Hurricane Host Knights in the Reynolds Saturday

GAME #17: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (9-7, 6-5) vs UCF KNIGHTS (4-9, 2-8)
Date/Time:	Saturday • Feb. 6, 2021 • 5:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 7th year UCF – Johnny Dawkins (Duke '86), 5th year
TV:	ESPN2 \| Kevin Brown (pxp) & Mark Adams (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	24th Meeting (Tulsa leads the series 14-9)
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| UCF \| The American
Game Program:	Game Day Program

The Game
• Tulsa will take on the UCF Knights in a conference home matchup in the Reynolds Center Saturday night on ESPN2 ... it will be the second consecutive home game for the Hurricane.
• The game is the 17th contest for Tulsa (9-7) this season ... the Knights are 4-9 on the season losing their last contest 75-61 in a road conference game against the Memphis Tigers on Feb. 3.

Scouting the Knights
• UCF was picked to finish 8th in the preseason AAC Coaches Poll ... the Knights returned two of their top scorers from last season, when the team went 16-14 and 7-11 in conference play.
• UCF added transfer guard Darius Perry from Louisville who started for the Cardinals in 26 games, making 40.8-percent of his three-points in ACC play and had 11 games with 3 or more assists.
• The Knights returned second leading scorer Darin Green Jr. and senior guard Brandon Mahan who each finished last season among the top-20 in points per game in the American Athletic Conference.
• The Knights opened their season with two bigs wins against Auburn, 65-55, and on the road at No. 15 Florida State 86-74 ... they have lost 8 of their last 9 conference game including their last three.
• UCF is led in scoring by Mahan who is averaging 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game ... Green Jr. is averaging 12.4 points and 2.9 rebounds a game for the Knights.
• UCF is led by Head Coach Johnny Dawkins, who has been at the helm of the Knights for the last 5 seasons ... he holds a 87-57 record.

The Series
• This will be the 24th contest between the Golden Hurricane and the Knights ... Tulsa leads the series at 14-9 with TU splitting the two meetings last season winning at home, 65-54 ... and falling to UCF 83-75 on the road.
• TU won the first contest against the Knights at the Convention Center 69-58 on Dec. 19, 1981 in Nolan Richardson's second season as the head coach of the Hurricane ... TU would finish 24-6 during the 1981-82 season.
• This is the 12th time Tulsa has hosted UCF in at home with the Hurricane holding an 11-0 advantage on the home court ... Tulsa has a road record of 3-9 against the Knights.

A Tulsa Win Would
• Give the Hurricane its 10th win of the season, moving Tulsa to 10-7, 7-5 AAC on the year.
• Move Tulsa's all-time record against UCF to 15-9.
• Give TU its 2nd straight win against the Knights after splitting the two contests last season.

Last Game Against the Knights
• Lawson Korita scored a career-best 20 points on Senior Day as Tulsa closed out the home season with a 65-54 win over UCF ... the senior knocked down 7-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range and also converted 3-of-4 free throws for his new career-high,
• Tulsa connected on 43-percent of its field goals, 45-percent from 3-point range and out-rebounded the Knights 30-22 ... the Hurricane had a 14-0 edge in second-chance points and a 27-12 advantage in points scored off turnovers.
• The win gave Tulsa its 20th win of the year and clinched at least the No. 3-seed at the American Athletic Conference tournament.
• In the final 0:46, Elijah Joiner converted 4-of-4 free throws to increase Tulsa's lead to 8 points, while a Korita fast-break layup and free throw gave Tulsa the 11-point victory.
• The Hurricane held UCF to zero field goals in a span of 6:44 in the first half, from its last basket a 3-pointer scored at the 12:03 mark to a 3-pointer at the 5:19 mark, and the Knights had only one free throw during that time span as well.

A Rich Tradition
• The month of February is Black History month, and the University of Tulsa Men's Basketball program has a rich tradition of hiring African-American Coaches..
• Nolan Richardson broke barriers at Tulsa in 1980, becoming the first African-American head coach in school history ... Richardson is 4th all-time in career wins at the helm of Tulsa with 119 victories in 5 seasons.
• Richardson was followed in 1991 as the Golden Hurricane hired Tubby Smith as head coach ... Smith spent four seasons with TU, leading Tulsa to a NCAA 'Sweet Sixteen' during the 1993-94 season.
• Now North Carolina assistant coach Steve Robinson led Tulsa to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances from 1995-97, while Danny Manning (38-29) and Frank Haith (125-83) have led the Hurricane the past 8 seasons.

#LoyalAlwaysTrue

Hurricane Host Knights in the Reynolds Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Elijah Joiner

Lawson Korita