Golden Hurricane Head West Looking to Continue Strong Start

Tuesday, November 25

Palm Desert, Calif.

12:30 p.m.

Tulsa

San Jose State

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David Green drives to the basket against Austin Peay

Golden Hurricane Head West Looking to Continue Strong Start

11/24/2025 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

DESERT SPRINGS, Calif. — Coming off another win on Friday, the Tulsa men's basketball team heads to the west coast for the Acrisure Holiday Invitational. They'll open the event with San Jose State on Tuesday before facing either Northern Iowa or Loyola Chicago on Wednesday.

Date/Time: November 21, 2025 / 12:30 PM CT
Site: Palm Desert, California
Arena: Reynolds Center (11,000)
Radio: 99.5 FM Big Country, Learfield Network affiliates, and Varsity Network App
Talent: Bruce Howard (pxp) & J.R. Rollo (analyst)
Social Updates: @TUMBasketball | #ReignCane
History: Tulsa leads, 18-2
Neutral Sites: Tulsa leads, 1-0

STORY LINES
• The Golden Hurricane offense has been humming through the first five games of the season.
• Tulsa is one of 15 schools with three or more players (David Green, Miles Barnstable, and Tylen Riley) averaging 15+ points per game along with Illinois (4), BYU, UConn, Iowa State, Loyola Marymount, Maryland, Ohio State, SMU, South Florida, USC, Troy, UNC Asheville, Vanderbilt, and Vermont.
• The trio has scored in double figures every game this season for the Golden Hurricane.
• Tulsa is one of 27 teams to play five or more games and score 80+ points in each of those games.
• The Golden Hurricane have scored 80+ points five times this season, last season it took them 12 games to reach that mark.
• San Jose is the fifth opponent this year that is a first-time opponent for head coach Eric Konkol.
• Tulsa is second in the American in points per game at 87.4 and field goal percentage at .473.
• With a win Tulsa would have its best start to a season under Eric Konkol at 5-1, at 4-1 they have matched the best five-game start in the Konkol era with the 2023-24 season.

QUICK HITS
• Head coach Eric Konkol is closing in on 200 wins as a Division I coach. Konkol, tied for the fourth-longest tenured coach in the American, needs just 9 wins to reach that milestone.
• Tulsa won the Mayor's Cup despite Oral Roberts shooting .500 percent from the field and making 14 threes. Since the 2004-05 season per Stathead, it is Tulsa's first road win in which the opponent shot .500 percent or better from the field and made 10 or more threes. Last season, teams were 839-13 (.985) at home, shooting .500 percent or better from the field, and made more than 10 threes.
• The Golden Hurricane won their season opener in dominating fashion against Oklahoma Christian, 100-57. Tulsa was +40 on the boards with 61 total, the ninth-most in a game in program history.
• Tulsa is 2-0 in coaches challenges this season.
• The Golden Hurricane have played two one-point games this season, in back-to-back games (Oral Roberts and Kansas State). It was the team's first back-to-back one-point finishes since 2011.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• San Jose State is 2-3 on the season, winning their last two games.
• The Spartans pulled away in the second half of an 80-66 win over Southern on Friday.
• Yaphet Moundi had a huge game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Jermaine Washington (17), Colby Garland (16), and Ben Roseborough (16) also finished in double figures.
• Colby Garland leads the offense at 21.2 points per game.
• Yaphet Moundi has four double-doubles on the season in five games.

SERIES HISTORY
• Tulsa owns the series with an 18-2 all-time record.
• The Golden Hurricane won the first 14 in the series before the Spartans won in 2003.
• The only other neutral site meeting between the school's all-time came way back on Dec. 27, 1974, when the Golden Hurricane beat the Spartans 82-74 in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

GETTING TO THE CHARITY STRIPE
• Tulsa has gotten to the free throw line 142 times this season, 28.4 times per game, putting them in the top 40 in the country.
• Their 21.6 made free throws per game are currently 26th in the nation. South Florida also leads the country with 27.4.
• Last season the Golden Hurricane only made 13.0 free throws per game, last in the American, and 19.5 attempts per game, 11th in the American.

