For its next act, Marshall will travel to the state of Oklahoma, where it hasn't won since the Nixon administration, and face the hottest team in Conference USA.
For its next act, Marshall will travel to the state of Oklahoma, where it hasn't won since the Nixon administration, and face the hottest team in Conference USA.
Southern Mississippi may beg to differ, but Tulsa has the league's top winning streak at six games. Accordingly, the Golden Hurricane sits in a tie for second, right behind Southern Miss and right ahead of Marshall.
Another day, another big game for the Thundering Herd. This time, it tips off tonight at 8 EST at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Golden Hurricane (13-9, 6-2) started the season 7-9 with conference losses to apparent also-rans Houston and Southern Methodist, but has righted the ship in a big way.
"We started slow due to the schedule and youth at the guard spots," said Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik, a Wheeling native. "So early against good teams, we just struggled in the last five minutes, so I think now we've been able to overcome that."
Arguably, the Hurricane gets an easier league schedule, playing the five other teams aligned with football's West Division twice and playing each East team just once. That means a single game with four of the league's top current top five - Southern Miss, Memphis, Marshall and Central Florida.
But Tulsa disposed of UCF 66-61 at home on Jan. 25. It was a typical Hurricane win under Wojcik, a grind-it-out affair with a player or two developing the hot hand. On that particular night, it was junior Scottie Haralson, who hit six 3-point goals for the third time this season.
The Hurricane lost C-USA scoring leader Justin Hurtt from a 19-13 team that tied for second in the league last year, but returned double-figure scorers in Haralson and sophomore Jordan Clarkson. While Haralson has seven games of 15 or more points, the 6-foot-41/2 Clarkson has emerged as the top threat.
So much so, Clarkson is the reigning C-USA player of the week. In wins over UCF and SMU, he scored 37 points, with nine assists, seven rebounds and five blocks. He made seven free throws in the final 1:15 to close out UCF and shot 9-of-14 from the floor in a 22-point effort against SMU.
He is averaging 15.7 points and has scored double figures in 19 straight games, with three 23-point outings.
"He's 6-foot-4, he's long, he's young - he's a 19-year-old sophomore," Wojcik said. "Got beautiful mechanics on his jump shot, can finish at the rim. He practices as hard as any big-time player I've ever been around - that includes my days at Michigan State, Notre Dame and North Carolina. It's really important to him."
Marshall coach Tom Herrion took note of Clarkson and Haralson, but also of a deep Tulsa front line. Kodi Maduka is a 6-111/2 sophomore and has been good enough to send 6-11 Steven Idlet to sixth-man status. The team's lone senior starter is 6-9, 265-pound D.J. Magley.
Article Preview
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
For its next act, Marshall will travel to the state of Oklahoma, where it hasn't won since the Nixon administration, and face the hottest team in Conference USA.
Southern Mississippi may beg to differ, but Tulsa has the league's top winning streak at six games. Accordingly, the Golden Hurricane sits in a tie for second, right behind Southern Miss and right ahead of Marshall.
Another day, another big game for the Thundering Herd. This time, it tips off tonight at 8 EST at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Golden Hurricane (13-9, 6-2) started the season 7-9 with conference losses to apparent also-rans Houston and Southern Methodist, but has righted the ship in a big way.
"We started slow due to the schedule and youth at the guard spots," said Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik, a Wheeling native. "So early against good teams, we just struggled in the last five minutes, so I think now we've been able to overcome that."
Arguably, the Hurricane gets an easier league schedule, playing the five other teams aligned with football's West Division twice and playing each East team just once. That means a single game with four of the league's top current top five - Southern Miss, Memphis, Marshall and Central Florida.
But Tulsa disposed of UCF 66-61 at home on Jan. 25. It was a typical Hurricane win under Wojcik, a grind-it-out affair with a player or two developing the hot hand. On that particular night, it was junior Scottie Haralson, who hit six 3-point goals for the third time this season.
The Hurricane lost C-USA scoring leader Justin Hurtt from a 19-13 team that tied for second in the league last year, but returned double-figure scorers in Haralson and sophomore Jordan Clarkson. While Haralson has seven games of 15 or more points, the 6-foot-41/2 Clarkson has emerged as the top threat.
