Men's Basketball Preview: TU Takes On OSU

The Tulsa men's basketball team plays Oklahoma State in the Heavyweight Bracket championship game of the MGM Grand Main Event at 10:30 p.m. CT Wednesday at the MGM Grand Main Event. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

On Monday, the Golden Hurricane defeated Auburn, 53-35, and the Cowboys defeated Oregon State, 66-53.

TULSA (3-1) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE (5-0)

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014 • 10:35 p.m. CT • MGM Grand Garden Arena (16,800)

TV: ESPN2 (Dave Flemming and Stephen Howard)

Radio: News 102.3 and AM 740 KRMG and the Golden Hurricane Radio Network (Bruce Howard and Rick Couri)

Internet: Live Audio on Hurricane Vision

The Coaches

Tulsa: Frank Haith (Elon '88)

Career Record: 208-130 (11th year) Record at Tulsa: 3-1 (first year)

Oklahoma State: Travis Ford (Kentucky '94)

Career Record: 320-223 (18th year) Record at Oklahoma State: 130-73 (seventh year)

The Series

This will be the 108th meeting between Tulsa and Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State leads the series, 69-38. The series dates back to the 1907-08 season. This will be the first meeting between TU and OSU since 2011, a 59-56 Cowboys win in Stillwater. OSU also won 71-54 in 2010 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. The last Tulsa win was 86-65 in 2009 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The teams split the first two meetings in 1907-08, with each winning at home. The schools have met only six times at neutral or non-home sites. TU is 2-4 in those games, five of which were played in Oklahoma City, and one at the BOK Center.

Quick Hits

• Tulsa defeated Auburn, 53-35, Monday night. James Woodard led the Golden Hurricane with 16 points, while Rashad Ray scored 13 points and Rashad Smith tallied 12 points and eight rebounds.

• The Golden Hurricane has won three games in a row.

• This will be the first meeting between TU and OSU since 2011, and the first game between the two schools played outside the state of Oklahoma.

• Tulsa held Auburn to 35 points on Monday – the lowest point total by a TU opponent since 2000, when it held Rice 33 points in a 75-33 win on Feb. 14, 2000.

• Tulsa has held its last two opponents under 40 points – defeating Abilene Christian, 65-39, and Auburn, 53-35. It was the first time TU has held consecutive opponents to less than 40 points since the 1949-50 season. That year, the Hurricane defeated Southwestern Kansas, 43-31, and Oklahoma Baptist, 30-27, on Dec. 13 and 15, 1949, in Clarence Iba's first season at TU.

• In four games this season, Tulsa has allowed its opponents 51.0 points per game, and a .345 field goal percentage, including a .250 3-point percentage.

• TU went 1-1 in the opening games of the MGM Grand Main Event, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette at home, 65-53, and falling at Oral Roberts, 77-68.

• The Tulsa defense has held each of its first four opponents to less than 50 percent field goal shooting, and has now held 36 of its last 38 opponents and 34 in a row under .500 from the field.

• The Golden Hurricane has outrebounded its first three opponents by a total of 153-127, an average of 38.2-31.8 per game.

• With 49 points so far this season, James Woodard has now scored 960 points in his career, and needs just 40 points to become Tulsa's 36th 1,000-point scorer.