Golden Hurricane Hosts Temple Owls Tuesday Evening

GAME #15: TULSA (4-10, 0-3 AAC) vs Temple (9-8, 3-1 AAC)
Date/Time:	Tuesday • Jan. 10, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 1st Season Temple - Aaron McKie (Temple, '94) 4th Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Chad McKee (PxP) and Bryndon Manzer (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads 11-6
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Temple (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team returns to the Donald W. Reynolds Center as the Golden Hurricane welcomes Temple on Tuesday evening.

Tipoff for the American Athletic Conference matchup is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.
Chad McKee and Bryndon Manzer 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.

The Hurricane (4-10, 0-3 The American) is back at home for the first time in 2023 and back in action after its bye weekend. The Owls (9-8, 3-1 The American) enter after dropping its first conference game of the season at home to Tulane. Both teams lost to the Green Wave in their last outings.

Tuesday marks the 18th meeting between the Hurricane and the Owls with Tulsa holding an 11-6 record over the first 17 games. Tulsa has gone 7-1 at home and 6-1 in the Reynolds Center against Temple. However, the Owls won both matchups last year, including its first win in Tulsa. Both games were close affairs with the Hurricane falling 69-64 at home and 67-58 on the road.

Tulsa is attempting to get off a four-game losing streak and earn its first conference win. The conference winless streak was pushed to three on Wednesday as Tulsa fell to Tulane 93-77 on the road in New Orleans. Bryant Selebangue recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs. He earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for his performance.

Both teams shot at least 50 percent from the field, but Tulane hit a slightly more efficient 55.2 percent of its shots. The Green Wave also knocked down 46.2 percent of its 3-pointers in comparison to Tulsa's 33.3. But the difference was at the stripe, where Tulane knocked down 17 free throws to Tulsa's 3.

Sam Griffin leads Tulsa in scoring heading into Tuesday's matchup, averaging 15.0 points per game. Selebangue has upped his average to 12.5 points. He also leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 8.5 rebounds per game. The big man is efficient from the field, knocking down 66.7 percent of his shots, which leads the conference and is ninth in the nation. Since conference play has started, Selebangue is averaging 18.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Griffin and Brandon Betson have been Tulsa's weapons from deep. Betson leads the conference with a 47.8 percent clip from deep. In his previous nine games, Betson is hitting above 50 percent from 3-point range and has made multiple 3-pointers in seven of them. He and Griffin have combined for 70 deep balls, with Griffin sitting third in the league for 3-pointers made per game (2.6).

Temple rattled off three-straight wins to start conference season, successfully bouncing back from a rough ending to its nonconference slate. The winning streak came to an end at home to Tulane on Saturday in an 87-76 loss. The Owls shot an uncharacteristic 7-of-14 from the free throw line in the loss when they usually shoot 75.7 percent. Three Owls finished in double figures in scoring, led by Khalif Battle's 21.

Battle leads Temple and is second in the conference in scoring, putting up 18.3 points per contest. Damian Dunn records 14.5 and Jamille Reynolds also scores 11.1 a game to round out the double figure scoring. Reynolds also leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 6.3 boards per game.

Following Tuesday's game, the Golden Hurricane hits the road again for a weekend matchup with longtime rival Wichita State. Tipoff for the Saturday contest is 3 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+.

Golden Hurricane Hosts Temple Owls Tuesday Evening

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Betson

Sam Griffin

Bryant Selebangue