Frogs Begin Two-Game Road Trip Thursday at Tulsa
12/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2010
GAME #14
TCU (9-4) at TULSA (6-6)
TCU GAME NOTES 
| TULSA GAME NOTES | LISTEN LIVE 
| 
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010 | 7 p.m. CT | Tulsa, Okla. | Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355)
Radio: 1460 AM (KCLE) | Talent: Jeff Williams (pxp), Herb Stephens (analyst)
Television: None
Internet: GoFrogs.com (radio, GameTracker)
Series Record: Tulsa leads, 18-10
Last Meeting: Nov. 29, 2003 (L, 62-74)
TCU Head Coach: Jim Christian (Rhode Island, '88)
Record at TCU: 36-40 (.474) in 3rd season | Overall: 174-98 (.640) in 9th season
Tulsa Head Coach: Doug Wojcik (Navy, '87)
Record at Tulsa: 110-71 (.608) in 6th season | Overall: 110-71 (.608) in 6th season
FORT WORTH--TCU returns to the road for the first time in nearly three weeks Thursday, when it takes on Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla. Tip-off from the Golden Hurricanes' Reynolds Center is set for 7 p.m.
TCU, which has two straight wins at home over Northwestern State and Chicago State, looks to match its longest winning streak of the season with a win over Tulsa. The Frogs are 1-1 in true road games, having won Dec. 8 at Texas Tech and lost Dec. 11 at Nebraska. TCU aims to improve to 4-1 against teams that qualified for postseason play a year ago, as Tulsa reached the NIT last spring.
Following its game against the Golden Hurricane, TCU concludes its non-league action Jan. 2 at Rice. Victories in the next two games would give TCU its best 15-game start since 2000-01 at 11-4.
Tulsa enters Thursday's game with a 6-6 overall record. The squad will be playing its first game since returning from the holiday break. TCU shares no common opponents to date with the Golden Hurricane, who are 4-3 at home this season.
TCU and Tulsa will be renewing a former conference rivalry Thursday, as the two teams were both members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) from 1996 through 2001. TU holds an 18-10 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in eight of the last nine meetings.
Thursday's matchup will be broadcast live on the radio throughout the Metroplex on 1460 AM KCLE with Jeff Williams and former Frog standout Herb Stephens (1972-74) serving as the play-by-play team. Live stats and a link to an Internet radio feed will be available via TCU's official athletics website, GoFrogs.com.
FROG QUICK NOTES
- TCU is looking for its best 14-game start since the 2006-07 season, when the Frogs opened up 10-4.
- The Frogs have won the rebounding battle in seven of the last eight games. The squad owns a +6.1 average rebounding margin during the span after entering the Nov. 27 win over Houston with a -4.8 average.
- Ronnie Moss is only 23 points shy of becoming the 30th Frog with 1,000 in a career.
- J.R. Cadot (73.3%), Garlon Green (61.0%) and Amric Fields (54.5%) lead the team in shooting percentage over the last five games. Green paces the team in scoring over the stretch (15.2 ppg).
- Green is 10-of-13 (76.9%) from 3-point range during the stretch.
- Green has scored in double-figures a team-best eight consecutive games overall
- Hank Thorns leads the MWC and ranks No. 18 nationally in assists (5.9 apg). He is the only player in the MWC this season with more than one double-figure assist outing, having totaled 10 helpers three times. Thorns also is No. 3 in the MWC in assist/turnover ratio (2.03).
- As a team, TCU tops the MWC in 3-point shooting (37.4%) and in keeping opponents off the offensive glass with a defensive rebounding percentage of 73.2%. The squad also ranks No. 2 in assists (15.62) and 3-pointers made (7.08 pg).
- TCU has dished out 17 or more assists six times this season compared to only eight times in all of 2009-10.
- Of the 15 players who have played this season, nine had never previously seen game action for the Frogs.
- Only six Frog letterwinners return from last season's squad, which is tied for the fewest total in the Mountain West Conference with New Mexico and Utah.
