TU Men's Basketball On The Uprise: News On The Upcoming Game, Record Setting, And RPI Top 50

The TU men's basketball team has been blazing past opponents for ten straight games, and taken the AAC by storm with its untarnished conference record (8-0). Come Saturday, the team will attempt to extend its win streak to 11 when it takes on the University of South Florida at noon in the Reynolds Center.

The two teams met earlier this month, resulting in a 75-58 Tulsa victory. In that game the Golden Hurricane shot 50 percent from the field, while holding USF to 42 percent. TU also brought rain to the gym, sinking 6-of-10 three-pointers. Tulsa didn't look too shabby from the line either, making 19-of-22 free throws. Defensively, TU tallied nine steals, six blocks, and scored 17 points off 15 forced turnovers. Jordan Woodard led the Golden Hurricane in scoring with 21 points, while Nehemias Morillo led the Bulls in scoring with 15 points.

The upcoming rematch will be highly anticipated by both teams, as USF looks to stop the only unbeaten team in the conference, while TU looks to stay on top. "I can go back to just say this, Southeast Oklahoma, anybody can beat anybody. So, we've been there. So, you've just got to constantly remind your guys, if you don't play you can get beat," said TU head coach Frank Haith (about the approaching game).?

The Golden Hurricane will enter Saturday's contest off a 62-55 win over Tulane. “We've got other guys stepping up; I think we've grown in that area. I think this team, I don't know that we could've won a game like this earlier in the year without James scoring,” said Haith. “All these experiences we're having right now only helps us as we continue to dive deeper into league play.”

Records and RPI Standings

-TU's current 16-game regular season conference winning streak is second to the 17-game win streak across three seasons from 1918-1921, and the team's current 19-game winning streak vs. conference opponents is the longest in program history, including conference tournament games.

-As of Thursday morning, four American Athletic Conference teams made RPI top 50, including Tulsa at number 40. The three other top 50 teams in the conference are: SMU at 21, Cincinnati at 29, and Temple at 50.