Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano discusses an issue with the Golden Hurricane’s game.
The University of Tulsa’s men’s basketball team suffered another loss to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in its home court on Wednesday, Jan. 29. This was the second meeting it had against the Blazers, the Golden Hurricane losing both contests within the span of one month. Though there is a consistent outcome, the Golden Hurricane appears to be improving its performance. As opposed to its first loss that ended in a painful loss of 52-83, Tulsa was able to decrease that margin and end the game within a 10-point bracket and only lost 68-78.
The inconsistencies at the foul line posed a major thorn in the Golden Hurricane’s side, the team only shooting 6-of-14 (42.9 percent). These attempts included a painstakingly slow stretch of seven misses in a row. If anything has stayed constant throughout Head Coach Eric Konkol’s career at Tulsa, it’s that the team seems to be falling short at the free throw line. So far the team’s free throw percentage for the season sits at a .661 percent while the opponents (cumulative over all games) sits at a .684 percent. A measly .02 percent may not seem much when posed next to one another, but when you consider games such as its match against Southern University, it is apparent that the battle between a single player and the basket plays a crucial role in the final outcome.
Back in December, the Golden Hurricane hosted the Jaguars, the competition ending in a shocking loss for the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa was doing well above the opponents in the field, 0.76 percent of its points coming from the field. Its opponents only scored 0.58 percent of its points in the field. From an outside perspective, the Jaguars would seem to have been at a disadvantage. However, Southern University actually ran away with the victory 66-70.
The box score shows us that the Jaguars outperformed the Golden Hurricane at the foul line. The opponents garnered 21 points (shooting at a 0.84 percent rate) at the line, where Tulsa fell short in this department and only scored 16 points (shooting at a 0.76 percent rate). Both teams visited the line above 20 times, but what pulled the Jaguars to the finish line was their ability to make these crucial shots.
The game at the freethrow line can make or break the outcome of the game, and this underlying issue reared its presence again in its match against UAB. Both teams were making field goals in the 0.40 percent rate range, however, the Blazer made 11-out-16 (0.69 percent) attempts when visiting the foul line.
Foul line points are just a single variable to the outcome of the final scoreboard, however, its free throw percentage (compared to its opponents) is a large influence to the Golden Hurricane’s overall game performance. A single visit to the freethrow line can bring a team up to two or three points.
When a team misses out on those points more than 10 times, the aggregation of those points leaves it down a possible double-digit in points. In a game as physical as basketball, it is imperative to take the “easy” points and win the battle when it’s one player with nothing between him and the basket.
Konkol has done an impressive job in growing the basketball program. In his first season, the Golden Hurricane experienced a rough season, ending in the bottom of the bracket of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) with a record of 1-17. In his second season, he earned the team its first road win in his career and improved the conference record 7-11. He is in the middle of his third, and he is already well above the disastrous record of his first season. With a team that has had a yearly roster change, the consistent improvement deserves to be highlighted.
The Golden Hurricane currently stands in the middle of the conference bracket with a record of 3-5. Despite this up-and-up, there is much to improve on, and free throws are something the Golden Hurricane should put a little more care into in its upcoming matches. Fans who want to continue to see its growth, the Golden Hurricane has an upcoming match against Tulane in New Orleans. The game will be streamed on ESPNU, and tip off it set for 1 p.m. CDT.
