Michigan Basketball vs. Tulsa: Get to Know the Golden Hurricane

Michigan basketball made it into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed as will play Tulsa in the First Four. Here’s what you need to know about Tulsa.

Selection Sunday is always a stressful time for fans waiting to see if their teams make it off the bubble and into the field. That was the case for Michigan basketball, but we can rest easy knowing the Wolverines made it in.

Michigan made it into tournament as a No. 11 seed and will play Tulsa on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. That game will tip off at 9 p.m. ET on truTV.

First of all, truTV? Yuck.

But second, this looks like a very favorable matchup for the Wolverines.

Tulsa was easily the biggest surprise of the teams to make into the tournament. BracketMatrix.com offers one of the most comprehensive looks at the NCAA Tournament by compiling what practically every bracketologist out there is projecting. Heading into the selection show, there wasn’t a single one of the 59 bracketologists BracketMatrix uses that said Tulsa would be a tournament team.

That should tell you something.

The Golden Hurricane finished the regular season with a 20-10 record and lost their first AAC Tournament game to Memphis for a final mark of 20-11.

MORE: Here’s why Michigan is in the tournament

Tulsa’s best wins on the season were over Wichita State (No. 12 KenPom), Connecticut (No. 25), SMU (No. 19) and Cincinnati (No. 31).

Its worst losses came at the hands of Oral Roberts (No. 169) and Temple (No. 86).

Tulsa gets a huge nod when it comes to experience on the court. The Hurricane are ranked by KenPom at the very top of the list in that category. Four of Tulsa’s starting five are seniors, and the only non-senior is a junior.

In terms of what’s really going to count against a team like Michigan, Tulsa’s biggest knock has to be its perimeter defense. The Hurricane are allowing opponents to shoot 36.3 percent from behind the arc. This season Tulsa has allowed at least 10 3-pointers in nine games (with a game-high of 12). The Hurricane have a record of 5-4 in those games.

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Tulsa’s effective field goal percentage of 43.8 percent is made possible because it defends well in the paint.

With a steal percentage of 9.8 percent (9.9 in conference games), Tulsa was one of the best in the AAC at forcing turnovers. Rashad Ray had a steal percentage of 3.7 percent (No. 1 in the AAC), and Shaquille Harrison was at 3.2 percent (No. 3).

The same trends hold true on offense. Tulsa doesn’t shoot well from beyond the arc, connecting on only 32.9 percent of its attempts, but it gets the job done on the inside, shooting 51 percent. That gives the Hurricane an effecitve field goal percentage of 50.4 percent, which isn’t great, but it’s certainly respectable.

The Hurricane are anchored from behind the arc by James Woodard (43-126 in conference games) and Pat Bird (55-140).

Tulsa is a team that loves to get to the free throw line with a free throw rate of 40 (FTA/FGA), and the Hurricane don’t send teams to the line very often; they boast a free throw rate of 34.8 on that end of the floor.

Tulsa had three players rank inside the top 25 in free throw rate in the AAC this season: Harrison (No. 16), Woodard (No. 13) and Bird (No. 24). Ironically (or maybe not), they’re the three of the best when it comes to not committing fouls.

You have to like Michigan’s chances against a team that defends this poorly out on the perimeter and that also will have a hard time matching shots if the Wolverines are shooting well.

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We’ll have a complete preview of the game on Tuesday.

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