Tulsa Hosts Longtime Rival Wichita State on Wednesday

GAME #28: TULSA (9-18, 3-13 AAC) vs Wichita State (13-12, 4-9 AAC)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • March 2, 2022 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 8th Season Wichita State - Isaac Brown (Louisiana Monroe '95), 2nd Season
TV:	ESPNU \| John Schriffen (pxp) & Sean Harrington (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	136th Meeting (Wichita State leads 73-62)
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Wichita State (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– After four games on the road, the University of Tulsa men's basketball team is finally back in the Donald W. Reynolds Center to host Wichita State on Wednesday evening.

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU with John Schriffen providing the play-by-play and Sean Harrington as the analyst. Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo will be on the radio call, airing on Big Country 99.5 FM.

Neither team has met expectations this season, as the Hurricane enter Wednesday's contest with a 9-18 record, 3-13 in The American Athletic Conference, while Wichita State is 13-12, 4-9 AAC.

Wednesday is the 136th meeting between the old rivals. Wichita State leads the series 73-62 and have won four straight and 16 of the past 18. Tulsa is 36-30 at home against the Shockers and 4-6 in games played in the Reynolds Center.

Wichita State won the previous matchup a month ago on Feb. 1. The Hurricane led 30-29 at the break but shot just 26 percent from the field in the second, allowing Wichita State to pull away for the 58-48 win. Despite the loss, Tulsa's defense limited Tyson Etienne to 10 points and held the Shockers to 32 percent shooting, the worst they've shot against a non-Memphis opponent.

Tulsa comes in after a close loss, 64-59, at East Carolina over the weekend. Darien Jackson and Jeriah Horne paced the Hurricane with 17 and 14 points respectively. Senior big man Rey Idowu pulled down a career high nine rebounds, but second half shooting woes and turnovers were too much for Tulsa to overcome.

The Hurricane shot the ball better than 60 percent from the floor and from deep, hitting seven threes in the first half. But TU turned it over 12 times, resulting in 19 ECU points, which allowed the Pirates to keep it close. When Tulsa shot 25 percent in the second half, ECU was able to capitalize and get the win.

Horne continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game He also pulls down a team-high 6.7 rebounds. Sophomore guard Sam Griffin is next in scoring, recording 14.8 points a game. Graduate senior Darien Jackson scores at a 9.4 clip and has shot 55.8 percent from the field this season.
Wichita State has gone 2-4 since hosting the Hurricane and have lost three games in a row, including a double-overtime thriller to Houston. Most recently, The Shockers dropped an 81-57 decision at Memphis. The Tigers got up big early and Wichita State was never able to recover, shooting 31 percent from the floor and 21 from 3-point range.

Etienne is one of three Shockers who average double figures this season. He leads the team with 14.9 per game. The team's top two rebounders, Morris Udeze and Ricky Council IV, average 6.0 and 5.3 boards per game and are also the other two to average double figure scoring, putting up 10.2 and 11.7 points respectively.

After playing the Shockers, the Golden Hurricane will finish the season in the Reynolds Center against UCF on Sunday, Mar. 6 for senior day. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.

Tulsa Hosts Longtime Rival Wichita State on Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Sam Griffin

Jeriah Horne

Rey Idowu

Darien Jackson