Tulsa Men’s Basketball Opens Season with Central Arkansas

Monday, November 6

7:00 PM

Tulsa

Central Arkansas

Tulsa Men’s Basketball Opens Season with Central Arkansas

11/5/2023 7:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME #1: Tulsa (0-0, 0-0 AAC) vs Central Arkansas (0-0, 0-0 ASUN)
Date/Time:	Monday • November 6, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (13,176) • Tulsa, Okla
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season Central Arkansas – Anthony Boone (Ole Miss, '98), 5th Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Josh Haley (PXP) and Pooh Williamson (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	4th Meeting \| Tulsa Leads 3-0
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| UCA (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa is set to open its 2023-24 campaign as the Golden Hurricane welcomes Central Arkansas to the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Monday evening.

Tipoff for the curtain raiser is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+, with Josh Haley and Pooh Williamson bringing fans the action. TU fans can also catch the game on Big Country 99.5 FM or the Varsity Network app with Bruce Howard and JR Rollo on the call.

The Golden Hurricane is 70-42 in season openers and 18-6 in home openers. Tulsa saw its lead slip away late in a 73-70 loss at Oregon State to open schedule last season. Head Coach Eric Konkol picked up his first win as the head coach of the Golden Hurricane 85-79 over Jackson State in last season's home opener.

Monday marks the fourth meeting between the two programs. Tulsa leads the all-time series 3-0 with all three games having been played in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The two teams met on Nov. 25, 2017, with the Golden Hurricane winning 92-72. Corey Henderson led the way with 24 points and DaQuan Jeffries added 20. The Hurricane built a 15-point lead by halftime in the 20-point win.

Tulsa will look a bit different in Konkol's second season in charge of the Hurricane. Senior Ari Seals and junior Jesaiah McWright are the two returners from last season's squad that finished 5-25 and 1-17 in The American Athletic Conference. Joining them are true freshmen Jarred Hall, Matt Reed, Tyshawn Archie and Ben Radford.

Konkol also turned to the transfer portal to bolster the roster, grabbing seven players out of the portal. Seniors Cobe Williams and Keaston Willis highlight the incoming players. The two played at LA Tech for coach Konkol and have had decorated careers. Williams is a two-time Conference USA All-Defensive team selection and averaged 18.8 points while shooting 45 percent from the floor last season to lead the Bulldogs. Willis averaged 12.4 points and earned conference honorable mention accolades. He's made more than 290 career 3-pointers and scored 20 or more in 20 games.

Other incoming transfers include sophomores Isaiah Barnes and Mohamed Keita. PJ Haggerty comes in as a redshirt freshman who transferred from TCU. Joining the team from the Junior College ranks is Carlous Williams and Jared Garcia. Garcia also played two seasons at Charlotte, who joins The American this season.

Central Arkansas is coming off an up and down season that saw the Bears finish with a 9-22 record, 4-14 in the ASUN Conference. Head coach Anthony Boone is entering his fifth season at the helm after taking over midway through the 19-20 season. He missed the final 16 games of last season due to heart surgery.

Camren Hunter leads seven returnees for the Bears. He led the team in scoring (16.9), assists (3.9) and steals (1.5) a season ago. He scored in double figures in 27 games, including 33 at Queens. The Bears have 10 newcomers, highlighted by Daniel Sofield, a 6-7 graduate transfer from West Florida. He knocked down 236 career 3-pointers while with the Argonauts.

After opening the season with Central Arkansas, Tulsa will stay home to host Incarnate Word on Saturday, Nov. 11. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+.