MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Tulane University men’s basketball heads to Memphis to face the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU. Fans can also listen to the game live on the radio by tuning into 104.1 The Spot or by CLICKING HERE. Tulane’s “Voice of the Green Wave” Corey Gloor will call the action live.
STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane University men’s basketball heads to Memphis in the hopes to get its second win over the Tigers this season. Tulane defeated Memphis on Jan. 1 of this year 96-89.
2. Jalen Cook notched his third straight game scoring 20+ points on Wednesday. The sophomore currently averages 18.8 ppg, tying Jaylen Forbes for most on the team.
3. The last time the Wave played Memphis Sion James scored a career-high 30 points, had six rebounds and seven assists.
4. Tulane has the highest-scoring offense in the AAC averaging 81.0 ppg on the season. The next closest is Memphis with 79.8 ppg. The Wave’s lowest score of the season has been 60 vs. Houston and highest 97 at SMU.
5. Tulane is second in the country in free throw percentage shooting 80.9 percent from the charity stripe. Jalen Cook leads the team and the AAC shooting 90.5 percent.
TULANE BY THE NUMBERS
275– Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 275 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.
90 – Tulane has scored 90+ six times this season which is more than the last two seasons combined. The last time the Green Wave scored 100 was in 2017, when they scored 102 versus LIU Brooklyn.
80.9 – Tulane is shooting 80.9 percent from the line which is on track to be the best team average ever for a Tulane team.
13 – Sion James has scored in the double digits 13 times so far this season, the sophomore totaled six double digit games last season. James’s career high of 30 points came versus Memphis on 1/1/22.
8.1 – Tulane is averaging 8.1 more points per game than last season.
5 – Head coach Ron Hunter is five wins away from 500 in his career.
1 – Tulane currently has the top ranked scoring offense in the league averaging 81.0 points per game.
THE OPPONENT – MEMPHIS
• Memphis’ Kendric Davis is closing in on a pair of conference records. He has 485 free throws in The American, eight shy of the record of 493, held by David Collins of South Florida (2017- 2021). Davis has 571 assists, seven shy of Galen Robertson of Houston’s record (2015-19).
• Williams averaged 27.5 points and 11.50 rebounds as the Tigers picked up a pair of wins last week. He posted 29 points and 15 rebounds on Thursday against Wichita State and followed that up with 26 points and eight rebounds on the road at Cincinnati on Sunday.
• Memphis leads The American with 9.3 steals per game. The Tigers’ Alex Lomax is leading the conference, with 2.81 steals. Lomax’s average is third-best in the country.
A WIN VERSUS MEMPHIS
• Tulane would get its 15th regular season win, the most in the Ron Hunter era.
• Ron Hunter would be four games away from 500 in his career.
• Tulane would get its first ever season sweep over Memphis.
2022-23 STATISTICAL IMPROVEMENT
Through the first 21 games of the year, Tulane shows improvement through five statistical categories compared to the first right games of last season.
Category 2021-22 2022-23
Points Per Game 72.9 81.0
Field Goal Percentage .437 .464
Free Throw Percentage 73.9 80.9
Steals per game 8.4 9.1
Assists per game 13.0 15.6
SUCCESS FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
• Tulane is currently 372-460 from the free throw line (.809) which is trending towards the program’s highest single-season percentage since 1967-68 when the team shot 528-of-692 (.763) at the charity stripe.
• Three Green Wave players are currently shooting over .800 from the line – Jalen Cook (.905), Jaylen Forbes (.888) and Kevin Cross (.831).
{Courtesy: Tulane Athletics}