So much so, Clarkson is the reigning C-USA player of the week. In wins over UCF and SMU, he scored 37 points, with nine assists, seven rebounds and five blocks. He made seven free throws in the final 1:15 to close out UCF and shot 9-of-14 from the floor in a 22-point effort against SMU.
He is averaging 15.7 points and has scored double figures in 19 straight games, with three 23-point outings.
"He's 6-foot-4, he's long, he's young - he's a 19-year-old sophomore," Wojcik said. "Got beautiful mechanics on his jump shot, can finish at the rim. He practices as hard as any big-time player I've ever been around - that includes my days at Michigan State, Notre Dame and North Carolina. It's really important to him."
Marshall coach Tom Herrion took note of Clarkson and Haralson, but also of a deep Tulsa front line. Kodi Maduka is a 6-111/2 sophomore and has been good enough to send 6-11 Steven Idlet to sixth-man status. The team's lone senior starter is 6-9, 265-pound D.J. Magley.
Click here to sign up for a one month subscription.
1 Month Online + Print Delivery
$31.99
Click here to sign up for our Premium subscription package.
For its next act, Marshall will travel to the state of Oklahoma, where it hasn't won since the Nixon administration, and face the hottest team in Conference USA.
Southern Mississippi may beg to differ, but Tulsa has the league's top winning streak at six games. Accordingly, the Golden Hurricane sits in a tie for second, right behind Southern Miss and right ahead of Marshall.
Another day, another big game for the Thundering Herd. This time, it tips off tonight at 8 EST at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Golden Hurricane (13-9, 6-2) started the season 7-9 with conference losses to apparent also-rans Houston and Southern Methodist, but has righted the ship in a big way.
"We started slow due to the schedule and youth at the guard spots," said Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik, a Wheeling native. "So early against good teams, we just struggled in the last five minutes, so I think now we've been able to overcome that."
Arguably, the Hurricane gets an easier league schedule, playing the five other teams aligned with football's West Division twice and playing each East team just once. That means a single game with four of the league's top current top five - Southern Miss, Memphis, Marshall and Central Florida.
But Tulsa disposed of UCF 66-61 at home on Jan. 25. It was a typical Hurricane win under Wojcik, a grind-it-out affair with a player or two developing the hot hand. On that particular night, it was junior Scottie Haralson, who hit six 3-point goals for the third time this season.
The Hurricane lost C-USA scoring leader Justin Hurtt from a 19-13 team that tied for second in the league last year, but returned double-figure scorers in Haralson and sophomore Jordan Clarkson. While Haralson has seven games of 15 or more points, the 6-foot-41/2 Clarkson has emerged as the top threat.
So much so, Clarkson is the reigning C-USA player of the week. In wins over UCF and SMU, he scored 37 points, with nine assists, seven rebounds and five blocks. He made seven free throws in the final 1:15 to close out UCF and shot 9-of-14 from the floor in a 22-point effort against SMU.
He is averaging 15.7 points and has scored double figures in 19 straight games, with three 23-point outings.
"He's 6-foot-4, he's long, he's young - he's a 19-year-old sophomore," Wojcik said. "Got beautiful mechanics on his jump shot, can finish at the rim. He practices as hard as any big-time player I've ever been around - that includes my days at Michigan State, Notre Dame and North Carolina. It's really important to him."
Marshall coach Tom Herrion took note of Clarkson and Haralson, but also of a deep Tulsa front line. Kodi Maduka is a 6-111/2 sophomore and has been good enough to send 6-11 Steven Idlet to sixth-man status. The team's lone senior starter is 6-9, 265-pound D.J. Magley.
Idlet hurt Marshall with 10 key points and seven rebounds in the 2010 C-USA tournament quarterfinals, which Tulsa won 80-64. But last season, Marshall dominated the Golden Hurricane on the boards, winning 79-61 in Huntington.
When Wojcik watched video of the Herd's 63-44 win Wednesday over Tulane, he relived that nightmare. "That was a volleyball match! Oh, my goodness," he said.
A minute before that, he summed up his team's challenge: "Anytime you do something better than 345 schools in the country, then you're doing something right. They are just a rebounding machine.
