Tulsa Faces SMU in American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals

GAME #31: TULSA (11-19, 4-14 AAC) vs SMU (22-7, 13-4 AAC)
Date/Time:	Friday • March 11, 2022 • 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Dickies Arena (14,000) • Fort Worth, Texas
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 8th Season SMU - Tim Jankovich (Kansas State '82), 6th Season
TV:	ESPNU \| John Schriffen (pxp) & Perry Clark (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	58th Meeting (Tulsa leads 33-24)
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| SMU (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

FORT WORTH, Texas –– The University of Tulsa continues its journey in the 2022 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship when the Golden Hurricane meets with SMU on Friday evening.

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The game will air on ESPNU with John Schriffen providing the play-by-play and Perry Clark as the color analyst. Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo will be on the radio call, airing on Big Country 99.5 FM.

The Mustangs and Hurricane meet for the 58th time and third time this season, with Tulsa leading the overall series 33-24. SMU won the previous two matchups, 74-69 in the Reynolds Center and more recently, 75-61 in Dallas, Texas. SMU has also won five of the past six matchups in the series. Friday will only mark the fourth neutral court meeting in the series' history, with SMU holding a 2-1 advantage.

The 10th-seeded Hurricane earned its spot in the quarterfinals after beating No. 7 Wichita State 73-67 on Thursday afternoon. Sam Griffin led all scorers with 21 points. Darien Jackson recorded 20 points and just missed out on a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds. Jeriah Horne picked up his fourth double-double of the season with a 17-point, 10-rebound performance. Rey Idowu also flirted with a double-double, scoring 10 and rebounding nine.

Horne leads Tulsa in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. With Thursday's performance, Griffin has improved his average to 14.6, and Jackson is now averaging 10.3 points. Horne also leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 6.9 a game, which ranks third in The American. Jackson is the team's leader in shooting percentage, knocking down 56.1 percent of his shots, while Horne is good on 42.3 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

SMU finished the regular season with a 22-7 record, 13-4 in league play, earning the No. 2 seed for the AAC Championship and a first-round bye. After beating the Golden Hurricane, SMU finished with a loss to regular season champion Houston before beating Cincinnati, 76-71, and Tulane, 74-68.

Kendric Davis was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and to the conference's first team. The guard leads four Mustangs who average double-figures in scoring, averaging 19.5 a night. Marcus Weathers (12.5) is second and leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 7.4 rebounds each game. His brother, Michael Weathers, averages 10.6 points and Emmanuel Bandoumel scores 10.8.

The winner of tomorrow's game will move on to play the winner of the No. 3 Memphis and No. 6 UCF matchup in the semifinals of The American Championship. Tipoff for the semifinal showdown is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday and will air on ESPN2.

Tulsa Faces SMU in American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals

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Players Mentioned

Sam Griffin

Jeriah Horne

Rey Idowu

Darien Jackson