SPREADING THE LOVE
• Tulsa has had at least 15 assists in each of the first five games of the season. The Golden Hurricane reached that mark just 12 times last season.
• Tulsa leads the American Conference at 17.6 assists per game.
• Tulsa has assisted on .629 of made field goals this season, 88-of-140.

LONGEVITY IN THE LEAGUE
• Head coach Eric Konkol enters his fourth season with the Golden Hurricane.
• Konkol enters the year tied for the fourth-longest tenured coach in the American Conference.
• Only Penny Hardaway (Memphis, 8th season), Ron Hunter (Tulane, 7th season), and Andy Kennedy (UAB, 6th season) have been in the league longer.
• East Carolina head coach, and former Tulsa assistant, Michael Scwartz, is also entering his fourth season leading his program.

FIRST TIMERS
• Three opponents on the schedule are new to the Golden Hurricane men's basketball program.
• Tulsa plays Oklahoma Christian, Manhattan Christian, and Denver for the first time ever this season, all at the Reynolds Center.

NEW LOOK ROSTER
• The Golden Hurricane roster features 11 newcomers in 2025-26, 8 transfers and 3 freshmen.
• David Green headlines the group after two stellar seasons at Rhode Island, where he averaged 14.2 points per game the last two seasons. Green previously played for Eric Konkol back in 2021-22 at Louisiana Tech where he averaged 7.2 points and 3.0 rebounds off the bench in Konkol's final season in Ruston.
• Miles Barnstable is a scoring threat anywhere on the floor. After starting his collegiate career at DIII Wisconsin-Whitewater, Barnstable has scored 1,449 points entering his senior season. Last season he was the Summit League Newcomer of the Year and All-Conference First Team at St. Thomas.
• Myles Rigsby and Terrance Ford Jr. bring a championship pedigree to the roster after transferring from the Sun Belt Conference. Rigsby's Troy Trojans defeated Ford's Arkansas State Red Wolves in the SBC Championships last season to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament after the two sides were part of a four-way tie for the regular season crown.
• Romad Dean is a veteran presence after spending 3 seasons at Fordham. The senior started 32 games last season, averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds and shooting .342 from deep.
• From the JUCO level, Ade Popoola is a scoring threat after averaging 18.6 points a year ago. He was ranked the No. 7 JUCO transfer by Rivals and the No. 11 JUCO transfer by JUCOrecruiting.com.
• Doryan Onwuchekwa brings depth to the post after grabbing 4.9 boards in just 18.2 minutes of action last year at Georgia Tech while local product Carter Benton transfers from Pacific, appearing in 19 games for the Tigers last season.
• TU's roster will also feature 3 true freshmen. KJ Martin Jr. joined the team last spring after graduating high school early but did not appear in a game. Jaylen Lawal joins the team as a 3-star recruit out of high school while Leon Sifferlin joins the roster with international experience from France.

BACK ON THE BENCH
• Three players return who saw game action last season to the Golden Hurricane.
• Ian Smikle headlines the returners for the Golden Hurricane. Last season the West Palm Beach, Florida native earned American Conference All-Freshman Team honors after averaging 5.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Last season he pulled down 183 rebounds, the third most by a freshman in program history.
• Tyler Behrend and Cal Conroy also saw action last season for the Golden Hurricane. Behrend appeared in 16 games, averaging 1.2 points and 1.1 rebounds while Conroy saw time in 2 contests.

LAST TIME OUT
• Tulsa got hot in the second half to hold off Austin Peay, 84-75, in the Reynolds Center.
• Four players scored in double figures, led by Tylen Riley's 20. David Green added 17 while Ade Popoola had a season-high 14 and Miles Barnstable added 10.
• The Golden Hurricane caught fire in the second half offensively. They shot 18-of-30 (.600) from the field, 8-of-14 (.571) from three, and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
• Tulsa will take on either Northern Iowa or Loyola Chicago on Nov. 26 to close their west coast swing.

Visit www.TulsaHurricane.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans can also follow the team on X, Facebook and Instagram.