East Carolina @ Tulsa preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2020 ) Tulsa 65, East Carolina 49

Tulsa’s chances at winning the American Athletic Conference regular-season title took a massive hit last week, losing two straight games against bottom-tier teams on the heels of a six-game winning streak. The Golden Hurricane will look to stay in the NCAA Tournament conversation Wednesday when they host East Carolina, a team they have beaten the last six meetings.

Tulsa struggled immensely on defense the last two games, allowing Connecticut to shoot 50 percent from the floor and Central Florida to hit a season-high 57 percent from 3-point range. Even with the UConn contest, the Golden Hurricane have been a significantly better defensive team at the Reynolds Center, where they have lost just twice, allowing opponents just 57.4 points per game there as opposed to over 70 points on the road. Tulsa hopes to get back one of its top defenders and leading scorer in Brandon Rachal, whose status is up in the air after the junior college transfer went down with an ankle injury in the second half of the UConn contest, leaving him unable to play against UCF. East Carolina erupted for 81 points in a win against Tulane after failing to score 65 points in three straight losses, and the Pirates' success has been contingent on offensive output -- they are 0-9 on the season when shooting under 40 percent from the field.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET.

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (10-14, 4-7 AAC): Sophomore forward Jayden Gardner has proven to be one of the best players in the conference, as he is the only one to average 20 points while nearly leading the AAC with 9.6 rebounds per game. Previously not a major scoring threat, freshman point guard Tristen Newton has reached double figures in five of the last six games, averaging 15 points in that span, including a career-high 23 against UCF. After making just three shots in the previous four games, fellow first-year Brandon Suggs made that many against Tulane en route to 11 points, averaging nine on the season.

ABOUT TULSA (15-8, 7-3 AAC): While Rachal still leads the team in scoring, senior forward Martins Igbanu has established himself as the team’s best offensive threat of late, averaging 16.4 points in the last 10 games since being removed from the starting lineup and 29.5 points in the last two games. After being named AAC Player of the Week for his performance against Wichita State, junior guard Elijah Joiner has been limited to single digits the last two games. Despite scoring just 8.7 points, junior guard Darien Jackson is third in the conference with a 56.5 field goal percentage.

BUZZER-BEATERS

1. Newton is second in the AAC with a 2.1 assist-turnover ratio.

2. Gardner leads the nation with 189 free throws attempted and is fifth with 139 made.

3. Joiner, Igbanu and Rachal have accounted for the last three AAC Player of the Week awards.

PREDICTION: Tulsa 76, East Carolina 67