Tulsa
UT Arlington
Golden Hurricane Faces UT Arlington in Home Opener
12/3/2020 5:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #3: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (0-2, 0-0) vs. UT Arlington Mavericks (1-3, 0-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Friday • Dec. 4, 2020 • 4:00 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: |
Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla. |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 7th year UTA – Chris Odgen (Texas '04), 3rd year |
| TV: | ESPN+ | Chad McKee (pxp) & Bryndon Manzer (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM (Don King & J.R. Rollo) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | 6th Meeting (Tulsa leads series at 4-1) |
| Twitter: | @TUMBasketball | @TulsaHurricane |
| Instagram: | TulsaMBasketball |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa (PDF) | UT Arlington |
The Game
• Tulsa will take on the UT Arlington Mavericks in the home opener in the Reynolds Center on Friday night on ESPN+.
• The game will third contest for Tulsa this season ... the Mavericks are 1-3 on the season dropping their last game 72-60 to the Arkansas Razorbacks on Dec. 2.
Scouting the Mavericks
• UT Arlington was picked to finish third in the western division of the Sun Belt Preseason Poll. The Mavericks return nine, including two of the their top three leading scorers from last season, when the team went 14-18 and 10-10 in conference play.
• The Mavericks openned their season with a loss to Oklahoma State 75-68 ... their win came in the Louisiana Tech Classic powered by the Hapton Inn of Ruston against Northwestern State, 80-71.
• The Mavericks are led in scoring by junior college transfer Shahada Wells who is averaging 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game ... preseason All-Sun Belt second team selection David Azore is averaging12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game for UT Arlington.
• UTA and Georgia Southern are the only two Sun Belt Conference teams to have posted six-straight years of double-figure league victories. The Mavs went 9-9 in SBC action in their first year in the conference in 2013-14, and since then have posted at least 10 Sun Belt wins in every season.
The Series
• This will be the 6th contest between the Golden Hurricane and the Mavericks.
• Tulsa holds a 4-1 series advantage over UTA, with the last home contest coming on Nov. 27, 2018 ... the Hurricane won the contest 72-58 behind a career-high 24 points from DaQuan Jeffries.
• UTA won last year's meeting at home by a score of 73-59.
A Tulsa Win Would
• Give the Hurricane their first win of the season.
• Move Tulsa's all-time record against UT Arlington to 5-1.
• Give Head Coach Haith his 117th win which would be tied with Ken Hayes for 4th all-time in Tulsa history.
Leading by Example
• In the season opening weekend against TCU and South Carolina, the four seniors, Brandon Rachal, Elijah Joiner, Darien Jackson and Emmanuel Ugboh, averaged 36 points and 16.5 rebounds.
• The group led the team in points (Rachal-19), rebounds (Rachal-8), assists (Joiner-5), Steals (Joiner-3) and blocks (Rachal-2) against TCU.
• For the second consecutive game, Rachal (14) led in points ... Joiner (7) led in rebounds and Jackson in steals (3) and assists (4).
• The four combined to go 27-51 (53-percent) from the field, 4-13 (31-percent) from three and 14-20 (70-percent from the free throw line during the weekend.
Team Effort on the Boards
• Through the first two games of the season rebounding has been a team effort as the Hurricane use a guard centric lineup.
• Tulsa is averaging 30.5 rebounds a game pulling in 19 offensive and 42 defensive rebounds in two games.
• All five of Tulsa's guards who are under 6'5" are averaging 16 rebounds a game which is 52.5-percent of the Hurricane's rebounds ... point guard Elijah Joiner leads the team in rebounds with 7.0 a game.
• The duo of Brandon Rachal and Rey Idowu combine for 10 rebounds a game ... Rachal led the team in rebounds during TCU with 8.
The Hurricane in Home Openers
• The Golden Hurricane is 15-6 in season openers at the Reynolds Center since the buildings first full season as Tulsa's home arena in 1999-2000.
• Under Head Coach Frank Haith the Hurricane is 4-2 in home openers ... Tulsa won last season's home opener against Houston Baptist 80-72.
• Tulsa has faced four Sun Belt teams in home openers in the Reynolds Center with a 4-0 record ... the most recent home opener against a Sun Belt team was a 64-53 win against Louisiana on Nov. 17, 2014.
#LoyalAlwaysTrue