SCOUTING THE TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa, led by sixth-year head coach Doug Wojcik, owns a 6-6 overall record this season, including a 4-3 mark at home. Included among the squad's victories are wins over Oral Roberts (83-68), Missouri State (62-50), Stanford (65-53), Cal State Northridge (80-63), Weber State (81-79) and UTSA (92-67). The Frogs and Golden Hurricane share no common opponents to date.
Six letterwinners and two starters return from last season's Tulsa team that went 23-12 overall and finished fifth in Conference USA with a 10-6 league record. The squad played in the NIT a season ago, its third-straight postseason appearance.
Senior guard Justin Hurtt ranks among the nation's leading scorers with a 21.8 ppg average. He has scored 30 or more points in three straight games entering Thursday's contest and also leads the team in assists (2.8 apg). Junior forward Joe Richard is the team's top rebounder (5.8 rpg), while sophomore guard Scottie Haralson is averaging 3.1 made 3-pointers a game for the Hurricane.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Tulsa owns an 18-10 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1920. The Golden Hurricane have taken nine of 12 contests played in Tulsa and eight of the last nine meetings overall. The two teams played 12 games as WAC rivals from 1996 through 2001.
TCU vs. TULSA - LAST 10 MEETINGS
Date W/L Score Site
Feb. 26, 1998 W 57-54 Tulsa
Jan. 25, 1999 L 62-72 Tulsa
Feb. 27, 1999 L 73-82 Fort Worth
Jan. 6, 2000 L 73-94 Fort Worth
Feb. 5, 2000 L 70-103 Tulsa
March 10, 2000 L 71-93 Fresno
Jan. 17, 2001 L 66-82 Tulsa
Feb. 1, 2001 W 93-87 (OT) Fort Worth
Dec. 23, 2002 L 65-78 Tulsa
Nov. 29, 2003 L 62-74 Fort Worth
LAST TIME WE MET: TULSA 74, TCU 62
FORT WORTH (Nov. 29, 2003)—TCU suffered its first loss of the year to Tulsa, 74-62, at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
TCU struggled from the field, especially early, as the team made just three of its first 15 shots from the field. Tulsa jumped out to a 21-8 lead in the game's opening 11 minutes.
Tulsa shot better than 53 percent in the field half, while TCU hit just 31 percent. Tulsa held an 18-point lead, its biggest lead of the game, 64-46, with under eight minutes to play in the game, but TCU went on a 16-4 run to close to within six points with just 58 seconds remaining. Tulsa scored the game's final six points of the game to account for the 74-62 final.
Junior guard Corey Santee was the top TCU scorer, registering 15 points. Sophomore forward Chudi Chinweze (13) was the only other TCU player in double-figures. Freshman center Femi Ibikunle led the team with seven boards, as TCU outrebounded Tulsa 47-38. The Frogs had 21 offensive rebounds.
MILESTONE WATCH
- Ronnie Moss needs only 23 points to become the program's 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer.
- Moss also is only 16 assists shy of tying former Frog Brent Atwater (1992-93) for ninth place on the program's all-time career list.
RPI UPDATE
- CollegeRPI.com - No. 90 (as of Dec. 27)
- RealTimeRPI.com - No. 91 (as of Dec. 28)
HIGH-SCORING HOMESTAND
TCU posted some solid offensive figures in back-to-back home wins over Northwestern State (Dec. 21) and Chicago State (Dec. 28).
- The Frogs set the top two scoring performances in regulation contests in the Jim Christian with 99 points vs. Chicago State and 96 vs. Northwestern State.
- TCU scored 90 or more points in consecutive contests for the first time since back-to-back 100-point efforts in 2002-03 vs. Grambling State (103) and Centenary (102).
- The squad combined to shoot 57.3% from the field overall and 50.0% from beyond the arc.
- Six Frogs averaged double figures, led by Garlon Green (18.8 ppg) and J.R. Cadot (17.0 ppg). The two Frogs combined to shoot 26-of-34 from the field (76.5%).
- TCU posted a +13.0 average rebounding margin.
