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If you’re like me you have a bit of an emotional hangover from last night, with that said there’s some basketball that will be played at the Huntsman Center today. The Utes are back after a less than stellar Wooden Legacy a week ago. After those three games, it will be interesting to see how Coach K makes adjustments with this team and what the squad may have learned. I still stick to the thought that this needs to be a small ball focused team, and rotate in the bigs, but we’ll see if that thought prevails with the coaching staff. If that does happen, the Utes can’t turnover the ball like we’ve seen them do through stretches this season.
Here’s more information about Tulsa from the official press release and UtahUtes.com:
SCOUTING TULSA
Tulsa moved to 5-2 overall on the season following its 72-58 home-win over UT Arlington on Tuesday ... Tulsa had won four straight to open the season before losses to Nevada (86-96) and Southern Illinois (69-79) ... the Golden Hurricane currently lead the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in free throw attempts (187), free throws made (134) and free throw percentage (.717) ... they also rank among the nation’s top-20 in both attempts and makes. They average 19.1 made free throws per game ... Tulsa ranks third in the AAC and 52nd in the nation with a .488 field goal shooting percentage ... Sterling Taplin has tallied a team-best 41 assists and that is good enough to rank 2nd in AAC (18th in the nation) ... Taplin’s 5.8 assists per game ranks 22nd in the nation ... Martins Igbanu is their leader at going to the free throw line and has attempted 40 free throws in seven games ... he has made 30 of those for a .750 shooting percentage ... • Martin Igbanu is the team leader with 5.6 rebounds per game and a 14.3 points per game average ... DaQuan Jeffries has team-best eight blocked shots on the year ... the team shoots .357 from three-point range, with six different players having made at least six three-pointers on the season ... Jeffries leads the team from behind the arc with 12 made three-pointers.
UTAH VS. TULSA SERIES HISTORY
The Utes and Golden Hurricane will meet up for the seventh time overall, but the first time since 2008. Utah leads the all-time series 4-2, but Tulsa won the last contest, 69-60, in Tulsa back on March 24, 2008, which came in the CBI Tournament quarterfinals. Utah’s last win over Tulsa was a 64-61 overtime victory in Las Vegas back on March 5, 1999. Utah is 2-0 all-time when facing the Utes in Salt Lake City, with the wins coming back in 1997 and 1957. Tulsa won the initial meeting between the two teams, downing the Utes 56-51 in Tulsa back on Dec. 19, 1953.
Utah is 14-12 overall against teams from the American Athletic Conference. The last time Utah faced an opponent from the AAC came back on Nov. 22, 2015, when the Utes defeated the Temple Owls, 74-68, in the second round of the Puerto Rico Shootout. This will mark the first time Utah will face Tulsa as a member of the AAC. The Golden Hurricane joined the conference in 2014.
GAME 7: Utah (3-3) vs. Tulsa (5-2)
WHERE: Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018
TIP-OFF: 3 p.m. MT
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Networks / Pac-12 Live
RADIO: ESPN700