Tulsa to Close Road Trip at ECU on Sunday

Sunday, February 17

Greenville, N.C.

1 PM

Tulsa

ECU

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa to Close Road Trip at ECU on Sunday

2/16/2019 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME #26: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (15-10,5-7) vs ECU PIRATES (9-15, 2-10)
Date/Time:	Sunday • Feb. 17 • 1 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Minges Coliseum (7,100) • Greenville, N.C.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 5th year ECU – Joe Dooley (George Washington '88), 5th year
TV:	E SPN3 (Evan Lepler & Nate Ross)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 18-3
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| E CU

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. CT on Sunday, Feb. 17 when it will take to the road for a matchup at ECU.
• Sunday's matchup marks 22nd meeting between Tulsa and ECU and the Golden Hurricane lead the series, 18-3.
• The Hurricane has won nine of the last 10 games against the Pirates, including an 8-1 mark since joining the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa is coming off a 80-57 win at Tulane on Thursday. Jeriah Horne had his first career double-double in the win.
• DaQuan Jeffries leads the team in scoring at 14.0 ppg and rebounding at 5.6 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 14.3 ppg during conference play.
• Jeriah Horne is averaging 9.8 ppg, which is tops in the conference among players who have come off the bench in every game this season. He is averaging 11.3 ppg during conference play and 14.8 ppg in his last five games.
• With 107 assists this season, Sterling Taplin has moved to sixth place on the program's all-time charts with 382. Taplin needs seven assists to pass current TU assistant coach Shea Seals (1993-1997) and move into the top five.
• TU has notched 51 league wins since joining The American, which is the fourth-most in the circuit behind only Cincinnati (66), SMU (55) and Houston (53) 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
• Tulsa will continue American Athletic Conference play at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, Feb. 17 when it will take to the road for a matchup at Tulane.
• The game can be seen on ESPN3, 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 Pirates
• ECU was picked to finish 11th in The American as the team returned two starters and eight lettermen from last year's squad, which went 10-20 and finished 11th in the conference with a 4-14 mark.
• The Pirates have lost nine of their last 10 games after beating Cincinnati in Greenville early in the conference schedule. ECU is averaging 62.4 ppg during conference play, while it has yielded 76.7 ppg in those contests.
• ECU is led by freshman Jayden Gardner's 17.5 ppg and 8.6 rpg. He is averaging 15.9 ppg and 8.5 rpg in league action. Shawn Williams and Seth LeDay are scoring in double figures for the season at 11.2 ppg and 10.8 ppg, respectively.

The Series
• Sunday's matchup marks 22nd meeting between Tulsa and ECU and the Golden Hurricane lead the series, 18-3.
• The Golden Hurricane has won nine of the last 10 matchups with the Pirates, including an 8-1 mark since joining the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa is 6-2 all-time against ECU in Greenville, with Tulsa's last loss there coming in 2017.

Last Meeting
• Martins Igbanu led six players in double-figures with 16 points as Tulsa pulled away from ECU in the second half for a 72-58 win on March 1, 2018, at Minges Coliseum.
• Junior Etou notched his seventh double-double of conference action with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Curran Scott (12), Sterling Taplin (11), Corey Henderson Jr. (10) and DaQuan Jeffries (10) all scored in double-figures.
• Tulsa extended a two-point halftime lead with a 16-4 run over the first 11 minutes of the second half. The TU defense limited the Pirates to just 2-of-17 shooting to start the period and the visitors used the stretch to build a double-digit advantage, which it would hold for the rest of the night.

A Tulsa Win Would ...
• Improve Tulsa's record to 16-10 on the season and improve its conference record to 6-7.
• Give Tulsa its fourth straight win overall.
• Improve Tulsa's all-time record against ECU to 19-3 overall and 7-2 in Greenville.
• Give Tulsa its fourth straight win over the Pirates.

Last Time Out
• Jeriah Horne came off the bench to produce the first double-double of his career with 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as visiting Tulsa dominated Tulane on Thursday night, 80-57, at Avron B. Fogelman Arena.
• The sophomore was joined in double-figures by DaQuan Jeffries (16 points), Martins Igbanu (16 points) and Curran Scott (12 points).
• Tulsa held the Green Wave to a season-low 27.6-percent shooting and had a season-high 46 rebounds in the contest.
• Horne had 16 points in the first half, while Igbanu had all 16 of his points in the second half.
• The Hurricane had a 10-point halftime lead and the advantage grew to as much as 26 in the second half.

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 36 triples in its five games during the 3-point challenge.

Nothing But NET
• Tulsa's NET ranking of 73rd (as of Feb. 15) is its highest of the season.
• All nine of Tulsa's oppnents in the first half of its league schedule are ranked in the top 110, with eight games against opponents in the top 100. In all, Tulsa's total strength of schedule ranks No. 20 in the nation, which is the toughest in The American.
• The Hurricane got two games against Houston (No. 5) and Cincinnati (No. 22) during the early stretch along with matchups against UCF (No. 39), Memphis (No. 63), USF (No. 76), UConn (No. 82) and SMU (No. 109).

Haith Enters Fifth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fifth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 92-62 record and led the Golden Hurricane to a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 295-191 (.607) in his 15th season.
• Haith's 92 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 382 assists and needs nine 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 976 points, Taplin needs 24 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 14.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, while shooting 53.6-percent, which ranks sixth 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 17th on the program's career blocks list with 64 swats. He has 28 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).

Around the Horne
• Redshirt sophomore Jeriah Horne has made a big impact off the bench in his first season at TU after transferring from Nebraska. The Overland Park, Kan., native is averaging 9.8 ppg, which is tops in the conference among players who have come off the bench in every game this season.
• He has been even better in conference play, where he is averaging 12.0 ppg (2nd on the team), and shooting 49.5-percent from the field.
• Horne has 12 double-figure scoring games this season and he is averaging 14.8 ppg over his last five contests.

Trending
• Darien Jackson is averaging 5.6 ppg over his last nine games, including three double-digit performances. He has scored 50 points in that span after totaling 20 points in his first 28 games at TU.
• The Tulsa defense has held its last two opponents to season-low shooting percentages. The Hurricane allowed Temple and Tulane to shoot a combined 28.9-percent (31-of-107) from the floor and 26.6-percent (17-of-64) from 3.
• Tulsa ranks third in the American and 25th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.401).
• 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 38.6-percent (1st in AAC) and is averaging 7.5 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 51 league wins, which is the fourth-most in the circuit during that time.
• Only Cincinnati (66), SMU (55) and Houston (53) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 51.
• 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 third in the league in free throw attempts (599) and free throws made (412). Those marks rank 13th and 34th in the nation, respectively.
• The squad is averaging 24.0 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 16 times this season. The Hurricane has shot more than 30 free throws in a game eight times.
• Martins Igbanu leads the team at 5.4 free-throw attempts per game, while Jeriah Horne (.786/33-of-42) 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 251-74 (.772) in its 20+ seasons, including a 12-2 mark this season.
• The building has seen 42 sellouts and 1,913,978 fans have witnessed Tulsa basketball at the Reynolds Center.
• The Hurricane has won 27 of its last 31 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 383 points (15.3 ppg) so far this season, led by 246 points (9.8 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 Tulsa's matchup at ECU on Sunday, the Hurricane will return home for an 8 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Feb. 20 against rival Wichita State.
• It will be the second Havoc in the Heartland game this season. The Shockers took the first meeting this season, 79-68, in Wichita.

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