Tulsa Hosts #15 Memphis to Open Conference Play

Thursday, January 4

7:00 PM

Tulsa

Memphis

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Hosts #15 Memphis to Open Conference Play

1/3/2024 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME #13: Tulsa (9-3, 0-0 AAC) vs Memphis (11-2, 0-0 AAC)
Date/Time:	Thursday • January 4, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season Memphis – Penny Hardaway (Memphis '03), 6th Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Chad McKee (PXP) and Pooh Williamson (Analyst) Michelle Montaine (Sideline Reporter)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	54th Meeting \| Memphis leads 32-21
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Memphis (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The Golden Hurricane will tip-off the 2024 portion of its schedule by hosting the 15th-ranked Memphis Tigers to open The American Athletic Conference season on Thursday evening in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Pooh Williamson bringing fans the action. Michelle Montaine will serve as the sideline analyst. 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.

Tulsa is entering its 10th season of league play in The American and have a 5-4 record in home openers. This is the second consecutive season Tulsa has started AAC play by hosting the reigning conference tournament champions after playing Houston a year ago. It's also the second year in a row Memphis and Tulsa will meet just once in conference play, both times in the Reynolds Center.

Memphis and Tulsa have played 53 times in the past, with Memphis holding a 32-21 advantage in the series. The Hurricane is 11-12 at home against the Tigers and 6-8 in the Reynolds Center. After starting 0-6 in its current home against the UofM, Tulsa rattled off six of its own before Memphis took the latest two. In all, Memphis has won three-straight, including an 80-68 win last season.

The Hurricane enter conference play with a 9-3 record after closing with four straight wins, including a 95-54 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State in the nonconference finale. Tulsa has started the season 9-0 at home, the best start since the 2018-19 squad also began the season with nine wins at home. It's the second longest home winning streak in the conference behind North Texas, who has won 14 consecutive games in The Super Pit.

In the win against SWOSU, PJ Haggerty led the way with 21 points and four assists, which helped him pick up another conference weekly award, this time getting named to the honor roll. It's the fifth award overall and third week in a row for the freshman guard. Also having big games in the win was Tyshawn Archie, who tied his season high with 17 points. Jesaiah McWright set a new career mark with 16 points, and Jared Garcia added 10 points. Freshman forward Matt Reed grabbed nine rebounds, matching his season best.

Haggerty enters conference play with a team-leading 17.2 points per game, which places him second in the nation for freshmen scorers and third overall in the conference. Cobe Williams is second on the team in scoring. The graduate guard averages 12.0 points and leads the way with 3.5 assists. Haggerty and Williams team up to cause havoc on opposing guards on the other end of the court. They each average 2.33 steals per game, which sees them tied for second in the conference and 25th in the NCAA. It also plays a large part in Tulsa's transition offense. The Hurricane leads the American in fastbreak points (15.92 per game) which is the 26th-best in college basketball.

The visiting Tigers ride a six-game winning streak and 11-2 record into the Reynolds Center, having not dropped a game since an early-December contest at Ole Miss. Since then, the Tigers have knocked off Texas A&M on the road, handed Clemson its first loss and taken down Vanderbilt and Virginia. The Tigers have also celebrated wins over Missouri, Michigan and Arkansas this season.

Senior forward David Jones has proven himself as one of the top players in the country, so far. The transfer from St. John's is leading Memphis with 21.2 points per game. He also averages 6.4 rebounds and a little more than two steals per contest.

An experience-heavy Memphis squad got even better with the addition of Kansas State transfer Nae'Qwan Tomlin midway through the nonconference schedule. He's only appeared in two contests but has averaged 11.5 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds in just 19.5 minutes of action.

Following Thursday's game, Tulsa will head to North Carolina for a two-game roadtrip on the East Coast. Tulsa faces East Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CT), and then heads to Charlotte to play the 49ers on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. Both games are scheduled to air on ESPN+.