TU MBB: Golden Hurricane To Play First Exhibition Game Saturday

The Tulsa men’s basketball team plays host to Haskell Indian Nations at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in its first exhibition game of the season.

After a month of preseason practice, the Golden Hurricane is set to play in front of its fans against outside competition for the first time this year. The basketball contest will follow TU’s home football game, which takes place at 11 a.m. at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Doors to the Reynolds Center open for the basketball game at 2:30 p.m.

The Hurricane returns 11 letterwinners and all five starters to the team in 2015-16 and welcomed four newcomers. Among the nine seniors on the roster are guards James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison, Tulsa’s top two leading scorers and respective first- and second-team Preseason American Athletic Conference selections. Woodard tallied 14.5 points per game and 88 3-pointers and added 4.9 rebounds per contest. Harrison averaged 14.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game last year.

Forward Rashad Smith averaged 8.4 points and led the team with 6.0 rebounds per game, while guards Rashad Ray and Marquel Curtis added 7.5 and 7.3 points per outing, respectively. Forward D’Andre Wright scored 7.0 points per game, and Brandon Swannegan added 3.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per contest.

Junior TK Edogi averaged 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.4 minutes last year, and is joined as a returning player by senior guard Nick Wood and junior guard Corey Haith. The four newcomers are: junior college transfer guard Pat Birt, freshmen guards Sterling Taplin and Kajon Brown, and junior transfer Junior Etou.

This will be the second meeting between Tulsa and Haskell Indian Nations. TU defeated Haskell, 118-55, in a 2013 exhibition game at the Reynolds Center.

Season tickets for the 17-game home schedule are on sale. Tickets start as low as $210. Season tickets or seven-game mini plan packages can be purchased by visiting the TU Athletics Ticket Office in the Donald W. Reynolds Center, or by calling 918-631-GoTU (4688).

This is the first of two exhibition games for the Hurricane. TU will also play Rogers State at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. The Golden Hurricane opens the season Nov. 14 against Central Arkansas at the Reynolds Center.