2019–20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

2019–20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
2019–20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
AAC regular season co-champions
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	21–10 (13–5 AAC)
Head coach	Frank Haith (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Jerry Wainwright; Kwanza Johnson; Shea Seals;
Home arena	Reynolds Center
	Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The 2019–20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represented the University of Tulsa during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Hurricane, led by sixth-year head coach Frank Haith, played their home games at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma as members of the American Athletic Conference.^[1] They finished the season 21–10, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for first place. Frank Haith was named AAC Coach of the Year for the season. Due to tiebreaking rules, they received the No. 3 seed in the AAC tournament, which was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.^[2] Shortly thereafter, the NCAA Tournament and all postseason tournaments were canceled, effectively ending Tulsa's season.^[3]

2019–20 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Cincinnati	13	–	5	.722	20	–	10	.667
No. 22 Houston	13	–	5	.722	23	–	8	.742
Tulsa	13	–	5	.722	21	–	10	.677
Wichita State	11	–	7	.611	23	–	8	.742
UConn	10	–	8	.556	19	–	12	.613
Memphis	10	–	8	.556	21	–	10	.677
SMU	9	–	9	.500	19	–	11	.633
UCF	7	–	11	.389	16	–	14	.533
South Florida	7	–	11	.389	14	–	17	.452
Temple	6	–	12	.333	14	–	17	.452
East Carolina	5	–	13	.278	11	–	20	.355
Tulane	4	–	14	.222	12	–	18	.400
Note: The 2020 AAC tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Golden Hurricane finished the 2018–19 season 18–14, 8–10 in AAC play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the AAC tournament to SMU.^[4]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Chris Barnes	0	G	6'4"	200	RS sophomore	Compton, CA	Transferred to Eastern Michigan
DaQuan Jeffries	2	G/F	6'5"	230	Senior	Edmond, OK	Graduated
Sterling Taplin	4	G	6'1"	195	Senior	Williamsville, NY	Graduated
Curran Scott	10	G	6'4'	208	RS junior	Edmond, OK	Graduate transferred to Clemson
Lindsay Deline Jr.	14	G	5'11"	189	Senior	Midwest City, OK	Walk-on; graduated
Zeke Moore	23	G	6'7"	210	RS sophomore	St. Louis, MO	Mid-season transferred to SIU Edwardsville
Pete Hewitt	32	F	6'10"	225	RS sophomore	Mountain View, CA	Transferred to Point Loma Nazarene
Alex Foree	34	F	6'5"	214	Senior	Fort Smith, AR	Walk-on; graduated
Simon Falokun	44	F	6'8"	240	Sophomore	Houston, TX	Left team

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Brandon Rachal	0	G	6'6"	220	Junior	Natchitoches, LA	Junior college transferred from Pearl River CC
Keyshawn Embery	2	G	6'3"	202	Sophomore	Midwest City, OK	Transferred from Arkansas. Under NCAA transfer rules, Embery will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
Emmanuel Ugboh	24	C	6'11"	242	Junior	Lagos, Nigeria	Junior college transferred from Iowa Western CC
Curtis Haywood	33	G	6'5"	202	Junior	Oklahoma City, OK	Transferred from Georgia Tech. Under NCAA transfer rules, Haywood will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Isaiah Hill PG	Bakersfield, CA	Liberty High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Aug 27, 2018
Isaiah Hill PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Josh Earley PF	Shawnee Mission, KS	Bishop Miege High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Apr 28, 2019
Josh Earley PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Tulsa 2019 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2020 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keshawn Williams PG	Chicago Heights, Illinois	Bloom High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Oct 22, 2019
Keshawn Williams PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Peyton Urbancic SG	Naples, Florida	First Baptist Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Feb 27, 2020
Peyton Urbancic SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Tulsa 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2019–20 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Brandon Rachal	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Natchitoches Central HS LSU Pearl River CC	Natchitoches, LA
F	1	Martins Igbanu	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Covenant Christian Ministries Academy	Lagos, Nigeria
G	2	Keyshawn Embery-Simpson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Midwest City HS Arkansas	Midwest City, OK
G	3	Elijah Joiner	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Curie Metropolitan HS	Chicago, IL
G	4	Isaiah Hill	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Fr	Liberty HS	Bakersfield, CA
G	5	Lawson Korita	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Pulaski Academy	Little Rock, AR
G	11	Darien Jackson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Blue Valley Northwest HS	Overland Park, KS
C	12	Emmanuel Ugboh	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Jr	Quality Education Academy Iowa Western CC	Lagos, Nigeria
G	13	George Christopoulos (W)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	RS Fr	Warner Christian Academy	Nea Smyrni, Greece
F	15	Josh Earley	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Bishop Miege HS	Shawnee Mission, KS
G	22	Reggie Jones	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Jr	Marion HS Western Michigan	Marion, IN
G	23	Ryan Gendron (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Bishop Kelley HS Oklahoma State	Tulsa, OK
G	33	Curtis Haywood	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Brewster Academy Georgia Tech	Oklahoma City, OK
F	41	Jeriah Horne	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	222 lb (101 kg)	RS Jr	The Barstow School Nebraska	Overland Park, KS

