2015–16 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represented the University of Tulsa during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Hurricane, led by second year head coach Frank Haith, played their home games at the Reynolds Center and were members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 20–12, 12–6 in The American play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of The American Athletic tournament to Memphis. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the First Four to Michigan.^[1]

2015–16 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Four
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	20–12 (12–6 The American)
Head coach	Frank Haith (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Dennis Felton Michael Schwartz Shea Seals
Home arena	Reynolds Center
Seasons ← 2014–15 2016–17 →

2015–16 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Temple	14	–	4		.778			21	–	12		.636
No. 24 SMU*	13	–	5		.722			25	–	5		.833
Houston	12	–	6		.667			22	–	10		.688
Cincinnati	12	–	6		.667			22	–	11		.667
Tulsa	12	–	6		.667			20	–	12		.625
UConn †	11	–	7		.611			25	–	11		.694
Memphis	8	–	10		.444			19	–	15		.559
UCF	6	–	12		.333			12	–	18		.400
East Carolina	4	–	14		.222			12	–	20		.375
South Florida	4	–	14		.222			8	–	25		.242
Tulane	3	–	15		.167			12	–	22		.353
* Ineligible for postseason due to postseason ban † American Athletic Conference tournament Champions Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Golden Hurricane finished the season 23–11, 14–4 in American Athletic play to finish in second place. They advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic tournament where they lost to UConn. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated William & Mary in the first round before losing in the second round to Murray State.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Micah Littlejohn	11	G/F	6'6"	191	Freshman	Mansfield, TX	Transferred to Seward County CC
Stevie Repichowski	23	G	6'5"	193	Sophomore	Lansing, MI	Transferred to Nicholls State
Kenodre Dew	35	G	6'8"	210	Freshman	San Bernardino, CA	Transferred to City College of San Francisco

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Junior Etou	0	F	6'7"	240	Junior	Republic of the Congo	Transferred from Rutgers. Under NCAA transfer rules, Etou will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Patrick Birt	11	G	6'5"	190	Junior	Plano, TX	Junior college transferred from South Plains College

Class of 2015 commitments

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Sterling Taplin PG	Williamsville, NY	St. Thomas More School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jan 1, 2014
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 72
Kajon Brown SG	Harvey, LA	Helen Cox High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 30, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: 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 2015 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015.

Class of 2016 commitments

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Lawson Korita SG	Little Rock, AR	Pulaski Academy	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jun 30, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: 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 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015.

