Golden Hurricane Set to Face Oklahoma State in the Paycom Center

GAME #8: Tulsa (5-2, 0-0 AAC) vs Oklahoma State (3-5, 0-0 Big 12)
Date/Time:	Sunday • December 10, 2023 • 5:30 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Paycom Center (18,203) • Oklahoma City, Okla
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season Oklahoma State – Mike Boynton(South Carolina '03), 7th Season
TV:	ESPN2 \| Mark Neely (PXP) and Kevin McClure (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	115th Meeting \| Oklahoma State Leads 79-35
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Oklahoma State (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State will continue its longtime rivalry with a neutral site game at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City as part of the Battleground 2k23 series on Sunday afternoon.

Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. and will air on ESPN2 with Mark Neely and King McClure bringing fans the action. Tulsa fans can also catch the game on Big Country 99.5 FM and the Varsity Network app. Bruce Howard and JR Rollo have the call.

Sunday marks the 115^th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates to back each of their first seasons in 1907-08. The teams met twice that season, with Tulsa known as Kendall College and OSU as Oklahoma A&M. The Cowboys lead the overall series 75-39 and have won seven of the past 10 meetings. This is the second of three games scheduled in the series. Last season, the Cowboys bested the Hurricane 82-56 in Stillwater. The series will wrap with a final game in the Reynolds Center next season.

Tomorrow's meeting is the first time OSU and Tulsa have played each other in Oklahoma City since the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Tulsa upset the Cowboys 82-80 in The Myriad to advance to the first Sweet 16 in school history. Lou Dawkins connected on one of the most iconic shots in Tulsa history, a 3-pointer in the corner, to seal the win late.

Earlier this week, the Golden Hurricane bounced back from a pair of losses with a big 88-77 win over Loyola Chicago and carry a 5-2 record into the weekend. Tulsa matched its win total from a year ago just seven games into the season.

Balanced scoring helped lead the Hurricane to victory in Tuesday's win over the Ramblers. Keaston Willis scored 15 to lead five Tulsa players who finished scoring in double figures. All nine Hurricane who played scored at least three points in the win. Tulsa led wire-to-wire in the win, taking a seven-point lead to open the game and eventually opened a 21-9 advantage. The Ramblers cut the lead to three, 42-39, at the break, but Tulsa quickly pushed the lead to double digits, where it would stay for the remainder of the game.

Redshirt freshman guard PJ Haggerty is averaging 16.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists through the opening seven games of the season. He ranks third nationally among freshman scorers behind Harvard's Malik Mack (20.1) and Isaiah Collier (17.2) out of USC. Haggerty also is proficient in getting to the line, knocking down 51-of-64 (79.7 percent) of his free throws. He ranks 15th in the country for made free throws.

Oklahoma State has had an up-and-down start to the season and bring a 3-5 record to the Paycom Center. Four of the losses have been by five or fewer points, including two-point losses to St. Bonaventure, Notre Dame and the latest loss to Southern Illinois. The loss to the Fighting Irish came in overtime.
The leading scorer for the Cowboy is a familiar foe for Tulsa in Javon Small, who played his first two seasons at East Carolina. Small is averaging 17.0 points a game alongside 5.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He's joined in double figure scoring averages by Bryce Thompson, who has scored 11.2 per game. Oklahoma State has four players who average at least five rebounds per game, led by Quion Williams at 6.1 boards, and Eric Daily Jr. with 6.0 rebounds a game.

Following Sunday's game, Tulsa returns home for the remainder for the nonconference season. Tulsa hosts Missouri State on Saturday, Dec. 16 to start a five-game homestand that ends with the first conference game of the season against Memphis on Jan. 4. Tipoff for the matchup with the Bears is set for 2:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

Golden Hurricane Set to Face Oklahoma State in the Paycom Center

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Players Mentioned

PJ Haggerty

Keaston Willis