PHILADELPHIA – The Tulane University men’s basketball team (12-13) dropped a hard-fought 75-70 decision to the Temple University Owls (16-10) Sunday afternoon inside The Liacouras Center.
With the loss, the Green Wave falls to 9-7 in the American, while the Owls moved to 9-6 in league play.
“We knew this was going to be a battle,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “I thought we hung in there. We just didn’t finish plays off. We want to finish the year up strong. We’ve had a great year and now we have to finish and that’s what I’ve told these guys.”
Tulane forced Temple into 21 turnovers which translated into 22 points for the Olive and Blue, but the Green Wave were unable to overcome a 33 percent shooting clip from the field as a team.
Four Green Wave players finished in double figures with sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes leading the way with 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Joining Forbes in double figures were teammates Jalen Cook, Kevin Cross and DeVon Baker, as they finished with 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Cross pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. As a team, Tulane was outrebounded 45-28.
Tulane jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but Temple responded with a 12-0 run to reclaim the lead. From there, no team led by more than six points for the remainder of the game.
The Green Wave held a 31-29 advantage at the break, but that was the last time Tulane would lead for the remainder of the game. Tulane was outscored 46-39 in the second half and shot just 32.1 percent from the field while connecting on only two shots from long range.
Despite its shooting woes in the second half, Tulane remained within striking distance throughout the final 20 minutes of the game.
Forbes and Cross finished the game on a high note, as both players scored 11 points apiece in the second half.
LAGNIAPPE
- Ten of Tulane’s 25 games have been decided by five points or less.
- Jaylen Forbes made his 48th straight start, the most on the team.
- Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 251 consecutive games. The last time the Green Wave failed to do so came on Jan. 16, 2014 at home against Louisiana Tech when they went 0-for-14 from outside.
- Tulane won the turnover battle for the 21st time this season.
- This is the 22nd time this season three or more players have scored in the double-digits.
UP NEXT
Tulane heads returns home on Thursday where it will welcome UCF on Senior Day. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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{Courtesy: release from Tulane}