Roster

2015–16 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Junior Etou (I)  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Rutgers Republic of Congo G 1 Rashad Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Plano HS Plano, TX G 2 Cory Haith (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Missouri Miami, FL G 3 Shaquille Harrison 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Sr Lee's Summit Kansas City, MO G 4 Sterling Taplin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Fr St. Thomas More School Williamsville, NY G 5 Rashad Ray 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Sr O. Perry Walker HS New Orleans, LA G 10 James Woodard 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Sr Edmond Memorial Arcadia, OK G 11 Pat Birt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Jr UIC South Plains College Plano, TX G 13 Kajon Brown 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Helen Cox Harvey, LA F 14 TK Edogi 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Westwind Prep Surprise, AZ G 15 Marquel Curtis 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) RS Sr Williston State College Plymouth, MN G 22 Nick Wood (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Sr Cascia Hall Prep Tulsa, OK F 40 D'Andre Wright 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Eisenhower HS Lawton, OK F 44 Brandon Swannegan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 209 lb (95 kg) Sr Cypress Ridge HS Houston, TX F 55 Emmanuel Ezechinonso 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 267 lb (121 kg) Sr Covenant Christian Ministries Academy Lagos, Nigeria	Head coach Frank Haith (Elon) Assistant coach(es) Dennis Felton (Howard) Michael Schwartz (Texas) Shea Seals (Tulsa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 7, 2015* 4:00 pm		Haskell Indian Nations	W 87–62		Reynolds Center (3,430) Tulsa, OK
November 11, 2015* 7:00 pm		Rogers State	W 66–56		Reynolds Center (3,625) Tulsa, OK
Non-conference regular season
November 14, 2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Central Arkansas	W 98–81	1–0	Reynolds Center (3,839) Tulsa, OK
November 17, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		No. 9 Wichita State	W 77–67	2–0	Reynolds Center (5,670) Tulsa, OK
November 20, 2015* 12:00 pm		vs. Ohio Paradise Jam quarterfinals	W 90–88	3–0	Sports and Fitness Center  St. Thomas, VI
November 22, 2015* 5:30 pm, CBSSN		vs. Indiana State Paradise Jam semifinals	W 67–59	4–0	Sports and Fitness Center  St. Thomas, VI
November 23, 2015* 8:00 pm, CBSSN		vs. South Carolina Paradise Jam championship game	L 75–83	4–1	Sports and Fitness Center (2,002) St. Thomas, VI
November 28, 2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Arkansas–Little Rock	L 60–64	4–2	Reynolds Center (3,821) Tulsa, OK
December 2, 2015* 7:00 pm		at Oklahoma State	W 66–56	5–2	Gallagher-Iba Arena (5,422) Stillwater, OK
December 5, 2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Oral Roberts PSO Mayor's Cup	L 68–70	5–3	Reynolds Center (5,225) Tulsa, OK
December 8, 2015* 8:00 pm, ESPN3		Iona	W 90–81	6–3	Reynolds Center (3,800) Tulsa, OK
December 13, 2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Missouri State	W 70–61	7–3	JQH Arena (4,052) Springfield, MO
December 19, 2015* 10:00 pm, P12N		vs. Oregon State Far West Classic	L 71–76	7–4	Moda Center (8,555) Portland, OR
December 22, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Northern Arizona	W 90–55	8–4	Reynolds Center (4,752) Tulsa, OK
Conference regular season
December 29, 2015 4:00 pm, ESPN2		No. 17 SMU	L 69–81	8–5 (0–1)	Reynolds Center (5,364) Tulsa, OK
January 2, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 22 Cincinnati	L 57–76	8–6 (0–2)	Fifth Third Arena (10,102) Cincinnati, OH
January 5, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPNews		East Carolina	W 55–43	9–6 (1–2)	Reynolds Center (4,244) Tulsa, OK
January 10, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPN3		at Tulane	W 81–67	10–6 (2–2)	Devlin Fieldhouse (2,234) New Orleans, LA
January 14, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2		UConn	W 60–51	11–6 (3–2)	Reynolds Center (5,192) Tulsa, OK
January 19, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPNews		at East Carolina	W 84–69	12–6 (4–2)	Williams Arena (3,878) Greenville, NC
January 24, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3		UCF	W 75–60	13–6 (5–2)	Reynolds Center (4,270) Tulsa, OK
January 27, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPNews		at Houston	L 66–81	13–7 (5–3)	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,185) Houston, TX
January 30, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPNU		Tulane	W 62–48	14–7 (6–3)	Reynolds Center (4,926) Tulsa, OK
February 4, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at Temple	L 79–83 OT	14–8 (6–4)	Liacouras Center (5,929) Philadelphia, PA
February 7, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPNU		Houston	W 77–63	15–8 (7–4)	Reynolds Center (4,321) Tulsa, OK
February 10, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at No. 16 SMU	W 82–77	16–8 (8–4)	Moody Coliseum (6,582) Dallas, TX
February 13, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2		at UConn	L 73–75	16–9 (8–5)	Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT
February 18, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Cincinnati	W 70–68 OT	17–9 (9–5)	Reynolds Center (4,402) Tulsa, OK
February 21, 2016 1:00 pm, CBSSN		at UCF	W 75–67	18–9 (10–5)	CFE Arena (6,437) Orlando, FL
February 23, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPNews		Temple	W 74–55	19–9 (11–5)	Reynolds Center (4,827) Tulsa, OK
February 28, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU		at Memphis	L 82–92	19–10 (11–6)	FedEx Forum  Memphis, TN
March 5, 2016 4:00 pm, ESPNews		South Florida	W 84–74	20–10 (12–6)	Reynolds Center (6,524) Tulsa, OK
American Athletic Conference tournament
March 11, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU	(3)	vs. (6) Memphis Quarterfinals	L 67–89	20–11	Amway Center (7,218) Orlando, FL
NCAA tournament
March 16, 2016* 8:10 pm, truTV	(11 E)	vs. (11 E) Michigan First Four	L 62–67	20–12	UD Arena (12,582) Dayton, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. Snyder, Mark (March 16, 2016). "Michigan 67, Tulsa 62: Wolverines advance in NCAA tournament". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved February 4, 2024.