Golden Hurricane Hosts Charlotte on Sunday

GAME #17: Tulsa (7-9, 1-2 AAC) vs. Charlotte (7-9, 0-3 AAC)
Date/Time:	Sunday • January 12, 2025 • 2:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 3rd Season Charlotte – Aaron Fearne (Mayville State '97), 2nd Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Chad McKee (PxP), Pooh Williamson (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard & JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	8th Meeting \| Tulsa Leads Series 4-3
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Notes:	Tulsa Notes \| Charlotte Notes \| The American Notes

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team welcomes the Charlotte 49ers to the Donald W. Reynolds Center for a Sunday afternoon American Athletic Conference matchup.

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Pooh Williamson on the call. Fans can also catch the contest on Big Country 99.5 FM and the Varsity Network app. Bruce Howard will bring fans the action alongside analyst JR Rollo.

Tulsa (7-9, 1-2 The American) and Charlotte (7-9, 0-3 The American) were originally scheduled to meet in a Saturday evening nationally televised game on ESPNU, but weather stepped in and prevented the Niners from leaving for Oklahoma. The decision was made to postpone until Sunday afternoon.

Sunday's game is Outsiders Day in the Reynolds Center, where Tulsa will celebrate the timeless S.E. Hinton novel The Outsiders and the Outsiders Museum. The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a "Stay Gold Tulsa" sweatshirt.

Sunday marks the eighth meeting between the Golden Hurricane and Charlotte, and just the third meeting in Tulsa. the Hurricane holds a 4-3 advantage over the 49ers and is 2-0 against the Niners in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tulsa won the first three meetings in the series, which started with a matchup in Puerto Rico in Dec. 1999. Charlotte evened the series with a win in three straight contests before Tulsa won the return game of last season's conference matchups. This will be the only meeting between Tulsa and Charlotte in the regular season this campaign.

Tulsa shook off its road shooting struggles in the second half of its 82-77 comeback win over UTSA. The Hurricane shot under 30 percent from the field in the opening half, continuing its trend of cold shooting in opposing gyms. In the second half, Tulsa knocked down 66.7 percent of its shots from the field and 3-point line, making eight 3-pointers en route to the win. It was the first win for the Hurricane this season from a losing position at the half.

Braeden Carrington propped up TU's offense in the opening half, scoring 17 of his game's 20 points. He later exited with an injury. Keaston Willis scored all 19 of his points in the second half, while Archie spread his 19 points throughout the game, but none bigger than a corner 3-pointer to put Tulsa ahead for good with less than 30 seconds left. Dwon Odom added his second double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, and freshman Ian Smikle just missed a double-double, scoring eight and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Willis is leading the team with a 13.5 scoring average after getting back in rhythm from 3-point range, making five from long range in the win. He leads The American with 46 made 3-pointers, and he sits second in makes per game (2.88). He ranks 46^th nationally for made triples. Odom is second on the team, averaging 12.9 points per contest. He's reached double figures in nine of 11 games since becoming a full-time starter, missing the mark by just two combined points in a pair of games. Odom also dishes out 4.4 assists per contest and has proven his ability to impact the game in multiple ways, recording double-doubles with points and assists and points and rebounds this season.

In its last conference game against FAU, 49ers trailed by just six with seven minutes to play after trailing by 14 earlier in the half. However, FAU was able to regain control and outscore Charlotte down the stretch to pull away with the win and keep the Niners winless in The American play.

Head coach Aaron Fearne is in his second season overseeing the men's basketball team after taking over as interim shortly before the start of the 2023-24 season, a tag that was removed late in the campaign after guiding Charlotte to a 19-12 record.

Junior guard Nik Graves paces four Niners who average double figures in scoring at 16.7 points per game. Giancarlo Rosado (12.3), Robert Braswell IV (11.9) and Jaehshon Thomas (10.9) are the other three. There is a drop-off in scoring after Thomas before Rich Rolf, who scores 5.7 points per contest.

Charlotte is one of the better teams at holding onto the ball, turning it over just 9.3 times per game, which ranks seventh nationally and leads the conference. In their loss to FAU, the Niners turned it over an uncharacteristic 13 times, which led to 17 points for the Owls.

Following Sunday's contest, the Golden Hurricane will have a midweek bye before heading to Tampa, Fla. to face last season's regular season champions, South Florida on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

Golden Hurricane Hosts Charlotte on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Braeden Carrington

Dwon Odom

Ian Smikle

Keaston Willis