Tulsa Set to Host Wichita State on Wednesday

Wednesday, February 20

Reynolds Center

8 PM

Tulsa

Wichita State

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Set to Host Wichita State on Wednesday

2/19/2019 9:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME #27: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (16-10, 6-7) vs WICHITA STATE SHOCKERS (12-12, 5-7)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • Feb. 20 • 8 p.m.
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 5th year Wichita State – Gregg Marshall (Randolph Macon '85), 12th year
TV:	ESPNU (Richard Cross and Bryndon Manzer)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Wichita State leads, 68-61
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Wichita State
Tickets:	918-631-GoTU \| Buy Online

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 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when it will host Wichita State at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for a Havoc in the Heartland showdown.
• Wednesday's matchup marks the 130th meeting between Tulsa and Wichita State. WSU leads the series, 68-61, and Tulsa has faced the Shockers more than any other opponent in program history.
• Tulsa is coming off a 77-73 overtime win at ECU on Sunday afternoon and the Hurricane has won four of its last five games. Sterling Taplin hit a game-clinching 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in overtime to seal the win.
• DaQuan Jeffries leads the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg and rebounding at 5.5 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 14.1 ppg during conference play.
• Jeriah Horne is averaging 9.9 ppg, which is tops in the conference among players who have come off the bench in every game this season. He is averaging 12.0 ppg during conference play and 14.3 ppg in his last six games.
• With 111 assists this season, Sterling Taplin has moved to sixth place on the program's all-time charts with 386. Taplin needs three assists to pass current TU assistant coach Shea Seals (1993-1997) and move into the top five.
• Taplin also needs just 13 points to become the 38th player in TU history to reach 1,000 for his career.
• TU has notched 52 league wins since joining The American, which is the fourth-most in the circuit behind only Cincinnati (67), SMU (55) and Houston (54) 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 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when it will host Wichita State at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for a Havoc in the Heartland showdown.
• 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 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 squad, which went 25-8 and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Shockers had a four-game winning streak snapped with a 72-62 setback at Cincinnati on Sunday. WSU shot 26.8-percent in the loss, but turned 19 offensive rebounds into 24 second-chance points.
• Markis McDuffie continues to lead WSU in scoring at 18.7 ppg, which ranks third in the conference. Samaje Haynes-Jones is the only other player averaging in double-figures for the Shockers at 12.4 ppg.

The Series
• Wednesday's matchup marks the 130th all-time meeting between Tulsa and Wichita State. The Shockers hold a 68-61 lead in the series and WSU has won the last four matchups, including a 79-68 decision on Feb. 2 in Wichita.
• 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
• Jeriah Horne led Tulsa with 16 points, but Wichita State went on a late 17-4 run to pull away for a 79-68 victory over the Golden Hurricane on Feb. 2, 2019, at Charles Koch Arena.
• Curran Scott added 11 points, while Darien Jackson and DaQuan Jeffries each contributed 10 points and Tulsa shot 53.2-percent, but turned it over 18 times.
• Martins Igbanu's three-point play with 7:09 left gave Tulsa a 64-62 advantage. However, the Shockers would outscore the Hurricane 17-4 the rest of the way en route to the 79-68 victory.

A Tulsa Win Would ...
• Improve Tulsa's record to 17-10 on the season and even its conference record at 7-7.
• Give Tulsa its fourth straight win overall and fifth win in its last six games.
• Snap a four-game losing streak against the Shockers and improve Tulsa's all-time record against WSU to 62-68.
• Improve Tulsa's home record to 13-2 this season.

Last Time Out
• Sterling Taplin's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in overtime sealed a 77-73 overtime Tulsa victory at ECU, its third straight win, on Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum.
• Taplin was one of six players to score in double-figures for the Hurricane as Martins Igbanu led the way with 16 points. Jeriah Horne had a dozen, while Elijah Joiner had 11 and DaQuan Jeffries and Darien Jackson each had 10.
• TU jumped out to a 17-3 lead and led by as much as 31-14 in the first half before the Pirates heated up.
• ECU went on a 21-7 run to start the second half and led by as much as 56-50 with nine minutes left in regulation before the Hurricane forced overtime.
• Joiner scored five points in overtime, but it was Taplin's trey with the shot clock winding down that sealed the win.

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 42 triples in its six games during the 3-point challenge.

Havoc In the Heartland
• In August 2017, The University of Tulsa and Wichita State University 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. The annual Graduation Success Rate will be used as a tiebreaker.
• The series is currently tied at 12 points apiece. Tulsa's points have come via wins in volleyball, women's basketball and men's cross country.

Nothing But NET
• Tulsa will enter Wednesday's game with a NET ranking of 74th (as of Feb. 18), which ranks sixth in the league.
• 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. 55 in the nation, which is the third toughest in The American.
• The Hurricane got two games against Houston (No. 4) and Cincinnati (No. 27) during the early stretch along with matchups against UCF (No. 40), Memphis (No. 64), USF (No. 78), UConn (No. 82) and SMU (No. 106).

Haith Enters Fifth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fifth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 93-62 record and led the Golden Hurricane to a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 298-191 (.609) in his 15th season.
• Haith's 93 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.

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 386 assists and needs three 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 987 points, Taplin needs 13 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 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, while shooting 52.3-percent, which ranks seventh 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 15th on the program's career blocks list with 66 swats. He has 30 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 9.9 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 48.3-percent from the field.
• Horne has 13 double-figure scoring games this season and he is averaging 14.3 ppg over his last six contests.

Trending
• Darien Jackson is averaging 6.9 ppg over his last seven games, including four double-digit performances. He has scored 60 points over his last 10 games after totaling 20 points in his first 28 contests at TU.
• The Tulsa defense has held its last three opponents to less than 38-percent shooting, including season lows for Temple (Feb. 9) and Tulane (Feb. 14). TU ranks third in the American and 24th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.401).
• During conference play, Tulsa has held opponents to 39.9-percent shooting, which is second only to Houston (.370). No conference opponent has shot 50-percent or better against TU.
• 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 37.9-percent (1st in AAC) and is averaging 7.4 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 52 league wins, which is the fourth-most in the circuit during that time.
• Only Cincinnati (67), SMU (55) and Houston (54) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 52.
• 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 (624) and free throws made (429). 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 17 times this season. The Hurricane has shot more than 30 free throws in a game eight times.
• Martins Igbanu leads the team at 5.3 free-throw attempts per game, while Jeriah Horne (.791/34-of-43) 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.

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.

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).

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 395 points (15.2 ppg) so far this season, led by 258 points (9.9 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.

Up Next
• Tulsa will head back out on the road for an 11 a.m. (CT) matchup at Temple on Saturday, Feb. 23.

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