Tulsa
UCF
Tulsa Closes Out Home Season at 5 PM Today on Senior Day
2/28/2020 5:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #29: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (19-9, 11-4) vs. UCF Knights (14-13, 5-10) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Saturday • Feb. 29, 2020 • 5:00 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: | Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla. |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 6th year UCF – Johnny Dawkins (Duke '86), 3rd year |
| TV: | ESPNU | Anish Shroff (pxp) & Mark Wise (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | 23rd Meeting (Tulsa leads series at 13-9) |
| Twitter: | @TUMBasketball | @TulsaHurricane |
| Instagram: | TulsaMBasketball |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa | UCF |
THE GAME
• Tulsa closes out the home season today at 5 p.m. against the UCF Knights … Tulsa brings a 14-2 home record into Saturday's home finale.
• This is the 23rd meeting between Tulsa and UCF and the 8th as American Athletic Conference members.
• UCF is 14-13 on the season ... the Knights come into Saturday's game after an 81-65 loss at UConn ... UCF has lost three out of the last four games ... with their only win coming against Cincinnati, 89-87 (2OT).
• This will be the second of two games between Tulsa and UCF ... the Knights defeated the Golden Hurricane 83-75 in Orlando on Saturday, Feb. 9, as Tulsa was without the services of the injured Brandon Rachal.
• UCF enters the game 5-10 in the American Athletic Conference, while Tulsa is 11-4 in conference play.
THE SERIES
• Tulsa holds the series advantage at 13-9 ... the Hurricane is 10-0 at home against the Knights and 3-9 on the road.
• The Hurricane has won 5 of the last 8 contests against the Knights ... Tulsa lost last year's meeting against UCF in Orlando by a score of 64-62.
• UCF has won the last two games in the series, both in Orlando.
• Tulsa's last win against UCF came on Feb. 21, 2018 as the Hurricane won 70-61 in the Reynolds Center.
• The first game in the series came in the 1981-82 season as Tulsa defeated the Knights 69-58 in the Covention Center led by head coach Nolan Richardson.
LEAP YEAR GAME
• A common year has 365 days and a leap year 366 days, with the extra--or intercalary--day designated as February 29.
• A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun, which is about 365¼ days.
• Tulsa is playing on Leap Day for the 8th time in school history ... the Hurricane has an overall 3-4 record on Leap Day and is 2-0 at home.
• Tulsa last played a game in Leap Year in 2011-12, losing at UAB ... the Hurricane first played on Leap Day in 1919-20 with a home win against Phillips University.
• Tulsa's other two wins came against Bradley in 1991-92 and at San Jose State in 2003-04.
• Tulsa has faced two top-5 teams in a Leap Year, #1 Cincinnati in 1959-60 and #5 Wichita State in 1963-64
LAST WIN AGAINST UCF
• DaQuan Jeffries came off the bench to score 19 points and Tulsa used a late 12-2 run to pull away with a 70-61 victory on Feb. 21, 2018, in Tulsa.
• Jeffries went 6-of-8 from the floor to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two blocks ... Junior Etou added 17 points and five rebounds ... Tulsa shot 53.5-percent from the field.
• TU finished with a season-high 18 assists on its 23 baskets, led by six from Sterling Taplin.
• Tulsa built a 65-55 cushion with 1:58 to play after buckets in the paint from Taplin and Jeffries.
• B.J. Taylor scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Knights, while Dayon Griffin added a dozen points off the bench ... UCF only shot 32-percent in the second half after hitting at a 54.2-percent clip in the opening 20 minutes.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
• UCF was picked to finish 9th in the American Athletic Conference ... the Knights finished last season with a record of 24-9, 13-5 in conference play.
• UCF is coached by fourth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins ... he played for the Duke Blue Devils from 1983-86 ... he was drafted 10th overall in the 1986 NBA draft and played 9 seasons in the NBA.
• The Knights are 5-10 in conference play, most recently losing at UConn 81-65.
• UCF is 4-6 on the road this year ... they are 8-6 at home and 2-1 in neutral site games.
• The Knights are led by redshirt junior Collin Smith, who is averaging 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds ... Ceasar DeJesus is also averaging double-digits for UCF with 10.1 points per game.
• Dazon Ingram averages 8.9 points and 7.4 rebounds ... he ranks 6th in the AAC for rebounds.
• Smith (Nov. 25, Dec. 16) has been selected to the AAC weekly honor roll twice, while DeJesus (Dec. 9) and Ingram (Jan. 20) have each been selected once.
