Tulsa Men’s Hoops Welcomes UAB on Sunday

GAME #23: Tulsa (12-10, 3-7 AAC) vs UAB (15-8, 7-3 AAC)
Date/Time:	Sunday • February 11, 2023 • 1:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season UAB– Andy Kennedy (UAB '91), 4th Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Josh Haley (PXP) and Pooh Williamson (Analyst) Michelle Montaine (Sideline)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	17th Meeting \| UAB leads 9-7
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| UAB (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team is set to host UAB for an American Athletic Conference contest early Sunday afternoon in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ with Josh Haley and Pooh Williamson bringing fans the action, and TJ Eckert as the sideline reporter. TU 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 putting on a Canned Food Drive, with fans asked to bring a can on nonexpired or expiring product to the game in exchange for a discounted ticket at $10. In addition, TU is turning it into a contest between President Brad Carson and Head Coach Eric Konkol. A bin will be at each entrance and fans put the canned food item into the bin of either competitor. Whoever has the fewest cans will get pied in the face on a later date.

TU (12-10, 3-7 The American) and UAB (15-8, 7-3 The American) meet for the 17th time in a series UAB leads 9-7. The Blazers have won the past three meetings and four of the past five. However, Tulsa and UAB have not played each other since Tulsa's final season in Conference USA, when the Blazers knocked off the Hurricane 70-63 in the Reynolds Center in late January.

The Hurricane enter Sunday afternoon after a pair of losses where the offense never found a rhythm and the game got away from them. Now, Tulsa will look to bounce back and avoid dropping three straight games and two in a row at home.

Freshmen have played a large role in driving the Tulsa offense this season. The Hurricane has four freshmen, PJ Haggerty, Matt Reed, Tyshawn Archie and Jarred Hall, who average 10 or more minutes per game played. Haggerty leads the team in both scoring (19.8) and minutes (32.4). As a group, the freshmen have combined to score 771 of Tulsa's 1687 points this season, which makes up 45.7 percent of the Hurricane's scoring.

In their first year in The American, The Blazers are off to a hot start, sitting fourth in the top half of the conference with a 7-3 record. UAB has some big wins under its belt, knocking off the then-No. 19 Memphis Tigers and, most recently, avenging an earlier loss with a win over No. 20 Florida Atlantic at home.
All five of the usual UAB starters average double figures in scoring, led by Eric Gaines and Yaxel Lendeborg, who each average 12.3 points per contest. Lendeborg has lifted his average in conference games, scoring 14.6 a game. The other three starters are Efrem Johnson (10.9), Alejandro Vasquez (10.8) and Javian Davis (10.1)

Following Sunday's contest, Tulsa will be back on the road for a midweek matchup at South Florida. Tipoff for the Wednesday evening contest is set for 6 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPNU.

Tulsa Men’s Hoops Welcomes UAB on Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyshawn Archie

PJ Haggerty

Jarred Hall

Matt Reed