Tulsa Hosts Mississippi Valley State in Finale of Homestand

GAME #10: TULSA (3-6, 0-0 AAC) vs Mississippi Valley State (1-10, 0-0 SWAC)
Date/Time:	Friday • Dec. 16, 2022 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 1st Season MVSU - George Ivory (Mississippi Valley State, '88), 1st Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Chad McKee (pxp) & Pooh Williamson (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads 2-0
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| MVSU (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will play host to Mississippi Valley State on Friday evening in the final home game of the nonconference slate.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+. Chad McKee and Pooh Williamson will bring fans the action. Bruce Howard and JR Rollo will broadcast the radio call on Big Country 99.5 FM and The Varsity Network app.

Santa Claus will be in the Reynolds Center for Friday's game, meeting with fans prior to tipoff behind section 102. The first 1,000 fans in attendance can pick up an ugly Christmas long sleeve t-shirt at the customer service booth behind section 103.

Friday marks the third meeting between the two schools with Tulsa winning both previous matchups in 1991 and 2007. The last meeting was Dec. 30, 2007 in the Reynolds Center, when Tulsa handed the Delta Devils a 71-46 defeat.

The Golden Hurricane (3-6) enters Friday's game after snapping a five-game losing streak with a 70-63 win against Central Michigan on Saturday. Balanced scoring was the key as nine of the 10 Hurricane players who featured in the game scored, led by Sam Griffin and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson with 13 apiece. Tim Dalger added 12 and dished out a team-high four assists. Embery-Simpson and Bryant Selebangue each pulled down five rebounds and Griffin recorded three steals.

With the score tied at 61 with 3:32 to play, Tulsa outscored the Chippewas 9-2 the rest of the way to secure the win. Embery-Simpson put the Hurricane up for good on a step-back jumper, followed by a pair of free throws from Dalger and a Pritchard turnaround jumper to put Tulsa up six.

Griffin continues to lead Tulsa in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game. He also dishes out 2.6 assists and pulls down 3.9 rebounds. Selebangue and Brandon Betson also average double digits, scoring 11.4 and 11.2 per game, respectively.

Selebangue is among the best in the conference when it comes to rebounding. He leads the team, recording 8.6 a game, which is third best in the conference. He also averages a league-best 3.3 offensive rebounds and is fourth for defensive rebounds at 5.2.

Betson has proved himself as a 3-point shooter through the first nine games. He is third in The American in accuracy, knocking down 43.2 percent of his triples. His 19 3-pointers is second on the team to Griffin (24), and Griffin is fourth in the conference for made threes per game (2.67).

Mississippi Valley State (1-10) has one of the tougher schedules in the country as the Delta Devils enter Friday's game to play its 11th road game of the season, seventh in a row. The lone win came in the team's only home game, a 76-68 victory over North Alabama on Nov. 18, and the Delta Devils will finish the nonconference schedule with road games against TCU and Tulane before opening the SWAC schedule with back-to-back away games as well.

George Ivory is in his first season at the helm of the program after being named the 12th head coach in school history on March 14. He had spent time as an assistant coach with the Delta Devils and is one the program's legendary players. He holds the school's all-time assists record (547), assists per game record (4.8) and the single-season 3-point percentage record (51.6 percent), which he set in 1987 when he went 109-211 from deep, just a year after the implementation of the 3-point line. Ivory is also a SWAC Hall of Famer.

Terry Collins leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game and converting on 29 3-pointers through 11 games. Rayquan Brown is the other Delta Devil to average double figure scoring, recording 14.0 points per game. Brown averages a double-double as he also leads the team with 10 rebounds per contest.

Following Friday's game, Tulsa will head on the road to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount on Dec. 21 to finish the nonconference schedule. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. and will air on the WCC Network. After a break for Christmas, the Golden Hurricane will host Houston on Dec. 28 in the conference opener.

Tulsa Hosts Mississippi Valley State in Finale of Homestand

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Betson

Tim Dalger

Keyshawn Embery-Simpson

Sam Griffin

Bryant Selebangue