Say whatever one wants about Frank Haith-and a lot has been said about him, and not always good. It’s time to acknowledge that he’s doing a pretty nice job as the head coach at Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricane have been the American Athletic Conference’s unsung program since his arrival, finishing in the top four three of four years despite being picked to frequently do less (sure enough, they were ninth of 12 teams in this year’s conference preseason poll). More recently, Tulsa had a really good four days last week with back-to-back wins at home over Oklahoma State and Kansas State of the Big 12, the latter coming against the nationally ranked Wildcats.
Tulsa improved to 8-3 with a 70-60 win over New Orleans last night in which the final score wasn’t close to indicative of the way the game played out, though it still was a bit of an adventure. DaQuan Jeffries finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Martins Igbanu added another double-double inside with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and the Golden Hurricane never trailed in winning their third straight.
Tulsa was in control from the start, built a 20-point halftime lead and led by 28 in the second half. A 14-1 UNO run cut the deficit to 11 with 7:30 to play, but the Golden Hurricane re-upped the margin to 18 again late before the never-quit Privateers made it respectable again in the final two minutes.
Under Haith, Tulsa has developed a distinct identity on both ends. Defensively, it employs a matchup zone defense that can be thoroughly befuddling, generally maintaining a 2-3 shape but regularly manning up while also collapsing when the ball gets inside. It takes tremendous communication, and if a team can’t execute a game plan to find open spots-and then hit those shots-it can make for a really long day, as Kansas State found out last week when it shot 30.5% in a 47-46 loss.
Offensively, the Golden Hurricane are going to drive, drive, and drive some more. Tulsa this morning ranks among the NCAA Division I leaders in free throw attempts, with a lineup of players of similar size regularly on the attack, in part because they don’t shoot it that well from outside (just 31.5% from three-point range).
(It would behoove the Golden Hurricane, a 67.8% team from the line for the year, to make a few more of their free throw opportunities than they did Thursday night, though, when just 13 of 33 fell through the net, a hideous 39.4% rate.)
Tulsa will not wow with offensive efficiency, and because of that there will be games like when an opportunity got away at Utah (shooting 36.2% in a 69-64 loss Dec. 1), as well as the cover-your-eyes performances by both teams in the win over K-State. Scoring comes by committee as much as anything-Jeffries has been the closest thing to a go-to, but five different players have led in scoring and no one averages more than Jeffries at 13.2 ppg.
The proof, though, is in the results, and Tulsa has been a more-than respectable top-half team in the AAC in three of the past four years. Early results indicate there’s a good chance it will be again.
Side Dishes:
- San Francisco played through a sluggish start to pull away for an 85-63 win over Eastern Washington on Free Popcorn Night, a brilliant quick bit of promotional thinking by USF after guard Frankie Ferrari’s partaking in some during a game last week. The Dons are 9-1 and are getting a lot of attention for their performance in some power ratings, ironic given that many couldn’t name three players on the team. They should get to know them. Five scored in double figures here led by Ferrari with 15, and Charles Minlend Jr. (some will remember his father playing at St. John’s in the 90s) has been a huge addition, returning from an injury last year and adding 14 points and seven rebounds here. San Francisco has a lot of nice individual pieces that fill different roles well and has jelled very nicely early in the season. And its cooler than cool seeing the original USF relevant on a national scale again, the way it was in the 50s while winning two national titles with Bill Russell, through the 70s and right up to the early 80s before the program was shut down for a couple years.
- Wisconsin turned away Savannah State’s bombs away attack with a 101-60 win, just the second time the Badgers have scored 100 in a game at the Kohl Center in 20+ years playing there. To no surprise, the Badgers controlled the pace and made mincemeat of the Tigers’ soft zone defense, hitting 16 of 34 from three-point range and 56.1% for the game. Bucky also played without Khalil Iverson, who sat this one out with a leg injury.
- The night also included a pair of overtime games. Samford outlasted Morehead State 77-72 to improve to 9-2, the Bulldogs’ best start through 11 games in 58 years. What a terrific game-this one had 24 lead changes and 14 ties, and Alabama transfer Brandon Austin posted career highs of 25 points and 10 boards for the winners.
- Gardner-Webb also rallied to top Kennesaw State 81-77 in extra time, coming back from 13 down in the second half. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have won five straight. (Here’s a good recap of the game from Brian Wilmer of College Hoops Digest) The Owls will feel they let one get away after leading most of the way, owning the glass and leading by three before freshman Jose Perez hit the tying three-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation. Also: Kennesaw State attempted just nine three-pointers, making three. How refreshing.
- Florida International continued the best start in school history, moving to 8-2 with a 102-89 win over North Florida. Senior guard Brian Beard Jr. scored a career-best 29 and neared a triple-double with eight boards and six assists. North Florida actually led by nine early in the second half, but the Ospreys’ three-point attack fell flat, making just 6 of 33.
- Cal State Bakersfield is now 6-4 after rolling past Lamar 86-65. The Roadrunners shot a scorching 70% in the second half to pull away, and add Bakersfield to the list of teams that will be a tough out in the WAC.
- Dartmouth won again, defeating Boston University 78-68. Chalk up another solid win for the Ivy League. Brendan Barry put on a show with a career-high 31 points for the Big Green, making eight three-pointers and leading 14-for-30 shooting from three for the team, providing yet another example that the three-point line is too short…or too long.
Today’s Menu: A total of seven Division I games, three of them involving non D-I schools.
- At least there is a good one on TV as Illinois-Chicago battles DePaul in a fight for some bragging rights in Chicago (7 p.m. Eastern, FS1). Fifth straight years these two have met, and the Flames did pull out the win two years ago. UIC will have to keep the Blue Demons (+8.1 rebound margin) off the glass and just stop fouling, too (the Flames are among the national leaders in fouls committed).
- Also on TV: Wisconsin-Green Bay plays at Creighton (9 p.m., FS1). The Phoenix like to play fast, just like the Bluejays, and gave both Iowa and Oregon a push, but Creighton is at another level and especially when it is at home.
- Howard is at George Washington, as the Bison take a short drive to face their District of Columbia neighbor.
- The other D-I pairing is Florida Atlantic at Arkansas State.
Have a great Friday and a terrific weekend. Ten shopping days left until Christmas.