"Great experience in the backcourt - I mean, my goodness, a lot of respect for Damier Pitts, a lot of respect for Shaq Johnson, lot of respect for [Dago] Pena. They are who they were supposed to be at the beginning of the year. I think they have a chance to win the league."
Marshall (14-8, 5-3) is still seeking its first win in Tulsa in seven tries. In fact, the Herd has not won in the state of Oklahoma since a 106-103 overtime bout at Oral Roberts on Feb. 10, 1973. More recently, Marshall has lost two road games in a row, albeit to Southern Miss and Memphis.
On the other hand, the Herd shook a four-game losing streak rather nicely against Tulane.
"We played pretty well, especially on defense, the other night, and now we've got to turn the page and get on the road, and do our business," Herrion said. "We've played well on the road, for the most part, and now we've got to play a good team in Tulsa.
"We've been pretty consistent on the road. We haven't won every game, but we've played some pretty good games on the road, against some good teams.
BRIEFLY: With Harralson and Eric McClellan topping 40 percent, Tulsa is the best 3-point shooting team in C-USA (38.8 percent), taking on the best 3-point defense in Marshall (29.7 percent, 25.7 percent in league). ... Marshall's Dennis Tinnon is tied for first in the NCAA in offensive rebounds (4.5 per game) and tied for 16th in all rebounds (10.3). ... Marshall is 7-2 in February under Herrion, better than the 7-9 in January. ... In his seventh season at Tulsa, Wojcik is 136-87, one win away from tying Clarence Iba (1949-60) as the school's all-time winningest coach. Wojcik is the second-longest tenured coach in C-USA, behind eighth-year Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy. ... Tulsa leads the series 7-4, owning the only road win.
For its next act, Marshall will travel to the state of Oklahoma, where it hasn't won since the Nixon administration, and face the hottest team in Conference USA.
Southern Mississippi may beg to differ, but Tulsa has the league's top winning streak at six games. Accordingly, the Golden Hurricane sits in a tie for second, right behind Southern Miss and right ahead of Marshall.
Another day, another big game for the Thundering Herd. This time, it tips off tonight at 8 EST at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Golden Hurricane (13-9, 6-2) started the season 7-9 with conference losses to apparent also-rans Houston and Southern Methodist, but has righted the ship in a big way.
"We started slow due to the schedule and youth at the guard spots," said Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik, a Wheeling native. "So early against good teams, we just struggled in the last five minutes, so I think now we've been able to overcome that."
Arguably, the Hurricane gets an easier league schedule, playing the five other teams aligned with football's West Division twice and playing each East team just once. That means a single game with four of the league's top current top five - Southern Miss, Memphis, Marshall and Central Florida.
But Tulsa disposed of UCF 66-61 at home on Jan. 25. It was a typical Hurricane win under Wojcik, a grind-it-out affair with a player or two developing the hot hand. On that particular night, it was junior Scottie Haralson, who hit six 3-point goals for the third time this season.
The Hurricane lost C-USA scoring leader Justin Hurtt from a 19-13 team that tied for second in the league last year, but returned double-figure scorers in Haralson and sophomore Jordan Clarkson. While Haralson has seven games of 15 or more points, the 6-foot-41/2 Clarkson has emerged as the top threat.
So much so, Clarkson is the reigning C-USA player of the week. In wins over UCF and SMU, he scored 37 points, with nine assists, seven rebounds and five blocks. He made seven free throws in the final 1:15 to close out UCF and shot 9-of-14 from the floor in a 22-point effort against SMU.
He is averaging 15.7 points and has scored double figures in 19 straight games, with three 23-point outings.
"He's 6-foot-4, he's long, he's young - he's a 19-year-old sophomore," Wojcik said. "Got beautiful mechanics on his jump shot, can finish at the rim. He practices as hard as any big-time player I've ever been around - that includes my days at Michigan State, Notre Dame and North Carolina. It's really important to him."
Marshall coach Tom Herrion took note of Clarkson and Haralson, but also of a deep Tulsa front line. Kodi Maduka is a 6-111/2 sophomore and has been good enough to send 6-11 Steven Idlet to sixth-man status. The team's lone senior starter is 6-9, 265-pound D.J. Magley.