HOLDING THE OPPOSITION TO UNDER 20 IN THE FIRST HALF
• The Hurricane has held three conference opponents to 17 or fewer points in the first half this season ... Temple (17), Memphis (17) and USF (11).
• At USF, the Tulsa defense held the Bulls to 11 points in the first half on 5-of-17 from the field for 29% and 0-6 from the three-point line … USF's 11 fist-half points tied an AAC record for fewest points allowed in a half in a league game … UCF held Temple to 11 points on Dec. 31, 2016, also in the first half.
A TULSA WIN WOULD
• Give Tulsa their 14th victory against UCF, thus snapping a 2-game losing streak to the Knights.
• Give Tulsa a 6-3 record in the month of February, and improve Tulsa's record in 2020 to 12-4.
• Give the Hurricane their 20th win of the season ... the first time Tulsa has won 20+ games in a seaosn since the 2015-16 season when Tulsa went 20-12.
• Give Tula a 12-4 record in conference play.
• Improve Tulsa's record at home to 15-2 for its most home wins since a 16-2 record in the 2009-10 season … it would be the 6th season in the 22-year history of the Reynolds Center that Tulsa has won 15 or more home games.
• Will give Tulsa an 8-1 record in home games in the American Athletic Conference this year.
HURRICANE TRIO EARNING WEEKLY AWARDS
• Martins Igbanu was selected to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll for Feb. 17, the second straight week he was recognized ... he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds in wins against ECU and USF ... Igbanu had his second double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds against the Pirates.
• Igbanu was named to the AAC weekly honor roll a week earlier (Feb. 10) after averaging 29.5 points, 4 rebounds and one assists at home against UConn and UCF on the road.
• Before that, Tulsa had 3 consecutive American Athletic Conference Players of the Week from Jan. 20 to Feb. 3.
• 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), 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.
THE HURRICANE AT HOME VS. THE ROAD
• Tulsa averages 6.0 more points at the Donald W. Reynolds Center than on the road this year.
• Tulsa is scoring 69.7 points in 16 games at the Reynolds Center, while scoring 63.7 points in 11 road games.
• The Hurricane shoots 47.3% from the field at the Reynolds Center as compared to 40.9% on the road … 35.2% to 24.6% from 3-point range … Tulsa's free throw shooting is similar in both home and road games – 71.4% to 69.5% from the free throw line.
• Of Tulsa's 389 FGs made at home, 57.5 percent of those have come off of an assist … but on the road only 46.1 percent of Tulsa's FGs have come after an assist.
• Tulsa holds the opposition to 57.3 points at home, while on the road Tulsa opponents score 11.6 more points at 68.9 points in 11 games.
GETTING TO THE LINE
• In 11 of the last 12 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 8 of those 11 contests and has converted 212-of-291 from the charity stripe for a .729 field goal percentage.
• The only game that Tulsa did not attempt 19 free throwss among the last 12 contests was against Tulane
• In this stretch, Martins Igbanu has gotten to the line the most and has converted 77-of-106 free throws for 72.6%.
• On the year, Tulsa has been to the free throw line 20+ times in 19 games.
IGBANU STRONG CANDIDATE FOR AAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR AND SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
• In 15 American Athletic Conference games, all off the bench, Martins Igbanu has averaged 16.7 points and 6.3 rebounds, while shooting .625 (85-of-136) from the field and .714 (80-of-112) from the free throw line.
• The senior is a leading candidate for the American Athletic Conference's Player of the Year Award and the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
• In league games only, Igbanu is ranked 4th in the league for scoring (16.7), 2nd for FG percentage (.625) and 10th for rebounding (6.3).
• Igbanu and Memphis freshman Precious Achiuwa and ECU sophomore Jayden Gardner are the only AAC players to rank among the top-10 in those 3 categories for AAC games.
• Igbanu has led the Tulsa team to a current three-way tie for first place in the American Athletic Conference.
• He has scored in double-figures in 10 of the last 11 contests, and 11 of Tulsa's 15 AAC games, and has 4 double-digit rebounding games in the last 12 contests ... he has recorded 3 double-doubles within the last 9 games – UConn (1/26), ECU (2/12) and Tulane (2/25).
• Igbanu was named the American Athletic Conference's Player of the Week on Jan. 27 for his 28-point, 10-rebound performance at UConn ... for 2 straight weeks (Feb. 10 & Feb. 17), Igbanu was named to the AAC weekly honor roll.
