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Tulsa
Houston
Tulsa Travels to Houston to Take on the No. 8 Cougars
1/19/2021 4:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #13: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (8-4, 5-2) at No. 8 Houston Cougars (11-1, 6-1) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Wednesday • Jan. 20, 2021 • 7:00 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: |
Fertitta Center (7,035) • Houston, Texas |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 7th year Houston – Kelvin Sampson (UNC-Pembroke '78), 7th year |
| TV: | ESPN+ | David Saltzman (pxp) & Reid Gettys (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | 58th Meeting (Tulsa leads the series 29-28) |
| Twitter: | @TUMBasketball | @TulsaHurricane |
| Instagram: | TulsaMBasketball |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa (PDF) | Houston | The American |
| Game Program: | Game Day Program |
The Game
• Tulsa will take on the Houston Cougars in a conference road matchup in the Fertitta Center Wednesday night on ESPN+.
• The game is the 13th contest for Tulsa (8-4) this season ... the Cougars are 11-1 on the season winning their last contest 75-58 in a home conference game against UCF on Jan. 17.
• The Cougars are ranked 8th nationally in both the Associated Press and 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 returned 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.
• Houston also returned 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 4 contests postponed or canceled due to Covid-19.
• Houston has won their last 4 contests after picking up their only loss of the season to the Hurricane on Dec. 29.
• The Cougars are led in scoring by Quentin Grimes who is averaging 17.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game ... Marcus Sasser is averaging 16.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 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 150-61 record.
The Series
• This will be the 58th contest between the Golden Hurricane and the Cougars ... Tulsa leads the series at 29-28 with TU winning the first meeting this season.
• 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.
• This is the 23rd time the Hurricane has faced off with the same team ranked inside the top-8 in a season ... in those series the Hurricane has split the series only once in 1975 defeating the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals 84-77.
• Tulsa is 4-10 all-time against teams ranked No. 8 ... the last win came on Jan. 9, 1985 as TU defeated Oklahoma 104-89 at the Tulsa Convention Center.
A Tulsa Win Would
• Give the Hurricane its 9th win of the season, moving Tulsa to 9-4, 6-2 AAC on the year.
• Move Tulsa's all-time record against Houston to 30-28.
• Give TU its fifth win against a No. 8 ranked team ... Tulsa's first win against a school ranked No. 8 came on Feb. 1, 1965 as the Hurricane defeated San Francisco 59-53.
This Season Against Houston
• Brandon Rachal knocked down two free throws with 0.1 seconds left in the game to defeat the No. 5-ranked Houston Cougars 65-64 on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020 in the Reynolds Center.
• The win was the first victory against a top 5-ranked opponent in the Reynolds Center since TU started playing in the arena in 1999.
• It was the first top-5 victory since the Hurricane defeated the No. 5 ranked UCLA Bruins 77-76 in overtime on Nov. 20, 1996 in Los Angeles, Calif.
• TU's only other top-5 victory at home was 84-77 win against the No. 3-ranked Louisville Cardinals at the Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavillion on Feb. 8, 1975.
Being Big in the Paint
• Tulsa has scored 50.6 percent of its points in the paint through 11 games ... the Hurricane has scored 412 of its 814 total points in the paint area.
• The Golden Hurricane has a 14.3 margin in the paint over its opponents, 34.3 per game (412) for Tulsa to 20.0 for the opposition (240).
• The Golden Hurricane has four games with a double-digit margin of points in the paint ... Tulsa outscored USF 30-18 (12), Southwestern Christian 56-12 (44), TCU 38-18 (20) and UT Arlington 48-24 (24) in the paint.
• Tulsa has used its two centers to bang downlow with Emmanuel Ugboh and Rey Idowu combining for 122 points in the paint ... the Hurricane guards have attacked the rim and made 145 baskets inside the paint.
2nd Half Outbursts
• The Golden Hurricane grow stronger as games go on outscoring opponents in the second half in 8-of-12 contests this season ... in four games Tulsa has outscored an opponent by 10 or more points SWC (28), UTA (12), Wichita State (10) and Memphis (15) in the second half.
• Tulsa has a 5.8 + margin in the second half ... TU is averaging 35.3 points per game (424 points) in the second half, while opponents are averaging 29.5 points per game (354 points).
• The Hurricane outscored Southwestern Christian 52-24 in the second half on Dec. 23 ... the 28-point margin was the largest of the season.
• TU used a 18-5 run to end the second half against Memphis in the fist meeting ... the Hurricane outscored the Tigers 37-22 after being outscored 27-19 in the first ... Darien Jackson (9 points) and Elijah Joiner (5 points) scored all their points in the 2nd.
• In conference games, the Hurricane has a 4.2 scoring margin in the second half, outscoring opponents 33.1 per game (232 points) to 28.9 (202 points).
#LoyalAlwaysTrue
