Duke, Oklahoma State, Memphis Highlight Tulsa Basketball Schedule

TU Media Office

Tulsa, Oklahoma -- The University of Tulsa men's basketball team will play a 31-game schedule in 2009-10, including 18 regular season home games at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, as it was announced today by Tulsa Head Basketball Coach Doug Wojcik.
 
The schedule features 10 games against post-season tournament teams from a year ago, and the possibility of an 11th. Tulsa will face NCAA Tournament teams Oklahoma State, Duke and Memphis, and could face BYU in a holiday tournament.
 
The Hurricane gets off to an early start to the season and will play six games in the month of November, including the first five games at the Reynolds Center.
 
Tulsa opens the regular season with three games in a five-day stretch in November, as the Hurricane begin the season on November 13th against St. Mary's (Texas) at 7 pm. Florida International, under first-year head coach and NBA legend Isiah Thomas, visits the Hurricane on Sunday, Nov. 15th, with a 2 pm start time. Tulsa will participate in ESPN's 24-hours of basketball on Tuesday, Nov. 17th, as Tulsa will host Arkansas-Little Rock in a 1 pm tip-off from the Reynolds Center.
 
Tulsa will host South Alabama on Saturday, Nov. 21st at 1 pm, and will close out its' five-game home-stand against Loyola-Marymount on Tuesday, Nov. 24th.
 
The first of three non-conference road games for the Hurricane takes place on Nov. 28th as Tulsa travels up the turnpike to face former Missouri Valley Conference rival Missouri State in a 7 pm tip-off in Springfield, Mo.
 
Tulsa begins the month of December with another long home-stand, playing four straight home games in a three-week span.  Tulsa begins the month with a contest against the Big 12's Oklahoma State Cowboys on Dec. 2nd. The Cowboys were a 2009 NCAA participant and posted a 23-12 record last season.
 
Games against Ohio University (Dec. 6), Jackson State (Dec. 17) and Chicago State (Dec. 19) round out the December home schedule for the Hurricane. Tulsa will play in the Las Vegas Classic before the Christmas Holiday, as Tulsa, Nebraska, BYU and Nevada will compete at the New Orleans Coliseum in Las Vegas. Nebraska, as well as Tulsa played in the NIT, Nevada in the CBI and BYU in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Tulsa plays Nebraska in the first round, while Nevada and BYU play in the other first round game on Dec. 22nd.  The consolation game and championship contest will take place a day later on Dec. 23rd.
 
The Hurricane has a 2-0 series advantage against Nebraska and a 7-5 edge against Nevada, while BYU leads the series 8-3.
 
 
"We have a great non-conference schedule in the fact that we have two Big 12 teams coming to the Reynolds Center with Oklahoma State and Colorado. On top of that, it's great to have an early game against Isaiah Thomas, an NBA Hall of Famer, and his Florida International team. Then to be picked for the 24 hours of basketball on ESPN and get a home game against Arkansas-Little Rock on national television, two days after our football team is on national television with East Carolina is really exciting," said Wojcik.
 
"The tournament on a neutral floor with Nebraska, Nevada and BYU in Las Vegas, are great opportunities for us, especially opening up with Nebraska." said Wojcik.
 
Tulsa will face its' third Big 12 opponent as the Colorado Buffaloes visit the Reynolds Center to kickoff the new year on Jan. 2. The two teams met in Boulder, Colorado, two years ago, as Tulsa grabbed a 13-point victory, 81-68.
 
Tulsa opens the Conference USA season at home on Jan. 6th against the Tulane Green Wave. The series is tied 4-4, as the last four games have been decided by one, two, two and one point.
 
Wojcik likes how the Golden Hurricane conference schedule sets up this season.
 
"Our conference schedule sets up pretty well. It's the first time in three years that we've opened up at home with Tulane, and then it's pretty balanced throughout. We don't play Memphis until late in the season, first in February at home and then end the regular season at Memphis, which is really exciting. We have the tough week where we're at UAB and Central Florida, which won't be easy, and certainly the second league game at Houston is a big game on our schedule early in the conference schedule."
 
The Hurricane will go on the road for two games at Houston (Jan. 9) and SMU (Jan. 13). Tulsa will look to even the series against the Cougars, as Houston has a 19-18 record against the Hurricane. The Hurricane has a 25-11 edge in the SMU series, having won the last eight games.
 
Tulsa defeated Houston last year at home 77-68, while capturing two wins over the Mustangs, 64-55 at home and 74-64 in Dallas.
 
Tulsa returns home for one C-USA game, against the UCF Knights on Jan. 16th, before playing a non-conference game at city rival Oral Roberts on Jan. 20th. Tulsa and UCF split the season series last year, as the Knights won at home 74-72 and Tulsa captured a home victory by a 79-70 score.
 
