TU moves into tie for fourth in AAC heading into Sunday visit to USF
The calendar flipped to February, and the University of Tulsa?s goals became more feasible.
In the American Athletic Conference standings, the Hurricane is in a four-way tie for fourth place heading into Sunday?s game at last-place USF. The top four teams earn a first-round bye in next month?s conference tournament in Orlando, Florida.
?There?s so many teams right there, if you look at the conference standings, bunched up together,? TU coach Frank Haith said. ?Somebody is going to separate themselves in the second half (of the conference schedule), and why not us??
After struggling through a difficult January, TU got back on track Thursday night with a solid 76-67 win against SMU, capitalizing on the Mustangs? injury-depleted roster to break even in league play.
Fueling the victory was Junior Etou, who had one of his better recent performances while recording 17 points and 15 rebounds. Corey Henderson Jr., who leads the team in scoring in conference games, made five 3-pointers and finished with 18 points.
?My teammates were finding me and I would try to knock the shot down,? Henderson said. ?It feels good when you make it.?
That win launched the Hurricane into the back nine of the conference race, where it is knotted with SMU, UCF and Memphis at 5-5. Houston and Wichita State are tied for second at 7-3 behind unbeaten Cincinnati.
While the schedule eases up ? TU?s lone meeting left against teams above it in the standings is a Feb. 25 visit to Cincinnati ? the room for error remains small. The Hurricane can?t afford to look past opponents like USF, which sneaked up on Tulane for its first league victory 10 days ago.
?I told our guys that you?re only guaranteed 10 games, nine after tonight, so let?s make the best of each one of these,? Haith said Thursday. ?There?s no question that we turn the page and move to the next game. ? Now, we focus on going after South Florida on Sunday.?
The calendar flipped to February, and the University of Tulsa?s goals became more feasible.
In the American Athletic Conference standings, the Hurricane is in a four-way tie for fourth place heading into Sunday?s game at last-place USF. The top four teams earn a first-round bye in next month?s conference tournament in Orlando, Florida.
?There?s so many teams right there, if you look at the conference standings, bunched up together,? TU coach Frank Haith said. ?Somebody is going to separate themselves in the second half (of the conference schedule), and why not us??
After struggling through a difficult January, TU got back on track Thursday night with a solid 76-67 win against SMU, capitalizing on the Mustangs? injury-depleted roster to break even in league play.
Fueling the victory was Junior Etou, who had one of his better recent performances while recording 17 points and 15 rebounds. Corey Henderson Jr., who leads the team in scoring in conference games, made five 3-pointers and finished with 18 points.
?My teammates were finding me and I would try to knock the shot down,? Henderson said. ?It feels good when you make it.?
That win launched the Hurricane into the back nine of the conference race, where it is knotted with SMU, UCF and Memphis at 5-5. Houston and Wichita State are tied for second at 7-3 behind unbeaten Cincinnati.
While the schedule eases up ? TU?s lone meeting left against teams above it in the standings is a Feb. 25 visit to Cincinnati ? the room for error remains small. The Hurricane can?t afford to look past opponents like USF, which sneaked up on Tulane for its first league victory 10 days ago.
?I told our guys that you?re only guaranteed 10 games, nine after tonight, so let?s make the best of each one of these,? Haith said Thursday. ?There?s no question that we turn the page and move to the next game. ? Now, we focus on going after South Florida on Sunday.?
