Road Tests Don't Come Any Tougher For TU

Originally Published: Feb 23, 2010 4:21 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Boston College couldn’t do it. Wake Forest didn’t even come close. Neither did Florida State, Maryland or Virginia Tech.

Can Tulsa, losers in four of its last five games, beat Duke on the road when they hook up this Thursday night?

“(They) don’t have to play us,” said TU head coach Doug Wojcik. “Nobody’s making Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) play anybody. It says a lot about us.”

To say that the Golden Hurricane (19-8, 8-5 C-USA) has been playing poorly the last two weeks is somewhat of an understatement. Tulsa has trailed at halftime in each of its last six games, and only scrambled back for a win in two of those games. They lost to UTEP twice, split with Marshall and fell short against Memphis at home in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game.

On the flip side, Duke (23-4, 11-2 ACC) is playing like a ticked-off bull in a porcelain shop. They can’t help destroying anything in their path.

The Blue Devils’ last home loss was February 11th of last year to the eventual national champion North Carolina Tar Heels. This season, they are averaging 17.5 points per game more than their opponents and have won seven games by 25 points or more.

“It’s not the greatest place in the country to go get fixed,” shrugged Wojcik at his weekly press conference. “It’s still a great opportunity.”

For Tulsa, a win over Duke could provide a much needed lift to a team that has started to slide in the wrong direction. If the Golden Hurricane beats the nation’s fifth-ranked team on the road, battling for and winning the Conference USA title may seem like a less daunting task than it did after dropping a pivotal game against the Miners last Saturday. The team’s final four games will be vital.

“It’s really important to improve and prepare yourself for the tournament,” said Wojcik. “We have to finish it strong.”

This non-conference matchup will be a showdown between each team’s ‘big three’. Seniors Ben Uzoh and Jerome Jordan, and sophomore Justin Hurtt have led the Golden Hurricane on the offensive end of the floor all season. They’ll be called upon to step up on defense to stop three of the nation’s top athletes.

“Jon Scheyer’s a very good player, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, I mean, those guys are really good players,” said Wojcik. “To play well in that venue can really go a long way.

“Anything can happen.”

Tulsa and Duke tip off at 6 p.m. The game can be seen nationally on ESPN2.