Golden Hurricane looks to extend the nation's third-longest homecourt win streak.
Tulsa's 22-game homecourt winning streak could be considered a badge of honor.
It is the third-longest streak in the nation, only topped by Kansas (55 wins) and Siena (34).
There's been ups and downs. Among the highlights is this year's 21-point victory over Oklahoma State and last season's NIT first-round win over Northwestern. There's been close calls like a one-point victory over Ohio and last week's come-from-behind triumph against Marshall.
When the Golden Hurricane storms the Reynolds Center floor for Wednesday's 7 p.m. game against Southern Miss, it will try to protect something that's important to them.
"It's a pride thing," TU sophomore Joe Richard said. "We weren't playing real well against Marshall. One of the main things we talked about as a team in the locker room at halftime ? before the coaches got in ? is that we had to show pride and not let anyone beat us on our home court.
"We don't want anyone to beat us in front of our fans."
Doug Wojcik's teams have won 65 of its past 73 games inside its arena.
"I think we're comfortable with our crowd and everything at the Reynolds Center," Wojcik said.
Richard said the crowd, which is averaging 5,312 through 14 games this season, has been a big help.
"Probably the best crowd I've been a part of was the Oklahoma State game," Richard said. "You could feel the electricity in the building, especially toward the end of the game. When we finished it out, it was great."
Richard was asked to reverse roles. If he was on an opposing team coming into the Reynolds Center, would he use Tulsa's streak as motivation?
"If we were in the same situation, we would want to do that," Richard said. "Last year when we went in to play Memphis, we wanted to end their streak. Teams probably say the same thing about us."
Things at home are going well. But could they be better?
Wojcik believes so.
"Our fans have responded," he said. "I wish the crowds would increase. But we've always had a good 5,300 (fans). The students did a great job the other day. We didn't give them a whole lot to be excited for, but we showed up late and they helped us over the hump against Marshall.
"We would all love to see us improve our crowd by 2,000. That's where we're short, about 2,000 fans."
TU has a pair of tough games this week against Southern Miss and Memphis, the last team to leave the Reynolds Center celebrating.
Bishop Wheatley said the Hurricane is depending on its "sixth man."
"The fans come out and provided extra energy while hurting the opponent as well," Wheatley said. "They excite us and really get us going."
Tulsa's 22-game homecourt winning streak could be considered a badge of honor.
It is the third-longest streak in the nation, only topped by Kansas (55 wins) and Siena (34).
There's been ups and downs. Among the highlights is this year's 21-point victory over Oklahoma State and last season's NIT first-round win over Northwestern. There's been close calls like a one-point victory over Ohio and last week's come-from-behind triumph against Marshall.
When the Golden Hurricane storms the Reynolds Center floor for Wednesday's 7 p.m. game against Southern Miss, it will try to protect something that's important to them.
"It's a pride thing," TU sophomore Joe Richard said. "We weren't playing real well against Marshall. One of the main things we talked about as a team in the locker room at halftime ? before the coaches got in ? is that we had to show pride and not let anyone beat us on our home court.
"We don't want anyone to beat us in front of our fans."
Doug Wojcik's teams have won 65 of its past 73 games inside its arena.
"I think we're comfortable with our crowd and everything at the Reynolds Center," Wojcik said.
Richard said the crowd, which is averaging 5,312 through 14 games this season, has been a big help.
"Probably the best crowd I've been a part of was the Oklahoma State game," Richard said. "You could feel the electricity in the building, especially toward the end of the game. When we finished it out, it was great."
Richard was asked to reverse roles. If he was on an opposing team coming into the Reynolds Center, would he use Tulsa's streak as motivation?
"If we were in the same situation, we would want to do that," Richard said. "Last year when we went in to play Memphis, we wanted to end their streak. Teams probably say the same thing about us."
Things at home are going well. But could they be better?
Wojcik believes so.
"Our fans have responded," he said. "I wish the crowds would increase. But we've always had a good 5,300 (fans). The students did a great job the other day. We didn't give them a whole lot to be excited for, but we showed up late and they helped us over the hump against Marshall.
"We would all love to see us improve our crowd by 2,000. That's where we're short, about 2,000 fans."
TU has a pair of tough games this week against Southern Miss and Memphis, the last team to leave the Reynolds Center celebrating.
Bishop Wheatley said the Hurricane is depending on its "sixth man."
"The fans come out and provided extra energy while hurting the opponent as well," Wheatley said. "They excite us and really get us going."
