball season takes on even more meaning for head coach Frank Haith, who serves on the Coaches vs. Cancer Council, 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 11 games of the regular-season to support American Cancer Society research, education and patient programs at: pledgeit.org/cvc19-tulsa.

• Fans also have the option of making a fixed donation to Coaches vs. Cancer. Haith matched all donations made by fans during the Houston game on Jan. 27 for a total of nearly $5,500 donated to Coaches vs. Cancer.

• So far, Tulsa has hit 15 triples in its two games during the 3-point challenge.

Havoc in the Heartland

• In August 2017, Tulsa and Wichita State announced the creation of a rivalry series that spans 13 varsity sports.

• Points are awarded for head-to-head regular-season victories in volleyball, basketball and softball or a higher finish

at conference championships in cross country, tennis, track & field and women's golf. A trophy will be awarded to the school with the most points at the end of each Academic Year.

• TU currently leads the series, 12-9, via wins in volleyball (3 pts), men's cross country (6 pts) and women's basketball (3 pts).

Nothing But NET

• Tulsa entered conference play with an NCAA NET ranking inside the top 100 and had a ranking of 90th as of Jan. 28.

• All nine of Tulsa's oppnents in the first half of its league schedule are ranked in the top 125, with eight games against opponents in the top 100. In all, Tulsa's total strength of schedule ranks No. 33 in the nation and is the second-toughest in The American behind Wichita State (No. 8).

• The Hurricane got two games against Houston (No. 8) and Cincinnati (No. 23) during the stretch along with matchups against UCF (No. 42), Memphis (No. 59), UConn (No. 76), USF (No. 80) and SMU (No. 119).

Haith Enters Fifth Season at TU

• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fifth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 90-61 record and led the Golden Hurricane to a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 295-190 (.608) in his 15th season.

• Haith's 90 wins on the TU bench rank seventh in program history as he passed former Golden Hurricane coaches Bill Self (74), Tubby Smith (74), Francis Schmidt (73), Chet Benefiel (65) and John Phillips (61) on the charts last season.

• Haith's 19.3 wins per season at TU rank fifth among those who coached more than one season for the Hurricane.

Haith in Exclusive Coaching Company

• Head coach Frank Haith is the one of just two active Division I head coaches to take teams in four of the Power 6 conferences to the NCAA Tournament (Houston's Kelvin Sampson is the other). 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 24 active coaches that have taken at least three different programs to the NCAA Tournament.

• Haith and the Hurricane will face two other members of that list this season, when the team takes on Bruce Weber and Kansas State (Dec. 8) before two matchups with Sampson and Houston (Jan. 2 and Jan. 27).

Climbing the Charts

• Senior point guard Sterling Taplin is climbing the career assists charts at TU and he entered the program's all-time top 10 with three assists against Utah on Dec. 1. He currently ranks sixth with 370 assists and needs 15 assists to pass Shea Seals (1993-97) and into the top five.

• Taplin had a career-high 10 assists in TU's win over South Carolina State (Nov. 10). With that effort, he became the 14th TU player to have at least 10 assists in a game and he was the first to do so since Ben Uzoh had 10 on Feb. 13, 2010.

• With 948 points, Taplin needs 52 points to become the 38th player in TU history to reach 1,000 career points.

DaQuan Does It All

• Senior DaQuan Jeffries is averaging a team-leading 14.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, while shooting 52.5-percent, which ranks eighth in The American.

• Jeffries had one of the best outings of his career on Nov. 27 against UT Arlington, when he went 10-of-11 from the floor to finish with 24 points. He had the best shooting percentage for a TU player who made at least 10 field goals since Charlie Davis went 11-of-12 (.916) against SMU on Jan. 19, 2002.

• In addition, Jeffries is tied for 19th on the program's career blocks list with 63 swats. He has 27 blocks this season, including a season-high three rejections against Little Rock (Nov. 19), UCF (Jan. 19) and Memphis (Jan. 30).

• Jeffries was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 10 after helping TU to wins over Oklahoma State (Dec. 5) and then-No. 16/15 Kansas State (Dec. 8).

Trending

• DaQuan Jeffries is averaging 16.4 ppg over his last five contests and he has reached double-figures in 11 of his last 12 games. He is shooting 54.2-percent in his last five games.

• The number 70 has been important for TU this season as the team is 11-1 when it scores at least 70 points in a game, while its record is 7-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 70 points.

• TU has improved its 3-point shooting since the start of conference play. The Hurricane shot 32.5-percent behind the arc and averaged 6.3 treys per game in its 13 non-conference games, while it has shot 39.2-percent (2nd in AAC) and is averaging 7.7 3-pointers made during league contests.

Tulsa's Success in The American

• Since joining the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2014-15 season, the Golden Hurricane has posted 49 league wins, which is tied with Houston for the third-most in the circuit during that time.

• Only Cincinnati (64) and SMU (55 wins) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 49.

• TU has finished better than its preseason prediction in each of Haith's four seasons. Tulsa is the first program in The American history to finish better than its preseason prediction in four consecutive seasons. The Golden Hurricane was picked to finish ninth in the conference prior to the 2018-19 season.

Free Fallin'

• The Hurricane rank second in the league in free throw attempts (543) and lead the circuit free throws made (377). Those marks both rank seventh in the nation.

• The squad is averaging 24.7 attempts per game with a season high of 40 in the win over California Baptist (Nov. 16). TU has shot more than 20 free throws in a game 14 times this season. The Hurricane has shot more than 30 free throws in a game eight times.

