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TULSA, Okla. -- Marshall Thundering Herd head coach Donnie Jones made a quick check of the BOK Center basketball court Wednesday morning.

The baskets were regulation 10-feet high and the court was 94-feet long, he reported.

It only mattered because fourth-seeded Marshall (23-8) didn't practice in the downtown facility before playing at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, in the Conference USA men's basketball tournament quarterfinals.

Now, it's Tulsa time for the Thundering Herd.

After trailing by 15 at halftime, Tulsa, the No. 5 seed and host school, defeated 12th-seeded Rice 73-62 in a Wednesday first round game to advance and meet the Herd.

Tulsa (22-10) is playing at home, but not on its home court. The Golden Hurricane plays on campus in the Reynolds Center where the conference women's tournament is going on. The Golden Hurricane had never played in the BOK Center prior to Wednesday's contest.

Marshall seniors Chris Lutz and Tyler Wilkerson attended a Wednesday morning press conference with their coach, and didn't appear to mind having a pre-tournament workout at Oral Roberts University.

The Herd will be on the court before tip-off getting acclimated.

"You have to be focused," said Lutz, a shooter averaging 9.3 points a game and leading C-USA in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.8. "No matter the surroundings, it's the same. You have to come in mentally focused. It's tournament time."

Marshall coaches already had a scouting report on Tulsa and will make adjustments after watching the game Wednesday evening.

Jones said seeing someone play live gives a different perspective than watching video tape. He learned a few things about scouting during his years as a Marshall assistant coach.

"I remember watching tape of Davidson and they were running plays, but there were no signals," he said. "I started watching their coach (Bob McKillop). He would pull up his right sock and they'd run a play. He'd pull up his other sock and they'd run a play.

"You don't get that on tape."

The Herd split regular season games with Tulsa, losing on the road, 73-69, and winning, 64-58, at home.

Tulsa overtook Rice in the second half. Justin Hurtt led Tulsa with 17 points. Jerome Jordan followed with 16 and Ben Uzoh scored 15.

Rice was ahead, 41-26, at the break.

Looking ahead, Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik said another slow start might doom the Golden Hurricane against Marshall.

"We've got to come out better than we did tonight, they (Marshall) are too talented offensively," Wojcik said. "(Marshall's) Chris Lutz can break a game open. And I've always felt Tyler Wilkerson was one of the best players in the league. What helps Wilkerson this year is he has Hassan Whiteside on the court."

Tulsa will have its 7-foot center, Jordan, facing Whiteside, the 7-foot Marshall freshman in their third one-on-one matchup of the season.

Whiteside said he has a plan for guarding Jordan.

The Golden Hurricane also has Uzoh and Hurtt averaging double figure points.

"We've got to beat them with our team," Jones said. "It's not just Hassan against Jerome."

Although Marshall leads the conference with an 80.4 scoring average, points were hard to come by in five previous C-USA tournament games played at FedExForum in Memphis.

Last year, 10th-seeded Rice upset seventh-seeded Marshall, 60-59, when Wilkerson and Dago Pena were out because of injuries.

"We're a different team," Jones said. "I feel we're playing our best basketball right now."

Wilkerson, a 6-foot-8 forward putting up 13.9 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, was joined on the all-conference second team by teammate Hassan Whiteside, a 7-foot freshman, averaging 13.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.4 blocked shots.

Whiteside leads the nation with 168 blocks, the Marshall career record and the C-USA season mark.

NBA scouts are in town, including former Marshall head coach Bob Zuffelato of the Toronto Raptors, and Whiteside is being mentioned as a potential early-entry candidate for the draft.

So far, he's not saying anything.

'I'm just trying to win," Whiteside said. "Winning is always good."

Marshall is expected to bring sophomore guard Shaq Johnson off the bench for the second consecutive game after he started most of the season. Johnson's scoring average is down to 9.6 after a late-season slump.

Jones said he is trying to get Johnson's confidence back.

"He'll still get starter minutes," Jones said.

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Jerome Jordan of Tulsa blocks Tyler Wilkerson while going for a rebound during the C-USA mens basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010, at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.

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