LDN - Sports

Preview: Tulsa at Illinois State

[December 01, 2017] Gracenote

Tulsa has its offense rolling as it heads to Illinois State for a non-conference rematch on Saturday afternoon. The Redbirds won the first meeting 84-68 on Nov. 19 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but Tulsa has rebounded to win two in a row.

The Golden Hurricane have scored a combined 192 points in victories against Central Arkansas and Texas-San Antonio and now face an Illinois State team that gave up 98 in its last game. Tulsa held off UTSA for a 100-96 victory last time out, reaching the century mark in points in regulation against a Division I opponent for the first time since Nov. 19, 2001 against Grambling State. The Golden Hurricane found balance in the offensive attack as all 10 players to check in to the game scored, led by Junior Etou with 20 points and Sterling Taplin with 18. "Offensively we were good all night,'' Tulsa coach Frank Haith told reporters after the game. "I thought we played inside out and we had a lot of production from a lot of guys.''

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT TULSA (4-3): A big part of the Golden Hurricane surging offense the past two games comes from the work on the glass. Tulsa pulled down 15 offensive rebounds against UTSA and outrebounded the Roadrunners 47-27 overall. In the past two games, UT has a combined 25 offensive rebounds and 84 overall.

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ABOUT ILLINOIS STATE (3-4): Junior guard Keyshawn Evans had a big game in the Redbirds earlier victory against Tulsa, recording a career-high 29 points while shooting 10-for-13 from the field - including 6-for-6 from behind the 3-point line. Evans is averaging 21.6 points per game while hitting exactly 52.6 percent from the field and 3-point range through seven games. He also leads the team with 30 assists.

TIP-INS

1. The 100 points last time out marked the first time the Golden Hurricane have reached triple digits since 2013.

2. Tulsa has shot at least 50 percent from the field four times and been at 45 percent or better in six games. The Golden Hurricane are shooting 48.6 percent overall, third best in the American Athletic Conference.

3. The last time Tulsa won at Illinois State came on Feb. 1, 1992, when the two teams were conference opponents in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1981-96.

PREDICTION: Tulsa 82, Illinois State 77

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