• Martins Igbanu leads the team at 5.5 free-throw attempts per game, while Chris Barnes (.783/18-of-23) leads the team in free-throw percentage.

Home Cookin'

• After hosting the first TU men's basketball game on Dec. 29, 1998, the Golden Hurricane is in its 21st season in the Donald W. Reynolds Center this year.

• Tulsa has posted an overall record of 250-74 (.772) in its 20+ seasons, including a 11-2 mark this season.

• The building has seen 42 sellouts and 1,909,702 fans have witnessed Tulsa basketball at the Reynolds Center.

• The Hurricane has won 26 of its last 30 games in the Reynolds Center.

• Tulsa's recent 15-game home winning streak was the second-longest streak since the Reynolds Center opened in 1998. The longest home winning streak in the building is 23 games, from Jan. 17, 2009 to Feb. 13, 2010.

Earning Degrees

• Frank Haith has made achievement in the classroom as much of a priority as success on the basketball court over his nearly 15 years as a head coach.

• During head coaching tenures at Miami, Missouri and Tulsa, 54 of the 58 (93.1-percent) seniors that have come through his programs have earned a degree.

• Since arriving at Tulsa, 14 of the program's 15 seniors (93.3-percent) have graduated, including Corey Haith, Corey Henderson Jr., Jaleel Wheeler and Junior Etou from last year's team.

• Additionally, Tulsa has had at least two student-athletes recognized on the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team in each of Haith's four seasons. Last year, both Alex Foree and Curran Scott made the team, which honors student-athletes with at least a 3.0 GPA.

Look Who's Back

• Tulsa returns eight letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team, which went 19-12 and finished fourth in The American with a 12-6 league mark.

• Returning starters include senior point guard Sterling Taplin (30 starts), junior forward Martins Igbanu (23) and junior guard Lawson Korita (17).

• Other returners include senior guard/forward DaQuan Jeffries, senior forward Alex Foree, junior guard Curran Scott and sophomore guards Elijah Joiner and Darien Jackson.

• In all, Tulsa returns 56.3-percent of its scoring, 56.7-percent of its minutes, 48.9-percent of its rebounding, 69.5-percent of its assists and 59.7-percent of its steals.

In Memory of Bob Patterson

• Tulsa will wear a "30" patch on its home uniforms this season to honor Bob Patterson (1951-55), who passed away in November. Patterson was Tulsa's first All-American and was the first TU player to be selected in the NBA Draft.

• A member of the TU Athletic Hall of Fame, Patterson still owns Tulsa single-season records for rebounds (370; 1954-55), free throws made (229; 1954-55) and free throws attempted (297; 1954-55).

• Patterson was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior and led the Hurricane to an MVC title and its first NCAA Tournament appearance. He also was named to the NCAA Western Regional Team that season.

Roster Experience

• Despite having seven newcomers on the roster for 2018-19, Tulsa features 10 players with Division I experience.

• Those 10 players have totaled 17 years of Division I experience, led by three years from senior Sterling Taplin.

• Even with the influx of newcomers, Tulsa is one of just seven Division I programs without a scholarship freshman on the roster. TU's only freshman is walk-on George Christopolous, who is redshirting this season.

• Counting walk-ons, TU is one of just seven Division I programs to have one or fewer total freshmen on its roster.

New Faces

• Along with the eight returning letterwinners, Tulsa has seven newcomers in addition to Jeriah Horne, who sat out the 2017-18 season after transferring from Nebraska.

• The newcomers eligible to make their debut for the Hurricane this season are Chris Barnes, Peter Hewitt, Jeriah Horne, Simon Falokun and walk-on Lindsay Deline Jr. Reggie Jones will sit out the 2018-19 campaign after transferring from Western Michigan and walk-on George Christopoulos will redshirt, as well.

• Of the five eligible to make their debut for TU, two student-athletes have Division I experience (Chris Barnes/UTEP and Jeriah Horne/Nebraska), while Peter Hewitt redshirted at UC Davis in 2016-17.

• TU newcomers have totaled 305 points (15.3 ppg) so far this season, led by 172 points (8.6 ppg) from Jeriah Horne.

Exhibition Excellence

• Tulsa improved to 67-2 all-time in exhibition games with a 95-60 win over Division II Northeastern State on Nov. 2 in the Reynolds Center. It also marked the 38th straight exhibition victory for the Golden Hurricane.

• Curran Scott scored 16 points off the bench to lead a balanced scoring effort that saw nine Tulsa players tally at least eight points.

• Newcomer Simon Falokun was the only other player in double-figures with 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting and a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line. Falokun also had six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Tulsa Signs Isaiah Hill to NLI

• Isaiah Hill, a 6-foot point guard from Bakersfield, Calif. (Liberty HS), signed a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 14, the first day of the early signing period, to join The University of Tulsa men's basketball program for the 2019-20 season.

• Hill is the highest-rated high school recruit in TU history, according to 247sports.com, which lists Hill as a three-star prospect and the No. 25 point guard recruit in the nation.

• He averaged 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game as a junior en route to first-team All-Area honors from the Bakersfield Californian.

• Hill played AAU ball for the Compton Magic, which is the same program that current TU guard Chris Barnes came out of.

• In addition, Hill was the starting quarterback for the Liberty HS football team as a sophomore and junior. He did not play as a senior to focus on his basketball career.

Up Next

• Following Saturday's game at Wichita State, Tulsa will not play a midweek game and will return to the hardwood for a Feb. 9 contest against Temple at the Reynolds Center. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m.

• The Hurricane then will take to the road for games at Tulane (Feb. 14) and ECU (Feb. 17).

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