For the University of Tulsa, Tuesday?s home game against Temple couldn?t get much bigger.
?We?re playing a team that?s first in our conference,? TU coach Frank Haith said. ?We had a really tough loss at their place and I thought we played really well, just didn?t finish it.
?This time of year, they?re all huge, but there?s no question ? when you?re playing a team that?s on the top of your conference, it?s a pretty big game.?
While the Owls are fighting to stay atop the American Athletic Conference standings, the Hurricane is trying to play its way into the NCAA Tournament with a late-season push.
Tulsa is projected on the outside looking in despite six top-100 wins, an RPI of 37 and a strength of schedule that ranks 32nd nationally.
The Hurricane was left out last year despite a second-place finish in the league because of a lack of quality wins. It has those wins this time around, having defeated ranked Wichita State and SMU.
?We?re doing all the things that I think they say are necessary things you need to do to get to the tournament,? Haith said. ?We?ve just got to finish.
?I?m a believer of, keep doing what you need to do and it will take care of itself.?
Fueled by its resiliency in an overtime win against Cincinnati on Thursday and a narrow victory Sunday at UCF, Tulsa has a rematch with the team that beat it three weeks ago in Philadelphia. Temple trailed by a dozen points midway through the second half before forcing overtime with a 3-pointer and eventually winning, 83-79.
The Owls have tormented opponents with clutch shots in the final minutes, especially in recent comeback victories against Tulsa, UConn and Houston.
?I think (Quenton) DeCosey is one of the best players in this league,? Haith said. ?He makes a lot of those plays, if not for himself, for other people. They just hang around and make big shots. They?ve done it all year.?
A Tulsa team with a nation-high nine seniors on the roster is used to playing in significant games and can rely on experience during the last stretch of the regular season, which concludes with games against Memphis on Sunday and USF on March 5.
?We know that our season is almost coming to an end, but if we start looking at things like we need to win these games and put too much pressure on ourselves, that?s not good for anybody,? guard Marquel Curtis said. ?Bad things can happen. We just have to play confidently like we have been doing in the last couple of wins.?
Whether the Hurricane will be at full force Tuesday remains to be seen. Starting forward Rashad Smith sustained a tissue tear to his left shoulder in the second half of Sunday?s game and did not return.
?He?s going to practice today, so that?s a good thing,? Haith said Monday. ?We?ll see how he moves around and we?ll get to see how he feels when he practices. Based on what I?ve been told, he?s going to try (to play).?
--Kelly Hines
?We?re playing a team that?s first in our conference,? TU coach Frank Haith said. ?We had a really tough loss at their place and I thought we played really well, just didn?t finish it.
?This time of year, they?re all huge, but there?s no question ? when you?re playing a team that?s on the top of your conference, it?s a pretty big game.?
While the Owls are fighting to stay atop the American Athletic Conference standings, the Hurricane is trying to play its way into the NCAA Tournament with a late-season push.
Tulsa is projected on the outside looking in despite six top-100 wins, an RPI of 37 and a strength of schedule that ranks 32nd nationally.
The Hurricane was left out last year despite a second-place finish in the league because of a lack of quality wins. It has those wins this time around, having defeated ranked Wichita State and SMU.
?We?re doing all the things that I think they say are necessary things you need to do to get to the tournament,? Haith said. ?We?ve just got to finish.
?I?m a believer of, keep doing what you need to do and it will take care of itself.?
Fueled by its resiliency in an overtime win against Cincinnati on Thursday and a narrow victory Sunday at UCF, Tulsa has a rematch with the team that beat it three weeks ago in Philadelphia. Temple trailed by a dozen points midway through the second half before forcing overtime with a 3-pointer and eventually winning, 83-79.
The Owls have tormented opponents with clutch shots in the final minutes, especially in recent comeback victories against Tulsa, UConn and Houston.
?I think (Quenton) DeCosey is one of the best players in this league,? Haith said. ?He makes a lot of those plays, if not for himself, for other people. They just hang around and make big shots. They?ve done it all year.?
A Tulsa team with a nation-high nine seniors on the roster is used to playing in significant games and can rely on experience during the last stretch of the regular season, which concludes with games against Memphis on Sunday and USF on March 5.
?We know that our season is almost coming to an end, but if we start looking at things like we need to win these games and put too much pressure on ourselves, that?s not good for anybody,? guard Marquel Curtis said. ?Bad things can happen. We just have to play confidently like we have been doing in the last couple of wins.?
Whether the Hurricane will be at full force Tuesday remains to be seen. Starting forward Rashad Smith sustained a tissue tear to his left shoulder in the second half of Sunday?s game and did not return.
?He?s going to practice today, so that?s a good thing,? Haith said Monday. ?We?ll see how he moves around and we?ll get to see how he feels when he practices. Based on what I?ve been told, he?s going to try (to play).?
--Kelly Hines
