Tulsa Opens Conference Tournament with Wichita State

GAME #30: TULSA (10-19, 4-14 AAC) vs Wichita State (15-12, 6-9 AAC)
Date/Time:	Thursday • March 10, 2022 • 2:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Dickies Arena (14,000) • Fort Worth, Texas
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 8th Season Wichita State - Isaac Brown (Louisiana Monroe '95), 2nd Season
TV:	ESPNU \| Kevin Brown (pxp) & Mark Adams (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	137th Meeting (Wichita State leads 74-62)
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Wichita State (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

FORT WORTH, Texas –– The University of Tulsa and Wichita State will meet for the third time this season on Thursday afternoon as part of the 2022 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship.

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The game will air on ESPNU with Kevin Brown providing the play-by-play and Mark Adams as the color analyst. Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo will be on the radio call, airing on Big Country 99.5 FM.

The matchup will serve as the 137th meeting between the teams, with Wichita State dominating the rivalry as of late, having won 17 of the past 19, including the previous two meetings this season. Overall, the Shockers hold a 74-62 advantage.

Tulsa enters the conference tournament with a 10-19 record, 4-14 in league play. The Gold Hurricane finished the regular season with a thrilling comeback on senior day, capped by a 50-foot buzzer beater from Jeriah Horne to give Tulsa a 73-72 win against UCF on the last shot of his career in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Horne finished the game with 21 points and nine rebounds, while fellow graduate senior Darien Jackson set a career high in his final game in front of the TU faithful, recording 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Horne finished the campaign averaging 16.2 points and 6.8 rebounds, both top five in the conference. Sam Griffin averaged 14.4 over the 29 games and added 57 assists, second only to Anthony Pritchard's 80. Jackson recorded a 10.0 scoring average while shooting a team-high 56-percent from the floor. He also improved his range as the season went on, knocking down more than 50 percent of his treys over the final six games of the regular season (12-23).

Jackson was also the recipient of the American Athletic Conference Sportsmanship Award for his impact on the Tulsa community.

Wichita State won its last two games, at Tulsa and then against East Carolina, 70-62, to finish the 2021-22 regular season at 15-12 and 6-9 in The American. The Shockers are second in the conference and 23rd in the nation for fewest fouls this season, making getting to the free throw line a tough task against Wichita State.

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 6.1 and 5.4 boards per game and are also the other two to average double figure scoring, putting up 10.5 and 11.7 points respectively.

Junior guard Dexter Dennis was named the American Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

The winner of tomorrow's game will stay alive to face SMU in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Tipoff for the quarterfinal matchup is set for 6 p.m. on Friday and will air on ESPNU.

Tulsa Opens Conference Tournament with Wichita State

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Players Mentioned

Sam Griffin

Jeriah Horne

Darien Jackson

Anthony Pritchard