Golden Hurricane Finishes Road Trip at Charlotte

GAME #15: Tulsa (9-5, 0-2 AAC) at Charlotte (7-7, 1-1 AAC)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • January 9, 2023 • 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Halton Arena (9,105) • Charlotte, N.C.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season Charlotte – Aaron Fearne (Mayville State '97), 1st Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Bobby Rosinski (PXP) and Jobey Thomas (Analyst) Hannah Bradey (Sideline)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	6th Meeting \| Tulsa leads 3-2
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Charlotte (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will attempt to get back in the win column with a road game at Charlotte on Wednesday evening in Halton Arena, finishing a two-game road trip in North Carolina.

Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPN+ with Bobby Rosinski and Jobey Thomas bringing fans the action. Hannah Bradley will serve as the sideline reporter. 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.

The Golden Hurricane enters Wednesday's matchup with a 9-5 record, 0-2 in The American. Tulsa began the week and road trip with a narrow 62-57 loss at East Carolina. The Pirates connected on a right corner 3-pointer to break a 57-57 deadlock with less than a minute remaining.

TU will now attempt to right the ship and pick up its first conference win against its new conference foe. An instrumental piece in that endeavor is guard PJ Haggerty, who just picked up his fifth American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week honors. The redshirt freshman averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals in a pair of games last week. He is averaging 17.8 points on the season, which is second in the conference and is also second in the NCAA among qualifying freshmen.

Cobe Williams upped his average to 12.3 points per contest after an 18-point performance at ECU. The graduate guard tied a career high with five made 3-pointers. In his past four games, Williams has made at least two 3-pointers and is 12-29 (41.4 percent). He leads the team with 26 made 3-pointers.

Junior forward Jared Garcia is no stranger to Halton Arena. Garcia started his collegiate career, making 40 appearances in two seasons form 2020-2022. He averaged 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds before transferring to Salt Lake Community College for the 2022-23 campaign. This year, Garcia has started every game for Tulsa and is averaging 9.1 points and team-leading 6.1 rebounds.

Charlotte touts a 7-7 record, 1-1 in The American, but is coming off its biggest win of the season after knocking off No. 17 FAU for the team's first ranked win in a decade and first conference win as members of The American. Lu'Cye Patterson connected on a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to lift the 49ers to victory and cement his place in the conference's weekly honor roll.

Patterson is the team's leading scorer at 14.2 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 39 assists. Returner Igor Milicic Jr. is averaging 12.0 points and a team-leading 8.7 rebounds this season. Dishon Jackson, a transfer from Washington State, is the other 49er in double figures for scoring, recording 10.2 points per contest.

Wednesday marks just the sixth meeting between the two programs. Tulsa holds a 3-2 lead in the series and is 1-1 on the road. The last time the teams met at Halston was Jan. 16, 2014. The 49ers made a frantic comeback in the final minutes to send the game to overtime and eventually win 90-86. The teams met last season in Conway, S.C. for the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Patterson scored 14 for Charlotte and Milicic Jr. had a game-sealing block as Tulsa fell 68-65.

After Wednesday's game, Tulsa will head home to host Tulane on Sunday, Jan. 14. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Center, and the game will air on ESPN+.

Golden Hurricane Finishes Road Trip at Charlotte

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Players Mentioned

Jared Garcia

PJ Haggerty

Cobe Williams