NEW ORLEANS — The Tulane men’s basketball team travels to Wichita, Kansas for its next American Athletic Conference matchup at Wichita State on Wednesday, February 3. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., at Koch Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane (7-5, 2-5 AAC) plays the second game in a stretch of five road matchups over its next seven games on a trip to begin its regular-season conference series against the Shockers. The game will be the fifth meeting in the last three years between the programs and the fourth played in Wichita at Koch Arena.
2. On Sunday, the Green Wave placed five scorers in double-figures for the first time since 2018 and earned an impressive 81-64 conference road win at Temple. Jaylen Forbes scored a career-high 23 points, made four 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds, while Jordan Walker added 15 points and eight assists with just one turnover. Tylan Pope recorded his second double-double of the year with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Kevin Cross chipped in a season-high 15 points, seven boards and four assists. Gabe Watson scored all 13 of the team’s points off the bench.
3. Tulane shot 50 percent from the field in the game and owned a 43-28 (+15) rebounding advantage. Adittionaly, the Green Wave matched a season-high with 46 second-half points for the second game in a row.
4. Tulane has won the turnover battle in 10 of its 12 contests this season while also forcing opponents into at least 15 mishaps on six occasions. Last season, the Green Wave committed equal or fewer turnovers than its opponents in 28 of 30 contests while ranking in the top 15 nationally in turnover margin (+4.3).
5. Tulane currently ranks first in The American in free throw percentage (.778), turnover margin (+4.4) and fewest turnovers per game (11.1). On the national scale, the Green Wave rank in the top 100 in turnover margin, turnovers per game and fewest fouls per game (16.1).
SCOUTING WICHITA STATE
• The Shockers (9-4, 5-2 AAC) enter Wednesday’s contest coming off a 93-88 overtime win over UCF at home on Saturday, January 30.
• Wichita State owns a 6-2 record on its home court this season and ranks second in The American in turnovers per game (13.0) behind only Tulane. WSU is also third in the league in scoring (73.9), rebounding (39.9) and turnover margin (+2.3), while their rebounding average is also among the top 30 nationally.
• The Shockers are led by Tyson Etienne’s 17.6 points per contest which rank third among all players in the conference, as Alterique Gilbert is second in the league in steals per game (1.7).
BY THE NUMBERS
• 11 – Tulane’s leading scorer Jaylen Forbes (15.5 PPG) has scored in double-figures a team-leading 11 times this season and in eight consecutive games.
• 81 – Tulane scored 81 points in its road win at Temple on Jan. 31 – the most the Green Wave have scored in a game this season. The last time the Wave scored more in a game that ended in regulation was Dec. 1, 2019 with 82 against Southern University.
• 215 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 215 consecutive games. The last time the Green Wave failed to do so occurred on January 16, 2014 at home against Louisiana Tech when they shot 0-for-14 from outside.
LAST TIME THEY MET – FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Christion Thompson led three Green Wave scorers in double-figures with 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Jordan Walker scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. T. Hightower chipped in 10 points, four rebounds and four assists. Dexter Dennis guided the Shockers with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Tyson Etienne added 20 more points. Wichita State went 17-for-29 (.586) from the field and 8-for-15 (.533) beyond the 3-point arc in the first half despite committing 10 turnovers. Tulane outscored Wichita State, 37-32, in the second half and shot a respectable 13-for-28 (.464) from the field while committing just one turnover.
AAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Tulane redshirt freshman forward Tylan Pope was named American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week by the league office on Monday, Feb. 1. Pope averaged 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting over 56 percent from the field in a 1-1 week for the Green Wave. He recorded his second double-double of the season by matching his personal best with 12 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and two blocks in Tulane’s 81-64 road win over Temple on Jan. 31. On Jan. 28, the Franklinton, Louisiana native tallied 12 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench against No. 6 Houston.
AAC WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
• Tulane sophomore Jaylen Forbes earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll three times this season on Nov. 30, Jan. 4 and Feb. 1. The first came after averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in a a pair of wins over Lamar and Lipscomb. The second time came after his 20-point performance that led the Green Wave to a league home win over ECU. He then added his third honor after scoring a career-high 23 points in the win at Temple.
• Redshirt junior Jordan Walker earned his first Weekly Honor Roll nod of the season and third of his career on December 14. He averaged a team-leading 15 points per game on 50-percent shooting from the field while recording 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per contest in a 2-0 week for the Green Wave.
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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{Courtesy: Press Release from Tulane Athletics}
