Tulsa Men’s Basketball Welcomes Charlotte

GAME #27: Tulsa (13-13, 4-10 AAC) vs. Charlotte (9-15, 3-8 AAC)
Date/Time:	Saturday • February 14, 2024 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Domald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season Charlotte – Aaron Fearne (Mayville State '97), 1st Season
TV:	ESPNU \| Pat O'Keefe (PxP) and Eric Devendorf (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	7th Meeting \| Tied 3-3
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team plays host to Charlotte in a nationally televised contest on Saturday night in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPNU with Pat O'Keefe and Eric Davendorf bringing fans the action. 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 (13-13, 4-10 The American) and Charlotte (17-9, 11-3 The American) meet for the second time this season. The 49ers were the victors when the teams met in Halton Arena on Jan. 10, beating Tulsa 84-76. That win evened the series at three wins each as the teams prepare to play for the seventh time ever. Tulsa won its only game against Charlotte in the Reynolds Center, a 75-63 ballgame on Dec. 18, 2007.

On Wednesday, the Hurricane was unable to complete a regular season sweep over Wichita State, losing on the road 79-63. Freshmen PJ Haggerty and Tyshawn Archie paced Tulsa with 24 and 14 points, respectively. Haggerty added seven rebounds and four steals, while Archie also recorded a steal. Sophomore Isaiah Barnes scored 10 points and also had three steals.

Freshmen have contributed in a massive way for the Golden Hurricane this season. PJ Haggerty, Tyshawn Archie, Matt Reed, Jarred Hall and Ben Radford have combined to score 919 points, which makes up 47 percent of Tulsa's 1956 points as a team. Haggerty leads the way with 20.3 points per contest, which is the best on the team and leads the nation for freshmen. Archie, who averages 15.2 minutes a game, scores 8.1 points a contest, while Reed (16.9 minutes) averages 5.1 points.

Reed and Haggerty also do a good job on the glass. Jared Garcia leads the team at 5.9 rebounds per contest, but Haggerty (5.2) and Reed (4.7) are not too far behind. Both freshmen now rank on Tulsa's single-season freshman rebounding top 10. Haggerty ranks seventh with 136 rebounds, while Reed has pulled down 121 and is tied for 10th with Steve McDowell's 1976-77 freshman season.

Since beating Tulsa in an earlier matchup, Charlotte has been one of the hottest teams in The American. The 49ers were .500 (7-7) heading into that matchup and had just knocked off No. 17 FAU. Beating Tulsa was the second win in what turned out to be an eight-game streak. The 49ers have gone 9-2 in the games following its win over TU.

However, Charlotte enters this game after suffering its worst defeat in conference play and equaling its largest margin of loss since an earlier loss at Duke. The 49ers went on the road to face Memphis and left with a 76-52 loss. Leading scorer Lu'Cye Patterson (14.2 points per game) was held scoreless in the game and struggled to find a rhythm after getting into early foul trouble. He was not the only player who couldn't get going as Charlotte scored just 17 points in the second half.

Igor Milicic Jr. is the team's leading 3-point marksman, knocking down 43 3-pointers this season at a 36.4 percent clip. Milicic Jr. is the team's second leading scorer (13.0) and leading rebounder, grabbing 8.5 rebounds a game. Dishon Jackson (11.7 points) and Nik Graves (10.2 points) also average double figures in scoring.

Following Saturday's game, the Golden Hurricane set off for the final roadtrip of the regular season with a game on Wednesday at UTSA before finishing with Temple on Saturday. Tipoff for Wednesday's game is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

Tulsa Men’s Basketball Welcomes Charlotte

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Players Mentioned

Tyshawn Archie

Isaiah Barnes

Jared Garcia

PJ Haggerty

Jarred Hall

Matt Reed