Tulsa Set to Take on #2 Houston

GAME #23: TULSA (5-17, 1-10 AAC) at Houston (22-2, 10-1 AAC)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • Feb. 8, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Fertitta Center (7,100) • Houston, Texas
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 1st Season Houston – Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke, '78), 9th Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Matt Pedersen (PXP) and Reid Gettys (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	61st Meeting \| Houston Leads 31-29
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Houston (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

HOUSTON, Texas — The University of Tulsa men's basketball team has a shot at the school's highest ranked win when it takes on the No. 2 Houston Cougars Wednesday evening in the Fertitta Center.

Tipoff for the American Athletic Conference matchup is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+. Matt Pedersen and Reid Gettys 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 Golden Hurricane (5-17, 1-10 The American) will face a team ranked second nationally for the 13th time ever, and first since playing Memphis in the 2008 Conference USA Championship game. Tulsa achieved the school's highest ranked win when TU took down No. 3 Louisville 84-77 at Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion on Feb. 8, 1975.

Tulsa and Houston (22-2, 10-1 The American) will face each other for the 61st time which trails only Wichita State for most games against a current conference opponent for Tulsa, and is one more than the Hurricane and SMU. Houston enjoys a 31-29 advantage in the overall series and is 19-10 at home against Tulsa. The Hurricane has not won in Houston in its past six attempts, winning last on Feb. 5, 2015.

In this season's earlier meeting in the Reynolds Center on Dec. 28, the then third-ranked Houston overwhelmed Tulsa, shooting 59 percent from the field on its way to an 89-50 victory. The Cougars held a 43-26 lead at the break and opened the second half with a 12-0 run to take command. Bryant Selebangue scored 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead Tulsa in both categories.

The Hurricane is on a four-game skid heading into Wednesday's matchup after falling to Wichita State 86-75 on Sunday. Tulsa trailed by 21 with just a few minutes to play before a flurry of offense cut the lead to just eight three times in the final 40 seconds. But the comeback attempt happened far too late as the Shockers left with the win. Tim Dalger set a new career mark with 24 points and added seven rebounds. Selebangue paced Tulsa with 11 boards and freshman BB Knight reached double figures for the first time, scoring 13.

Selebangue continues to rebound the ball well, averaging 9.6 boards per game, which leads the conference and is 23rd in the nation. He is shooting the ball efficiently as well, connecting on 63.6 percent of his shots, which ranks him 12th nationally and first in the conference. He's on pace to put himself in the Tulsa record books as well, as his current average would be the second-best in school history for a single season, behind Julian Hammond (1965-66), who shot 65.9 percent (172-of-261) for the season.

Brandon Betson is also having a season for the books from 3-point percentage. He's connected on 45.6 percent of his 3-pointers this season, which tops the conference and would put him just above Alvin "Pooh" Williamson's 1993-94 season for sixth-best 3-point percentage in a single season at Tulsa. Betson's 47 triples this season is second on the team to Sam Griffin, who has knocked down 55 from beyond the arc.

Houston has won 13 of its past 14 games, with the lone stumble coming at home in a conference matchup with Temple on Jan. 22. The Cougars avenged the loss on Sunday back in Philadelphia, downing the Owls 81-65.

Marcus Sasser paces the Houston offense, averaging 16.0 points per game. Jarace Walker and J'Wan Roberts join Sasser in double figures, averaging 11.8 and 10.0 points, respectively. Roberts and Walker are both atop the team's rebounding leaders as well, as they each average more than six per game.

The rebounding is pretty spread out on a team who leads the conference in rebounds per game (38.4) and offensive boards (12.8), which ranks them 36th and 19th in those categories. Houston leads the nation in scoring margin, winning games by an average of 19.8 points. A large part of it is due to a defense that holds opponents to 55.6 points per game, which is third best in the nation, and holds teams to 35.5 percent from the field and 27.2 from 3-point range, which is the second and fourth best percentages in the NCAA.

Following Wednesday's game, Tulsa will complete its short roadtrip with a matchup against UCF on Saturday. Tipoff for Saturday's game at UCF is set for 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

Tulsa Set to Take on #2 Houston

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Betson

Tim Dalger

Sam Griffin

BB Knight

Bryant Selebangue