Head coach

Frank Haith (Elon)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
(T) Transferred
Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 31, 2019* 7:00 pm		Rockurst	W 76–56		Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN3		Houston Baptist	W 80–72	1–0	Reynolds Center (3,577) Tulsa, OK
November 9, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at UT Arlington	L 59–73	1–1	College Park Center (3,722) Arlington, TX
November 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Oral Roberts PSO Mayor's Cup	W 74–67	2–1	Reynolds Center (3,705) Tulsa, OK
November 16, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Austin Peay Vanderbilt Invitational	W 72–65	3–1	Reynolds Center (3,105) Tulsa, OK
November 20, 2019* 7:00 pm		Southeastern Louisiana Vanderbilt Invitational	W 73–66	4–1	Reynolds Center (3,036) Tulsa, OK
November 27, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		South Carolina State Vanderbilt Invitational	W 78–47	5–1	Reynolds Center (2,870) Tulsa, OK
November 30, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+		at Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Invitational	W 67–58	6–1	Memorial Gymnasium (8,648) Nashville, TN
December 4, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 72–39	7–1	Reynolds Center (2,781) Tulsa, OK
December 7, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Arkansas State	L 63–66	7–2	Reynolds Center (3,074) Tulsa, OK
December 11, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Boise State	W 69–56	8–2	Reynolds Center (3,367) Tulsa, OK
December 14, 2019* 12:30 pm, ESPNU		at Arkansas	L 79–98	8–3	Bud Walton Arena (15,589) Fayetteville, AR
December 21, 2019* 1:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Colorado State BOK Center Basketball Showdown	L 104–111 ^3OT	8–4	BOK Center (2,422) Tulsa, OK
December 29, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Kansas State	L 67–69	8–5	Bramlage Coliseum (8,370) Manhattan, KS
AAC regular season
January 3, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Temple	W 70–44	9–5 (1–0)	Reynolds Center (3,405) Tulsa, OK
January 8, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at Cincinnati	L 44–75	9–6 (1–1)	Fifth Third Arena (10,138) Cincinnati, OH
January 11, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN2		Houston	W 63–61	10–6 (2–1)	Reynolds Center (3,725) Tulsa, OK
January 15, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at East Carolina	W 65–49	11–6 (3–1)	Williams Arena (5,332) Greenville, NC
January 18, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Tulane	W 67–54	12–6 (4–1)	Devlin Fieldhouse (2,189) New Orleans, LA
January 22, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPNU		No. 20 Memphis	W 80–40	13–6 (5–1)	Reynolds Center (4,668) Tulsa, OK
January 26, 2020 11:00 am, CBSSN		at UConn	W 79–75 ^OT	14–6 (6–1)	XL Center (10,509) Hartford, CT
February 1, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPNU		No. 23 Wichita State Rivalry	W 54–51	15–6 (7–1)	Reynolds Center (8,089) Tulsa, OK
February 6, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN2		UConn	L 56–72	15–7 (7–2)	Reynolds Center (4,630) Tulsa, OK
February 9, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at UCF	L 75–83	15–8 (7–3)	Addition Financial Arena (5,349) Orlando, FL
February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		East Carolina	W 70–56	16–8 (8–3)	Reynolds Center (3,232) Tulsa, OK
February 15, 2020 11:00 am, ESPNU		at South Florida	W 56–48	17–8 (9–3)	Yuengling Center (3,095) Tampa, FL
February 19, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 22 Houston	L 43–76	17–9 (9–4)	Fertitta Center (6,732) Houston, TX
February 22, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPNews		SMU	W 79–57	18–9 (10–4)	Reynolds Center (4,690) Tulsa, OK
February 25, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Tulane	W 62–57	19–9 (11–4)	Reynolds Center (3,443) Tulsa, OK
February 29, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPNU		UCF	W 65–54	20–9 (12–4)	Reynolds Center (5,304) Tulsa, OK
March 4, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Temple	W 61–51	21–9 (13–4)	Liacouras Center (5,068) Philadelphia, PA
March 8, 2020 3:00 pm, CBSSN		at Wichita State Rivalry	L 57–79	21–10 (13–5)	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
AAC tournament
March 13, 2020 8:30 pm, ESPNU	(3)	vs. (6) Memphis / (11) East Carolina Quarterfinals	Cancelled^[1]		Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[5]

1.^ Cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Awards and honors

American Athletic Conference honors

Coach of the Year: Frank Haith
Sixth Man of the Year: Martins Igbanu

All-AAC First Team

Martins Igbanu

All-AAC Third Team

Brandon Rachal

Player of the Week

Week 2: Brandon Rachal
Week 11: Brandon Rachal
Week 12: Martins Igbanu
Week 13: Elijah Joiner

Source^[6]^[7]^[8]

References

^ "#105 Tulsa Men's Basketball 2019–2020 Preview". www.collegesportsmadness.com. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
^ "2020 AAC Tournament canceled Thursday amid coronavirus pandemic concerns". CBSSports.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
^ "NCAA tournaments canceled over coronavirus". ESPN.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
^ "McMurray Scores 27 to Lead SMU Past Tulsa in First Round". theamerican.org. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
^ "Men's Basketball – Schedule". University of Tulsa – Official Athletic Site.
^ "American Men's Basketball Release" (PDF). American Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
^ "American Athletic Conference Announces All-Conference, All-Freshman Teams". theamerican.org. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
^ "American Athletic Conference Announces Individual Awards". theamerican.org. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.

[1] "#105 Tulsa Men's Basketball 2019–2020 Preview". www.collegesportsmadness.com. Retrieved December 2, 2019.

[2] "2020 AAC Tournament canceled Thursday amid coronavirus pandemic concerns". CBSSports.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.

[3] "NCAA tournaments canceled over coronavirus". ESPN.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2021.

[4] "McMurray Scores 27 to Lead SMU Past Tulsa in First Round". theamerican.org. Retrieved December 2, 2019.

[5] "Men's Basketball – Schedule". University of Tulsa – Official Athletic Site.

[AAC-Report-6] "American Men's Basketball Release" (PDF). American Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

[7] "American Athletic Conference Announces All-Conference, All-Freshman Teams". theamerican.org. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

[8] "American Athletic Conference Announces Individual Awards". theamerican.org. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.

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