The Golden Hurricane beats Ottawa and Northern Illinois to kick off the 2026-27 season.
The University of Tulsa men’s basketball team started their season with a pair of wins last week: a 98-50 rout of Ottawa and a 94-75 win over Northern Illinois. It was an excellent start to the season for a team with 10 newcomers, tasked with replacing almost all of the production from TU’s National Invitation Tournament runner-up squad last year.
On Monday, Tulsa hosted Ottawa, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school from Kansas in a typical tune-up game to start the season. It is difficult to draw conclusions from these types of games, especially so early in the season, but with so many new players, coach Eric Konkol’s rotation bore close watching. In college basketball, high major teams often play most or all of their players in early games against lower level competition, before shrinking the rotation down to seven or eight players for the conference schedule. Last season, however, Konkol routinely played a 10-man rotation when the team was healthy, utilizing the team’s depth to its advantage as the season progressed.
In Monday’s game, the Golden Hurricane flashed the potential to have that same depth this season. Jaylen Lawal, one of two holdovers from last year in the starting lineup, starred for TU scoring 17 points and adding four assists and four steals. Transfer starters Kobi Williams and Macon Emory also played well, combining to make seven of 12 threes and record no turnovers. 12 players were on the court for 10 minutes or more, and the Tulsa bench accounted for 45 points and 12 steals.
Konkol emphasized after that game that he wants his team “playing with great depth, so that guys can relax on the sidelines and not out on the floor,” something that will also allow them to continue last year’s fast pace. “That first seven seconds is when the defense is most vulnerable,” Konkol said, “and when you can add and stack good possessions in quick fashion, and [if] you do it unselfishly, there’s a lot of opportunity for a lot of guys.” In 2026, the Golden Hurricane ranked in the top third of Division I basketball in adjusted pace on KenPom, and ranked 40th with 28 threes attempted per game and 19th in three point percentage at 38%. On Monday, after a cold start in which TU shot 1-11 from three, Tulsa finished with a school record, 19 threes on 40 attempts, shooting a torrid 47% from deep. “We have way more green light [shooters] than yellow or red and I wouldn’t say really anybody is a red [light shooter],” Konkol said. Fans can expect another entertaining, high scoring team this season if the offense continues to gel.
Macon Emory cranks the siren after win over Ottawa. Ian Orr | Collegian
The team continued to shoot well in the win over Northern Illinois on Thursday, and against a much more evenly matched opponent from the Mid-American Conference. Lawal led the Golden Hurricane in scoring once again, dropping 25 points on 70% shooting and going five for seven from beyond the arc. Miles Rigsby went three for four from deep as well, showcasing a much improved shot that should help him become a starter and veteran leader on this year’s team. As a team, TU shot 41% against the Huskies, jumping out to a 27 point halftime lead before slowing down in the second half. Tulsa’s depth was on display again as well, with seven players seeing significant minutes off the bench.
Denton Forsythe has been another bright spot for Tulsa through two games. The only true freshman in the incoming class, he earned enough trust to start in the scrimmage at Oklahoma State, and recorded six steals and four assists off the bench against Ottawa. On Thursday Forsythe played well again, showcasing his ability to match the level of competition in high-major basketball, something few freshmen measure up to in a time when college basketball is dominated by older players and transfers. The roster churn also helped create an opportunity for the Dale, Oklahoma product to make an impact immediately. “Where the advantage may be, is we had 10 new players this year and he’s brand new to the program like everybody else,” said Konkol. “It’s not like he came in as a freshman and you’ve got eight or nine juniors and seniors who have been here three or four years. My philosophy is: I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care where you’re from. We’re just going to compete and see which guys impact the team the best, and Denton’s certainly done that as a freshman at this point.”
Another dynamic part of the rotation is the Tulsa front court. Senior Chris Loofe, a 6-foot, 11-inch transfer from Middle Tennessee, headlines a retooled frontcourt which boasts much more size than last year’s team. He has started both games so far, and against Northern Illinois, he put on a show with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and went nine for nine at the free throw line, showing a consistency that few bigs have in college basketball. Macon Emory started as forward alongside Loofe last week and the 6-foot-8-inch junior flashed a nice combination of size and outside shooting ability. Behind them, Aleksa Dimitrijevic, Derelle Desire and Kaleb Banks have all played significant minutes. It will be fascinating to see if all five remain in the rotation throughout the season and if Konkol finds creative ways to get them on the court together with larger lineups.
Tulsa certainly possesses the depth to survive injuries, something we have already seen as they play without Jeremiah Johnson, a junior transfer who averaged almost 16 points per game at Campbell last season and is expected back before the start of conference play. The expectation, however, is that this team will be able to play nine or 10 guys consistently throughout the season and utilize that depth to keep the players fresh and healthy. Even then, there is much which remains to be settled in terms of Konkol’s rotation, and it is unlikely that Tulsa will continue to consistently involve 12 players. For this week, however, they showed off the talent and experience that Konkol has assembled and set high expectations for themselves, with opportunities against Oral Roberts, Mississippi State and Oregon State coming up before the end of the month.
