NCAA Tournament bubble banter has forced University of Tulsa coach Frank Haith to keep his remote control close by.
?My TV is on mute right now,? he said. ?I don?t listen to none of that stuff. If I?m watching a ball game and it goes to halftime, boy, I?m changing the channel.
?I would advise all our guys to do the same thing. We just have to go out and play and continue to win. If you win the (conference) tournament, then none of that stuff even matters.?
Despite having a top-50 RPI and reaching 20 wins, the Hurricane is projected among the last teams in the field or among the first teams out, depending upon the bracketologist. Most agree TU likely needs two victories in the American Athletic Conference Tournament to secure an at-large bid.
?We can?t worry about that,? Haith said. ?I think when you start thinking about that, you get distracted. ... The only thing we can control is how we prepare and how we get ourselves in position to play our very best. All the other stuff will take care of itself.?
As the No. 3 seed in Orlando, the Hurricane has an 8 p.m. Friday rematch with No. 6 Memphis, the only team in the league TU hasn?t beaten this season. Their lone meeting was 12 days ago in Memphis, a 92-82 win for the up-and-down Tigers.
?We played really well and if we?re going to want to have any chance to beat them, we?re going to have to play really well again,? Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. ?They?re a dangerous, dangerous team. They?ve got great guard play. Their bigs are good. They?ve got a lot of good players.
?They?re as fast as any team, for sure, in our league, maybe in the entire country. They?re an excellent shooting team, so we know we have our hands full on Friday.?
Last time around, the Tigers went on the attack early and drew seven first-half fouls from TU?s only available forwards, Brandon Swannegan and D?Andre Wright, and big men Shaq Goodwin and Dedric Lawson combined for 55 points and 27 rebounds for Memphis.
?We got caught being in bad positions a lot and they took advantage of it,? Haith said. ?They were very aggressive and very assertive and went right at us. ... There?s no question our focus is on doing a better job so we can keep those guys on the floor. It made it very easy for them when we didn?t have Brandon and D?Andre on the floor.?
Forward Rashad Smith, who is on the mend from a left shoulder injury, didn?t play against Memphis but returned for seven minutes of action Saturday in a win against South Florida. He is among nine seniors vying to end their careers in the NCAA Tournament rather than the NIT.
?It?s win or go home,? guard James Woodard said. ?For teams like us with a bunch of seniors, our mentality has to be sharp and we have to be focused because every game truly is like our last.?
With parity in the top half of the league, no team is the clear favorite, giving TU as much of a chance as anyone. Two years ago, these seniors propelled the Hurricane to its first NCAA Tournament in 11 years by winning three games in three days in the Conference USA Tournament.
?They?ve been in tournament settings,? Haith said. ?I think our guys experiencing that over the years helps; there?s no question. Hopefully, we?ll have a day when we cut down nets on Sunday.?
?My TV is on mute right now,? he said. ?I don?t listen to none of that stuff. If I?m watching a ball game and it goes to halftime, boy, I?m changing the channel.
?I would advise all our guys to do the same thing. We just have to go out and play and continue to win. If you win the (conference) tournament, then none of that stuff even matters.?
Despite having a top-50 RPI and reaching 20 wins, the Hurricane is projected among the last teams in the field or among the first teams out, depending upon the bracketologist. Most agree TU likely needs two victories in the American Athletic Conference Tournament to secure an at-large bid.
?We can?t worry about that,? Haith said. ?I think when you start thinking about that, you get distracted. ... The only thing we can control is how we prepare and how we get ourselves in position to play our very best. All the other stuff will take care of itself.?
As the No. 3 seed in Orlando, the Hurricane has an 8 p.m. Friday rematch with No. 6 Memphis, the only team in the league TU hasn?t beaten this season. Their lone meeting was 12 days ago in Memphis, a 92-82 win for the up-and-down Tigers.
?We played really well and if we?re going to want to have any chance to beat them, we?re going to have to play really well again,? Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. ?They?re a dangerous, dangerous team. They?ve got great guard play. Their bigs are good. They?ve got a lot of good players.
?They?re as fast as any team, for sure, in our league, maybe in the entire country. They?re an excellent shooting team, so we know we have our hands full on Friday.?
Last time around, the Tigers went on the attack early and drew seven first-half fouls from TU?s only available forwards, Brandon Swannegan and D?Andre Wright, and big men Shaq Goodwin and Dedric Lawson combined for 55 points and 27 rebounds for Memphis.
?We got caught being in bad positions a lot and they took advantage of it,? Haith said. ?They were very aggressive and very assertive and went right at us. ... There?s no question our focus is on doing a better job so we can keep those guys on the floor. It made it very easy for them when we didn?t have Brandon and D?Andre on the floor.?
Forward Rashad Smith, who is on the mend from a left shoulder injury, didn?t play against Memphis but returned for seven minutes of action Saturday in a win against South Florida. He is among nine seniors vying to end their careers in the NCAA Tournament rather than the NIT.
?It?s win or go home,? guard James Woodard said. ?For teams like us with a bunch of seniors, our mentality has to be sharp and we have to be focused because every game truly is like our last.?
With parity in the top half of the league, no team is the clear favorite, giving TU as much of a chance as anyone. Two years ago, these seniors propelled the Hurricane to its first NCAA Tournament in 11 years by winning three games in three days in the Conference USA Tournament.
?They?ve been in tournament settings,? Haith said. ?I think our guys experiencing that over the years helps; there?s no question. Hopefully, we?ll have a day when we cut down nets on Sunday.?
