FORT WORTH, Texas – Tulane men’s basketball flew by the Temple Owls 69-60 to advance to the semifinals of the American Conference Tournament on Wednesday night. The Green Wave will face the No.1 seed Houston tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT.
This will be the second time as a member of the American that Tulane has advanced to the semifinals of the AAC tournament.
With the win, Tulane improves to 14-14 on the year, tying its most wins in a single season since the 2017-18 campaign.
Tulane’s nine-point win is its largest margin of victory in the AAC tournament.
Sion James had a stellar night, totaling a career-high in both assists with nine and blocks with five. The sophomore totaled nine points going a perfect 4-4 from the field and 1-1 from beyond the arc.
Three players hit double-digit scoring figures tonight with Kevin Cross leading the way with 18 points going 8-10 from the field while also grabbing nine rebounds. DeVon Baker totaled 15 on the night and Jaylen Forbes tacked on 12 of his own while bringing down nine rebounds.
Tulane shot 52.0 percent from the field and shot 86.0 percent from the free-throw line. The Wave defense held the Owls to a 28.0 percent clip from the field and 31.0 percent clip from three-point range.
The Wave led for all but one minute of tonight’s matchup, never allowing the Owls to get more than a one-point lead. Midway through the first Temple tied it up at 15, but the Wave would get angry sparking a quick seven-point run sealed by a Cross dunk. Tulane would head into the second half up 36-27 on the Owls.
The Green Wave would continue to dominate in the second half, not allowing the Owls to lead once. With what the announcers would call the “icing on the king cake” was a Forbes dish to Cross to put the Wave up 12 late in the second half. Temple would try and close the gap, but Tulane would take the contest by nine to advance on.
LAGNIAPPE
- Forbes made his 51st straight start, the most on the team.
- Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 254 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.
- James’ five blocks are the most by a Tulane player in the AAC tournament.
- This is the 25th time this season three or more players have scored in the double-digits.
- Cross and Forbes nine rebounds tie the most by a Tulane player in the AAC tournament.
UP NEXT
Tulane will face Houston at 2 p.m. CT tomorrow in the semifinals. The game will be aired live on ESPN2.
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{Courtesy: Tulane}
