Golden Hurricane Hosts North Texas for BLUE OUT Game

GAME #22: Tulsa (12-9, 3-6 AAC) vs North Texas (12-9, 5-4 AAC)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • February 7, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season North Texas– Ross Hodge (Texas A&M Commerce '03), 1st 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:	53rd Meeting \| Tulsa leads 40-12
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| UNT (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team welcomes North Texas to the Donald W. Reynolds Center for a Wednesday evening American Athletic Conference contest.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ with Josh Haley and Pooh Williamson bringing fans the action, and Michelle Montaine 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.

Wednesday's game is a Blue Out, and fans are encouraged to wear their favorite blue Tulsa gear. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive a blue TU t-shirt.

Tulsa (12-9, 3-6 The American) and North Texas (12-9, 5-4 The American) have met 52 times, with the Golden Hurricane leading the all-time series 40-12. Wednesday will be just the fourth meeting in the Reynolds Center, where Tulsa has a 2-1 advantage. Overall, TU is 22-2 at home against the Mean Green.

Despite so many games between the schools, the two have met just seven times since 1993. The majority of the contests took place between 1958 and 1975, when both teams competed as members in the Missouri Valley Conference. Tulsa and North Texas last met in the 2013-14 season, the Hurricane's last as in Conference USA, and UNT's first. Tulsa won both meetings, 94-63 in the Reynolds Center, and then 79-68 in the regular season finale in The Super Pit, clinching a share of the conference title. TU would go on to win the conference tournament and play in the NCAA Tournament.

The Hurricane enter Wednesday after a tough loss at Florida Atlantic over the weekend. PJ Haggerty and Cobe Williams both reached milestones in the game. Williams reached 1,500 career points with his 15th point late in the game. He finished the night with 16 points, giving him 1,501 for his career. He has scored 292 this season at Tulsa, while he scored 1,209 at Louisiana Tech.

Haggerty needed 10 points to become the second freshman at Tulsa to reach 400 points in a season. He eclipsed the mark early in the second half and finished the night with 25 points, giving him 415 on the season. He's now 56 points from passing TU Hall of Famer Shea Seals for the most points scored by a freshman in TU history and 85 away from becoming the first 500-point scorer since James Woodard (528) in 2013-14.

Thanks to his play against Wichita State and at FAU, Haggerty picked up his ninth The American Freshman of the Week award. He ties Taylor Hendricks (2022-23) of UCF for the most such awards in The American history. Haggerty also tied Kenneth Lofton Jr. for the most Freshman of the Week awards by a player under coach Eric Konkol.

After winning its opening three games in The American play, North Texas has hit a bit of a speed bump, dropping three straight and four of its past five games. However, all but one of those losses was by five or fewer points, with an 82-79 loss to UAB included.

The Mean Green has also been without one of its key players in senior point guard Rubin Jones, who was averaging 11.7 points per game before an injury has forced him out of seven of the past eight games. In its latest loss, UNT was also without another point guard, CJ Noland, who is averaging 9.7 points this season and is second on the team with 41 assists. Jason Edwards is the team's leading scorer at 18.3 points per game. Aaron Scott (11.7 ppg) joins Edwards and Jones as the other scorer to average double figures.

North Texas plays a slower pace of basketball, which makes every possession count for the opposition. The Mean Green average 67.2 points per game, while only allowing 60.2 from its opponent, which is the 4th best scoring defense in the nation.

Following Wednesday's game, the Hurricane closes the short homestand with a Sunday game against UAB. Tipoff for the matchup is set for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

Golden Hurricane Hosts North Texas for BLUE OUT Game

Next Event

Players Mentioned

PJ Haggerty

Cobe Williams