NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team sets out for its final road trip of the season which begins at Memphis for an American Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday, February 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., at FedEx Forum.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Dave Woloshin delivers play-by-play of all the action and Jon Albright provides color analysis.
STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane seeks an American Athletic Conference regular season series split with Memphis as the teams meet for the first time since Dec. 16 in New Orleans in what was each team’s first league game of the season.
2. Last time out, Jaylen Forbes poured in a career-high 30 points with five steals and Jordan Walker tallied his first career double-double with 18 points over 10 assists with just two turnovers, but Tulane suffered an 84-81 home defeat to UCF on Feb. 20. Sion James and junior Gabe Watson added 13 points apiece.
3. Tulane outscored UCF, 30-22, in the paint, 14-6 on second chances, 13-2 on fast breaks and 17-15 off turnovers, but the Knights owned a 34-0 advantage in bench scoring and made 14-of-26 (.538) shots beyond the arc while going 14-of-16 (.875) at the foul line. UCF also shot a scorching 14-of-23 (.609) from the field in the second half.
4. Tulane has won the turnover battle in 15 of its 18 contests this season while also forcing opponents into at least 15 mishaps on 10 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 (.763), turnover margin (+3.9) and fewest turnovers per game (11.4). On the national scale, the Green Wave rank in the top 50 in all three categories as well as fewest fouls per game (15.4).
BY THE NUMBERS
• 3 – Tulane has won three American Athletic Conference road games by double digits under second year head coach Ron Hunter dating back to last season. Wednesday’s 58-48 win at Tulsa was the second this season after the 81-64 win at Temple on Jan. 31.
• 16 -Tulane currently ranks 16th among all NCAA Division I teams in turnover margin this season.
• 222 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 222 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.
TULANE-MEMPHIS CONNECTIONS
» Tulane associate head coach Ray McCallum was born in West Memphis, Arkansas, approximately 10 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee.
» Tulane sophomore forward Oton Jankovic was teammates with former Memphis star and 2020 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Precious Achiuwa at Montverde Academy during the 2018-19 season.
» Memphis sophomore forward D.J. Jeffries and Tulane sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes were ranked the No. 1 and No. 2 high school prospects, respectively, in Mississippi in the 2019 class. Jeffries was ranked No. 25 and Forbes was tabbed No. 87 in the final 2019 ESPN 100 national recruiting rankings.
SCOUTING MEMPHIS
• The Tigers (12-6, 8-3 AAC) enter Wednesday’s contest coming off a two-week pause due to issues related to COVID-19, with their last game coming on Feb. 6. However, they have won three straight games and six of their last seven dating back to Jan. 21.
• Picked second in The American Preseason Coaches’ Poll, Memphis is led by Landers Nolley II’s 13.8 points per game which rank 10th in The American, while his .400 3-point field goal percentage is sixth among all players in the league. Alex Lomax leads the conference in steals per game (1.9) and is second in assists (4.6). Moussa Cisse is sixth in rebounding (7.1).
• As a team, the Tigers lead the conference in assists (16.1), steals (9.3) and blocks per game (5.3), as they also rank second in rebounding (39.4), field goal percentage (.443) and 3-point field goal percentage (.357). Nationally, Memphis stands ninth in steals, 11th in blocks, 30th in rebounding and 34th in assists.
• Memphis owns a 58-11 lead in the all-time series against Tulane, including a 33-3 mark at home with wins in 11 straight meetings and five straight at FedEx Forum.
LAST TIME THEY MET – DECEMBER 16, 2020
Tulane dropped an 80-74 decision at home to Memphis in its 2020-21 American Athletic Conference opener. Gabe Watson came off the bench and poured in a team-high 18 points to go with five rebounds. Jordan Walker, Jaylen Forbes and Kevin Cross also chipped in with 16, 15 and 12 points, respectively. The Tigers jumped out to a 24-7 lead with eight minutes left in the first half, but the Green Wave closed the gap to trail by just one, 31-30, at halftime before taking a lead on the first possession of the second half. Lester Quinones led Memphis with 20 points while D.J. Jeffries added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
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 five times this season (Nov. 30, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, Feb. 15 and Feb. 22). His most recent accolade came after scoring a career-high 30 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and adding five steals against UCF on Feb. 20. His 30 points are the sixth most in a game among all players in The American this season and marked the fifth time he’s scored at least 20 points.
• Redshirt junior Jordan Walker has been named to the Weekly Honor Roll twice this season (Dec. 14 and Feb. 8) and four times in his career.
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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{Courtesy: Press Release from Tulane Athletics}
