Tulsa Men’s Basketball Hosts #24 South Florida for Senior Day

GAME #30: Tulsa (15-14, 6-11 AAC) vs. South Florida (23-5, 16-1 AAC)
Date/Time:	Saturday • March 9, 2024 • 2:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Domald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 2nd Season South Florida – Amir Abdur-Rahim (Southeastern Louisiana '04), 1st Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Jeremie Poplin(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:	16 Meeting \| Tulsa leads 12-3
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. –– The Golden Hurricane men's basketball team will play in the Donald W. Reynolds Center one final time this season as Tulsa welcomes the No. 24 South Florida Bulls on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day.

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ with Jeremie Poplin and Pooh Williamson bringing fans the action. Michelle Montaine serves as the sideline analyst. 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 will celebrate the careers of seniors Cobe Williams and Ari Seals on Saturday. Seals has been with the Tulsa program the past four years, making 28 appearances for the Golden Hurricane. Williams chose to transfer to Tulsa for his fifth and final season after spending his first four seasons at Louisiana Tech, three of which were for coach Eric Konkol.

The Hurricane (15-14, 6-11 The American) and South Florida (23-5, 16-1 The American) meet for the 16th time in a series Tulsa leads 12-3. TU is 6-1 in the Reynolds Center against the Bulls, but South Florida has won the past three meetings between the schools, its only three wins of the series. That includes a 69=50 Bulls win in the Yuengling Center earlier this season on Feb. 14.

This is just the fourth time Tulsa has faced a team ranked 24th in the nation, and first since knocking off TCU 72-62 on Jan. 25, 1999, in the Reynolds Center. It was the first win against a ranked opponent in the brand-new building. Almost exactly a year earlier, Tulsa came out on top 64-63 against Hawaii in the Convention Center. TU is 2-1 in such games, with the lone loss coming in overtime to Louisville 82-80 in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

The Hurricane is coming off a win in its final road game of the season, knocking off Temple 72-67 last Saturday. The win ensured Tulsa would finish the regular season with at least a .500 record. PJ Haggerty and Cobe Williams paced Tulsa with 21 points apiece. Jared Garcia added 14 and a team-leading eight rebounds. Tulsa moves to 10-1 this season when Garcia has scored 10 or more points.

In the win, Williams dished out seven assists, giving him 106 on the season, retaking the team lead from Haggerty. Williams joins Haggerty as the first Tulsa players since Sterling Taplin in 2018-19 to reach the century mark for assists. It's the first time Tulsa has had two players reach triple digits since Greg Harrington and Antonio Reed in 2001-02.

South Florida is in the midst of its greatest season, winning 15 straight and 21 of its past 22 games, and earning a national ranking. The Bulls are strong off the bench, sitting second in the conference and 19th nationally for bench points at 28.82 per game. Selton Miguel plays a large role, coming off the bench in 23 of 28 appearances to average 14.8 points, which is second on the team. Senior Chris Youngblood has the honors of highest scorer at 15.5 per contest. Youngblood followed head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim from Kennesaw State and has powered the Bulls to a historic season, knocking down 62 3-pointers while shooting 45.5 percent from long range.

Following Saturday's game, the Golden Hurricane will await its final seedings for The American Athletic Conference Championship at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The tournament starts on Wednesday, March 13, and will run through Sunday. TU will play on Thursday with tip time and opponent still to be decided.

Tulsa Men’s Basketball Hosts #24 South Florida for Senior Day

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Players Mentioned

Jared Garcia

PJ Haggerty

Ari Seals

Cobe Williams