The Hurricane defeated ORU by a 50-43 score a year ago and leads the Mayor's Cup series by a 29-16 advantage. Tulsa will stay in the city limits with a home game against the Rice Owls (Jan. 23) three days later. Tulsa captured a 10-point victory in Houston and a 22-point win in the C-USA Tournament a year ago, to increase its' lead in the series 18-6.
 
Tulsa closes out the month of January on the road against UAB (Jan. 26) and UCF (Jan. 30). The road has been difficult for the Hurricane in Birmingham and Orlando. Tulsa lost a 14-point decision in the 2008 meeting at UAB, while two of the four games at UCF saw the Knights garner one and two-point victories, as well as a seven-point triple overtime win.
 
Three of Tulsa's first four games in the month of February will be played at the Reynolds Center, as Marshall opens the month on Feb. 3rd. A road contest at UTEP (Feb. 6) will be followed by home contests against Southern Miss (Feb. 10) and defending C-USA Champion Memphis (Feb. 13).
  
Memphis needed a shot at the buzzer to defeat the Hurricane at the Reynolds Center last year, 55-54.
 
Tulsa returns the trip to Huntington, West Virginia, with a game against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Feb. 17th. Tulsa claimed a 73-57 road victory last year to take a 5-2 series lead.
 
Tulsa's non-conference schedule doesn't end until the month of February. "Late in the year, we have a game at Oral Roberts on our Conference USA bye week, then a big one for national exposure at Duke on ESPN on February 25th. That game is a great opportunity for us, it's preparation for the conference tournament, and an RPI game," said Wojcik.
 
UTEP comes to Tulsa on Feb. 20th, before the Hurricane travels to the East Coast to play a non-conference game at Duke (Feb. 25) in Tulsa's first-ever visit to Durham and a league game against East Carolina (Feb. 27). Duke and Tulsa have played twice before, first in the 1996 Preseason NIT Semifinals and later in the 1999 NCAA Second Round, as the Blue Devils won those contests.
 
A year ago, Duke posted a 30-7 overall record and had a 16-1 mark at home. The Blue Devils advanced to the East Regional semifinals before being ousted by Final Four team Villanova.
 
Tulsa and East Carolina will play it's only game of the season two days later, as Tulsa will be looking to improve on its 6-1 series advantage.
 
A home game against SMU (Mar. 3) and the final road game at Memphis (Mar. 6) close out the regular season for the Hurricane. Tulsa will host the Conference USA Championship Tournament at the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, March 10-13.
 
The Hurricane will play one exhibition game this year on November 9th against Southern Nazarene. 
 
2009-10 Tulsa Men's Basketball Schedule
              TENTATIVE
Date          Day      Opponent    Time
NOVEMBER
9      Mon.    SOUTHERN NAZARENE (EXHIBITION)    7 pm
13      Fri.        ST. MARY'S (TEXAS)    7 pm
15      Sun.    FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL    2 pm
17      Tues.    UALR    1 pm
21      Sat.    SOUTH ALABAMA    1 pm
24      Tues.    LOYOLA-MARYMOUNT    7 pm
28      Sat.       at Missouri State    7 pm
     
DECEMBER
2      Wed.     OKLAHOMA STATE    7 pm
6      Sun.    OHIO    2 pm
17      Thurs.    JACKSON STATE    7 pm
19      Sat.    CHICAGO STATE    2 pm
22      Tues.    Nebraska @ Las Vegas Classic    7 pm
23      Wed.    Nevada or BYU  @ Las Vegas Classic    7/9:30 pm     
 
JANUARY
2    Sat.    COLORADO    2 pm
6    Wed.    TULANE*    7 pm
9    Sat.    at Houston*    4 pm
13    Wed.    at SMU*    7 pm
16    Sat.    UCF*    2 pm
20    Wed.    at Oral Roberts    7 pm
23    Sat.    RICE*    2 pm
27    Wed.    at UAB*    7 pm
30    Sat.    at UCF*    6 pm
    
FEBRUARY
3    Wed.    MARSHALL*    7 pm
6    Sat.    at UTEP*    8 pm
10    Wed.    SOUTHERN MISS*    7 pm
13    Sat.    MEMPHIS*    7 pm
17    Wed.    at Marshall*    6 pm
20    Sat.    UTEP*    7 pm
25    Thurs.    at Duke    6 pm
27    Sat.    at East Carolina*    7 pm
 
MARCH
3    Wed.    SMU*    7 pm
6    Sat.    at Memphis*    12 noon
10-13    Wed-Sat.    C-USA Tournament @ BOK Center (Tulsa, Okla.)    TBA            
 
 
BOLD Indicates Home Games
*Conference USA Games
Times are Central Time Zone