The Hurricane Face No. 5 Ranked Cougars Tuesday

GAME #8: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (4-3, 1-1) vs. No. 5 Houston Cougars (7-0, 2-0)
Date/Time:	Tuesday • Dec. 29, 2020 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 7th year Houston – Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke '78), 7th year
TV:	ESPN2 \| Mike Corey (pxp) & Mark Adams (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	57th Meeting (Series tied at 28-28)
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF)
Game Program:	Game Day Program

The Game
• Tulsa will take on the Houston Cougars in a conference matchup at home in the Reynolds Center Tuesday night on ESPN2.
• The game is the eighth contest for Tulsa (4-3) this season ... the Cougars are 7-0 on the season winning their last contest 63-54 in a road conference game against UCF on Dec. 26.
• The Cougars are ranked 5th nationally in the Associated Press top 25 and 5th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Scouting the Cougars
• Houston was picked to win the American Athletic Conference championship in the preseason AAC Coaches Poll ... the Cougars return 3 starters and top two scorers from last season, when the team went 23-8 and 13-5 in conference play .... splitting the AAC conference regular season championship with Tulsa and Cincinnati.
• Houston added two key pieces in Arkansas transfer Reggie Chaney and true freshman, Guy V. Lewis award winner Tramon Mark.
• The Cougars return second-team all-conference guard Caleb Mills who averaged 24.5 points in the two games against TU last season ... Houston also returns upperclassmen DeJon Jarreau and Quentin Grimes who combined for 21.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last season.
• The Cougars opened their season scoring a season best 89 points in a win against Lamar ... they won the next three contests 68-58 against Boise State, 64-53 against Texas Tech and 77-67 against South Carolina ... Houston has had three contests postponed or canceled due to Covid-19.
• The Cougars are led in scoring by Quentin Grimes who is averaging 18.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game ... Marcus Sasser is averaging 15.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists a game for Houston.
• Houston is led by Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, who was been at the helm of the Cougars for the last 7 seasons and holds a 146-60 record.

The Series
• This will be the 57th contest between the Golden Hurricane and the Cougars ... the series is tied at 28-28 with the teams splitting the two games last season.
• The Hurricane defeated the Cougars 63-61 in the Reynolds Center on Jan. 11 ... Houston defeated Tulsa in Houston on Feb. 19, 76-43.
• TU won the first contest against the Cougars in Houston 50-45 on Feb. 10, 1951 under Clarence Iba in his second season as the head coach of the Hurricane.
• No. 5 Houston is the highest ranked American Athletic Conference team to face off against the Hurricane since No. 5 Wichita State played in the Reynolds Center on Jan. 13, 2018.
• The previously highest ranked Houston team to play in the Reynolds Center was on Jan. 27, 2019 when the Cougars were ranked No. 17.

A Tulsa Win Would
• Give the Hurricane its fifth win of the season, moving Tulsa to 5-3 on the year and 2-1 in conference play.
• Move Tulsa's all-time record against Houston to 29-28.
• Give TU its second win against a No. 5 ranked team ... Tulsa defeated No. 5-ranked UCLA in overtime in Los Angeles, Calif., 77-76, on Nov. 20, 1996.
• it would be the highest ranked victory in the Reynolds Center ... the current highest ranked win is against No. 9 Wichita State 77-67 on Nov. 17, 2015.

Last Season between Hurricane and Cougars
• Tulsa overcame a 5-point deficit in the final 98 seconds to capture a 63-61 win over the Houston Cougars Saturday Jan. 11, 2020 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
• Darien Jackson ended the game with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-13 from the field, 3-of-7 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
• Jackson made his first 3-point basket of the year and his career … he had attempted just 6 treys before knocking down his 7th attempt of the year … he was 0-for-20 in his career before knocking down his trey, and then made his next 3-pointer as well … he finished 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
• Brandon Rachal added 18 points, including 7-of-7 from the charity stripe ... Jeriah Horne scored 10 points ... Horne and Rachal recorded a team-leading 6 rebounds.

Freshman Frenzy
• In the 102-45 win against Southwestern Christian all 5 Hurricane freshman played with 4 scoring for TU ... the freshmen combined to score 33-percent (34 of 102) of Tulsa's points.
• Keshawn Williams led the Hurricane in scoring with a career-high 20 points ... he also led the team with a career-high 9 assists while also grabbing 6 rebounds.
• Guard Peyton Urbancic and forward Bradley Alcime both scored their first points as a Hurricane ... Urbancic had 9 points on 2-4 shooting and Alcime had 5 points going 2-2 from the field.
• Christian Shumate saw action in his third game scoring two points and pulling down a rebound ... Ari Seals saw two minutes of action recording his first career assist.

TU fans can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch Golden Hurricane basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball this year. ESPN+ is offered at $5.99/month or $49.99/year. To subscribe, go to: plus.espn.com. Fans will be able to access ESPN+ content only after they have subscribed.

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The Hurricane Face No. 5 Ranked Cougars Tuesday

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Players Mentioned

Bradley Alcime

Jeriah Horne

Darien Jackson

Brandon Rachal

Ari Seals

Christian Shumate

Peyton Urbancic

Keshawn Williams