Tulsa
ECU
Tulsa Hosts ECU on Wednesday
2/11/2020 12:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #24: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (15-8) vs. ECU Pirates (10-14) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Wednesday • Feb. 12, 2020 • 7:00 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: | Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla. |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 6th year ECU – Joe Dooley (George Washington '88), 6th year |
| TV: | ESPN3 | Brett Dolan (pxp) & Bryndon Manzer (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | 25th Meeting (Tulsa leads series at 21-3) |
| Twitter: | @TUMBasketball | @TulsaHurricane |
| Instagram: | TulsaMBasketball |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa (PDF) | ECU |
THE GAME
• This is the 25th meeting between Tulsa and East Carolina and the 12th as American Athletic Conference members.
• ECU is 10-14 on the season ... the Pirates come into Saturday's match-up off of a 81-67 victory over Tulane ... East Carolina has key conference wins over SMU, Tulane and USF.
• This will be the second of two games between Tulsa and ECU as the Golden Hurricane defeated the Pirates 65-49 at the Williams Arena on Jan. 15.
• East Carolina enters the game 4-7 in the American Athletic Conference, while Tulsa is 7-3 in conference play.
THE SERIES
• The Hurricane holds the series advantage at 21-3 ... the Hurricane is 10-1 at home against East Carolina, 8-2 on the road and 3-0 at neutral sites.
• Tulsa has won the last 6 meetings against the Pirates including 18 out of the last 20 meetings.
• Tulsa's last meeting against ECU came on Jan. 15, 2020 as the Hurricane won 81-67 in Greenville, N.C.
• The last meeting at the Reynolds Center between the two teams came on March 3, 2019 as the Hurricane won, 91-78.
• In the Reynolds Center the Hurricane is 9-1 against the Pirates ... the only loss came on Feb. 20, 2013, 72-63 ... Tulsa has won the last 5 in the Reynolds Center against ECU.
• The first game between the two teams came in the 1984-85 season as Tulsa defeated ECU at home with a final of 86-63 in a non-conference contest ... Tulsa was led by coach Nolan Richardson on their way to an MVC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
LAST MEETING AGAINST ECU
• The Hurricane took on the East Carolina Pirates at Williams Arena in Greenville, N.C. on Jan. 15, as Tulsa won 65-49 for its first road league win in just its second AAC road game.
• Tulsa's Brandon Rachal scored 21 points and added 7 rebounds ... it was the 4th time this season he has scored 20+ points ... he scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half.
• Jeriah Horne added 14 points and 6 rebounds, while Martins Igbanu put in 8 points and tied his career-high with 10 rebounds.
• Tulsa led for 32 minutes of the game ... Horne scored 7 of Tulsa's first 11 points jumping out to an 11-4 lead.
• Tulsa shot 73-percent (16-22) from the free-throw line and 43-percent from the field ... Tulsa held the Pirates to 22-percent shooting in the second half, 29-percent for the game and ECU scored just one field goal in the final 9 minutes of the contest.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
• East Carolina was picked to finish 11th in the American Athletic Conference ... the Pirates finished last season with a record of 10-21, 3-15 in conference play.
• The Pirates are 4-7 in conference this season defeating Tulane twice, USF 62-59 and taking down SMU at home, 71-68.
• ECU is 1-7 on the road this season ... their only win came in the Pirates last game at Tulane on Saturday, Feb. 8, 81-67.
• The Pirates have The American's leading scorer in Jayden Gardner who averages 20.5 points ... he is also 2nd in the conference in rebounding (9.6) and 6th in field goal percentage (54%).
• Gardner was named to the American Athletic Conference's preseason second team … he has been selected as the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week once and to the weekly honor roll 5 times.
THREE IN A ROW
• Tulsa had 3 consecutive American Athletic Conference Players of the Week from Jan. 20 to Feb.
• The latest was Elijah Joiner (Feb. 3) after a 22-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist and buzzer-beating game-winning 3-pointer vs. #23 Wichita State.
