Tulsa Hosts Old Foe Southern Illinois on Saturday

GAME #10: TULSA (4-5) vs. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (5-3)
Date/Time:	Saturday • Dec. 12, 2021 • 1:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 8th Season Southern Illinois - Bryan Mullins (SIU '09) 3rd Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Chad McKee (pxp) & Bryndon Manzer (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	54th Meeting (Tulsa Leads Series 32-21)
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| SIU Notes (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team welcomes an old Missouri Valley Conference opponent when Southern Illinois visits the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Saturday afternoon.

Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. (CT) on ESPN+. Chad Mckee will provide the play-by-play, and Bryndon Manzer will serve as the analyst for the matchup.

The Golden Hurricane (4-5) and Salukis (5-3) will meet for the 54th time, but for the first time at the Reynolds Center. Tulsa leads the all-time series 32-21 and holds an 18-5 advantage in home games. From 1975-76, when SIU joined the Missouri Valley Conference to 1995-96, Tulsa's last season, the teams met 46 times with the Hurricane winning 29 of those matchups.

Saturday will mark the first non-neutral court meeting between the two teams since Jan. 2, 1999, in Carbondale, Ill. The Salukis have won the past three games of the series, including the most recent, a 79-69 score at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational in 2018.

The Hurricane enters Saturday's matchup on a three-game losing streak after dropping Tuesday's game against Loyola Marymount 60-55. Tulsa held a 53-51 lead with 3:24 remaining, but the Lions outscored the Hurricane 9-2 the rest of the way to secure the win. Tulsa was outscored 35-24 in the second half, including a 17-2 run early in the half.

Sam Griffin led Tulsa with 16 points, while Jeriah Horne failed to reach double figures for the first time this season, scoring eight. He did add a season-high 11 rebounds. Tulsa shot 43 percent from the field, but struggled beyond the arc, hitting only 19 percent of its three-point attempts.

On the other side, Southern Illinois enters with a three-game winning streak. They've beaten Alcorn State, Evansville and, most recently, Southern Miss. The Salukis' 66-41 win against Southern Miss. is the fewest points SIU has allowed since 2008, as well as the largest margin of victory in head coach Bryan Mullins' tenure.

Horne continues to lead the Hurricane in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounds, pulling down 7.7 each game, and blocks with seven this season. Griffin averages 15.8 points per game, the only other Hurricane to average double figures. Darien Jackson averages 8.9 points and leads the team in shooting percentage, knocking down 58.2 percent of his shots. The Hurricane shoot 44.4 percent from the field as a team and 33.7 from deep.

Lance Jones paces SIU with 17.7 points per game. Joining him in double-figures is Marcus Domask, who scores 15.6 a game. As a team, the Salukis shoot 45.9 percent from the field, but only 31 percent on three-pointers. Four players are near the top in rebounding for Southern Illinois. Ben Coupet, Jr. leads the team, pulling down 4.5 rebounds per game. J.D. Mulia and Jones each average 4.3 rebounds, and Domask grabs 4.0 boards a game.

After Saturday's matchup, Tulsa wraps up the homestand with a game against Alcorn State on Thursday, Dec. 16. The Hurricane finish the nonconference schedule with the Hoop Hype XL against Colorado State on Dec. 18, and the Compete 4 Cause Classic against North Texas on Dec. 21. Those games will be played in neutral venues in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, respectively.

Tulsa Hosts Old Foe Southern Illinois on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Sam Griffin

Jeriah Horne

Darien Jackson