The Tulsa Golden Hurricane Men’s Basketball team will take the home court on Saturday February 22nd against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs at 2pm for tickets go to: www.tulsahurricane.com
BOBBY “BINGO” SMITH JERSEY TO BE RETIRED ON LEGENDS DAY
• Bobby “Bingo” Smith, who had an 11-year NBA career mostly with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is one of the most decorated players in the history of the Tulsa basketball program.
• Bingo will have his Jersey “32” retired on this Saturday at halftime o the SMU game as part of “LEGENDS DAY”.
• Bingo was given his nickname by former TU radio announcer Len Morton
• Smith played at Tulsa from 1965-69 and completed his collegiate career averaging 17.8 points and 9.5 rebounds, while shooting .472 from the field in 77 career games.
• As a senior, Smith averaged a team-leading and Missouri Valley Conference high 24.5 points, while adding 10.3 rebounds per game.
• Bingo earned second-team Associated Press and Converse Yearbook All-America honors his senior season … he was also recognized with first-team all-league honors and was named the MVC Player of the Year that season.
• He wore #7 with the Cavaliers, which was retired by the Cavs in 1979, and wore #32 at Tulsa.
THE GAME
• This is the 54th meeting between Tulsa and SMU, the 10th as American Athletic Conference members.
• SMU is 18-7 on the season … the Mustangs come into Saturday’s match-up off of a 80-72 loss to Tulane … prior to that loss, SMU had won back-to-back games defeating UConn and Houston.
• This will be the only regular season matchup between the Golden Hurricane and the Mustangs this season.
• SMU enters the game 8-5 in the American Athletic Conference, while Tulsa is 9-4 in conference play.
THE SERIES
• The Hurricane has a 32-21 series advantage against SMU … the Hurricane is 12-10 at home against the Mustangs, 19-9 on the road, and 1-2 in neutral site games.
• Tulsa’s last meeting against SMU came on March 14, 2019 as the Hurricane lost 74-65 in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
• The last meeting in the Reynolds Center between the two teams came on Feb. 1, 2018 as the Hurricane defeated the Mustangs, 76-67.
• The first game between the two teams came in the 1919-20 season as Tulsa defeated SMU on the road with a final of 20-18 under the leadership of head coach Francis Schmidt in his second stint at the helm for the Hurricane.
LAST WIN AGAINST THE MUSTANGS
• The Hurricane took on the SMU Mustangs in the Reynolds Center on Feb. 1, 2018 as Tulsa won 76-67.
• Junior Etou recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds … while Corey Henderson Jr. added 18 points … the two combined for 26 points in the second half.
• They were joined in double-figures by Martins Igbanu (12 points), Jaleel Wheeler (11 points) and DaQuan Jeffries (11 points).
• TU out-rebounded SMU 42-35, while the Hurricane enjoyed a 24-2 advantage in bench points..
• SMU was led by Ben Emelogu’s game-high 24 points … Jahmal McMurray added seven 3-pointers on his way to 22 points … the Mustangs were held to just 38.5-percent shooting.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
• SMU was picked to finish 8th in The American Conference preseason poll … the Mustangs finished last season with a record of 15-17 and 6-12 in conference.
• The Mustangs are 8-5 in conference this season with wins over Houston 73-72 in overtime, on the road at Memphis 74-70 and against UConn, 79-75.
• SMU is 4-6 on the road this year with their only wins coming at Evansville, at UNLV, at Vanderbilt and at Memphis … the Mustangs have won one conference road game this season.
• The Mustangs have 4 players who average double-figures on the season with Kendrick Davis (15.3 ppg), Tyson Jolly (14.7 ppg), Isiaha Mike (14.2 ppg) and Feron Hunt (12.0).
HURRICANE KEEPS EARNING WEEKLY AWARDS
• For the second consecutive week (Feb. 17), Martins Igbanu was selected to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll … he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds in wins against ECU and USF … Igbanu had his second double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds against the Pirates.
• Igbanu (Feb. 10) was named to the AAC weekly honor roll after averaging 29.5 points, 4 rebounds and one assists at home against UConn and UCF on the road.
• Before that, Tulsa had 3 consecutive American Athletic Conference Players of the Week from Jan. 20 to Feb. 3.
• The latest was Elijah Joiner (Feb. 3) after a 22-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist and buzzer-beating game-winning 3-pointer vs. #23 Wichita State.
• The week before (Jan. 27), Igbanu averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 boards in wins over #20 Memphis and UConn.
• On Jan, 20, Brandon Rachal earned his second weekly honor with 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in road wins at ECU and Tulane.
A TULSA WIN WOULD
• Give Tulsa their 33rd win in the SMU series and break the Mustangs 2-game winning series streak.
• Give Tulsa a 4-3 record in the month of February, and improve Tulsa’s record in 2020 to 10-4.
• Give the Hurricane their 18th win of the season, and a 10-4 record in conference play.
• Improve Tulsa’s record at home to 13-2 … give Tulsa its 6th home win in the American Athletic Conference.
• It will be the 4th time in 6 years as an AAC member that Tulsa has recorded 10+ wins in league play –14-4 (2014-15), 12-6 (2015-16) and 12-6 (2017-18).
THE HURRICANE AT HOME VS. THE ROAD
• Tulsa averages 5.9 more points at home at the Donald W. Reynolds Center than on the road this year.
• Tulsa is scoring 69.6 points in 14 games at the Reynolds Center, while scoring 63.7 points in 11 road games.
• The Hurricane shoots 47.1% from the field at the Reynolds Center as compared to 40.9% on the road … 34% to 24.6% from 3-point range … Tulsa’s free throw shooting is similar in both home and road games – 71% to 69.5% from the free throw line.
• Tulsa holds the opposition to 57.3 points at home, while on the road Tulsa opponents score 11.6 more points at 68.9 points in 11 games.
IGBANU STRONG CANDIDATE FOR SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
• Martins Igbanu has caught fire and is a strong candidate for the AAC’s Sixth Man of the Year Award.
• He has come off the bench in all 13 AAC games and has averaged 16.2 points and 5.7 rebounds, while shooting .631 (70-of-111) from the field and .722 (70-of-97) from the free throw line.
• In the last 7 games, Igbanu has averaged 20.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists .
• Igbanu has scored in double-figures in 8 of the last 9 contests, and 9 of Tulsa’s 13 AAC games, and has 3 double-digit rebounding games in the last 10 contests … he has recorded 2 double-doubles within the last 7 games – UConn (1/26) and ECU (2/12).
• He has had 4 20+ point games this year, breaking his career-high in scoring with 30 points in a 83-75 loss against UCF on Feb. 9 … his previous career-high was 29 points which he scored in a 72-56 loss against UConn on Feb. 6 … he also scored 28 at UConn and 24 at home against ECU.
• He was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Jan. 27 … for the second consecutive week (Feb. 10 & Feb. 17) he was named to the AAC weekly honor roll.
GETTING TO THE LINE
• In the last 11 games, Tulsa has gotten to the free throw line over 19 times in each of those contests.
• The Hurricane has shot 72% or better in 8 of those 11 contests and has converted 190-of-265 from the charity stripe for a .717 field goal percentage.
• In this stretch, Martins Igbanu has gotten to the line the most and has converted 67-of-91 free throws for 73.6%.
• On the year, Tulsa has been to the free throw line 20+ times in 18 games.
• The last 2 games went from one extreme to the next at the free throw line for Tulsa … the Hurricane made 23-of-28 (.821) free throws in a win at USF, but in the next game shot a season-low .368 on 7-of-19 free throws at Houston.
