Tulsa Hosts Tulane for Legends Night

GAME #18: TULSA (4-13, 0-6 AAC) vs Tulane (12-6, 5-2 AAC)
Date/Time:	Saturday • Jan. 21, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 1st Season Tulane - Ron Hunter (Miami (Ohio) '86) 4th Season
TV:	ESPNU \| Joel Gadett (PXP) and Robbie Hummel (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	35th Meeting \| Tulsa Leads 24-10
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Tulane (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team welcomes former players back to the Donald W. Reynolds Center as the Golden Hurricane plays host to the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday for Legends Night

Tipoff for the American Athletic Conference matchup is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPNU. Joel Gadott and Robbie Hummel 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.

Prior to tip on Saturday, TU and Andolini's Pizza have joined forces to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Pizza Party ever recorded. Gates open at 5 p.m. with the world record attempt happening at 5:45. To participate, fans must be 12 years of age or older and have a ticket to the game. People under 12 or those unable to eat pizza can accompany but cannot participate in the record attempt.

Tulsa (4-13, 0-6 The American) and Tulane (12-6, 5-2) met earlier in the season in New Orleans. Despite shooting 50 percent from the floor and having four finish in double figures, the Golden Hurricane fell 93-77. Bryant Selebangue paced the team with 22 points and 13 rebounds, which were both personal bests at the time. Both teams dished out 23 assists in the contest. Anthony Pritchard, Sam Griffin and Brandon Betson recorded seven, five and four assists, respectively.

The Hurricane leads the all-time series 24-10 and holds a 14-2 record in home games, 12-2 in the Reynolds Center. The Green Wave has won the previous four meetings, dating back to a conference tournament matchup in 2021.

TU has come just shy of its first conference win in the past three games, losing by a combined 11 points. In Wednesday night's matchup with SMU, Tulsa forced overtime with a last-second tip-in from Selebangue. The Mustangs outscored Tulsa 15-12 in the extra period to escape with a 79-76 win.

Selebangue set a new career mark with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Griffin recorded his 14th double-figure scoring game of the season with 18 points alongside six assists. Anthony Pritchard scored 17 points, a new career high, and added five assists of his own. Tulsa outshot SMU 45-42 percent and owned a 42-39 advantage on the boards but turned it over 19 times and sent the Mustangs to the line 26 times.

Griffin has bumped his scoring average to 15.8 points to lead the team. Brandon Betson averages 10.3 and he and Griffin are the leaders from beyond the arc, combining for 73 triples. Betson's been near automatic from that range, hitting 47 percent of his 3-point attempts, which leads the conference.

One of the better surprises of the season, Selebangue is tearing it up on the glass, leading the conference with 9.1 rebounds a game to go with his 13.3 points. The sophomore transfer tops the league and is 39th in the country for rebounds per game. He's also incredibly efficient from the floor, leading the conference and sitting seventh in the NCAA in field goal percentage (67.4 percent). He has recorded seven double-doubles this season.

In conference play, Selebangue has been even better. Through the first six games, he's averaging a double-double, recording 17.8 points and 11.2 rebounds while shooting 75.4 percent from the floor. He has a trio of double-doubles and has come up just shy of a couple more.

Once more, Tulane and Tulsa will meet after a conference loss for the Green Wave. After opening The American season with a loss to Cincinnati, Tulane won five straight before running into the buzz saw that is the top-ranked Houston Cougars. Tulane played the No. 1 team in the nation at home on Tuesday, falling 80-60 despite 23 points from Jaylen Forbes.

Forbes leads a high-powered Tulane offense with 19.4 points per contest. Jalen Cook (18.1), Kevin Cross (14.4) and Sion James (10.6) also hit the double-figure average for scoring. As a team, Tulane puts up 80.7 a game, while allowing 74.2 points. Part of the reason it can score so many points, is Tulane limits turnovers while sharing the rock incredibly well. The Green Wave has the 16th-best assist to turnover ratio in the country (1.5) while dishing out nearly 16 assists per game.

Tulane is also efficient at the charity stripe, knocking down 82.2 percent of its attempts, which tops the conference and is second in the nation. The team gets to the line often, shooting 381 free throws, which is 151 more than Tulsa has attempted this season. Tulane also knocks down 17.4 free throws a night, which puts them No. 9 in the NCAA.

Following Saturday's game, the Golden Hurricane hit the road for a game against East Carolina on Jan. 24 before returning to the Reynolds Center to host Memphis on the 29th. Tipoff for the game in Greenville, N.C. is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

Tulsa Hosts Tulane for Legends Night

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Betson

Sam Griffin

Anthony Pritchard

Bryant Selebangue