• The week before (Jan. 27), Martins Igbanu averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 boards in wins over #20 Memphis and UConn.
• On Jan, 20, Brandon Rachal earned his second weekly honor with 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in road wins at ECU and Tulane.
A TULSA WIN WOULD
• Give Tulsa their 22nd victory against East Carolina ... extending the 6-game winning streak against the Pirates to 7.
• Give Tulsa their second win in the month of February and improve Tulsa's record in 2020 to 8-3.
• Give the Hurricane their 16th win of the season, and an 8-3 record in conference play.
• Improve Tulsa's record at the Reynolds Center to 12-2.
THE HURRICANE AT HOME VS. THE ROAD
• Tulsa averages 2.6 more points at home at the Donald W. Reynolds Center than on the road this year.
• Tulsa is scoring 69.5 points in 13 games at the Reynolds Center, while scoring 66.9 points in 9 road games.
• The Hurricane shoots 47.4% from the field at the Reynolds Center as compared to 41.9% on the road … 34.5% to 25.8% from 3-point range … and 71.4% to 70.9% from the free throw line.
• Tulsa holds the opposition to 57.4 points at home, while on the road Tulsa opponents score 13.0 more points at 70.4 points in 9 games.
GETTING TO THE LINE
• In the last 8 games, Tulsa has gotten to the free throw line over 19 times in each of those contests.
• The Hurricane has shot 72% or better in 7 of those 8 contests and has converted 137-of-184 from the charity stripe for a .745 field goal percentage.
• In this stretch, Martins Igbanu has gotten to the line the most and has converted 46-of-59 free throws for 78.0%.
• On the year, Tulsa has been to the free throw line 20+ times in 16 games.
JOINER ENERGIZING TULSA
• Junior Elijah Joiner has energized the Hurricane through conference play.
• After Tulsa's 23 games, 22 of which Joiner played, he has averaged 26.9 minutes … in his first 9 games (missed the SE La. game) Joiner averaged 22.7 minutes, but in the last 14 contests he has averaged over 30 minutes.
• He scores 7.5 points per game, but does so much more for the Hurricane … Joiner has led Tulsa or shared the team-lead in assists 11 times, 6 times for blocked shots, 4 times in rebounding and 3 times in steals, while leading the team in scoring twice with 19 points at Arkansas and 22 points against Wichita State.
• He made the game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to help Tulsa defeat No. 23 Wichita State on Feb. 1.
WHERE THE DEFENSE RANKS
• Tulsa is holding its opponents to 29.4 percent shooting from 3-point range to rank 24th nationally … the No. 1-ranked 3-point field goal percentage defensive team is Arkansas with a 24.6 defensive FG percentage.
• The Hurricane also ranks 46th nationally for FG percentage defense at 39.9 percent, while the leader is Virginia, holding opponents to 36.3 percent.
IGBANU DOMINATING INSIDE
• Senior Martins Igbanu has been instant offense in a reserve role the last 10 games … he has averaged 16.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in those 10 games.
• He has shot .640 (57-89) from the field and .754 (49-65) from the free throw line in the last 10 games off the bench.
• Igbanu has also moved into 24th place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,177 career points.
• He scored his career-high on Feb. 9 at UCF when he put in 30 points, shooting 12-16 (75%) from the floor and 5-6 (83%) at the free throw line.
• Against UConn at home, he recorded his previous career-high with 29 points on 11-15 (73%) shooting from the floor ... he made 7-8 free throws adding 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
• After averaging 29.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists against UCF and UConn, Igbanu was named to the AAC honor roll on Feb. 10.
• Igbanu scored in double-figures with 10 in the 54-51 victory against Wichita State.
• He put in 28 points at UConn ... he also recorded his first double-double of the season and 5th of his career by tying a career-high with 10 rebounds against the Huskies.
• Igbanu was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week after his 28-point, 10-rebound performance against UConn.
• Igbanu started 12 of the first 13 contests this year.
