Tulane Men’s Basketball Hosts Temple in Rescheduled Matchup

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NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team returns to action following a seven-day hiatus to host Temple in an American Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday, January 16. Tipoff is set for noon at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ as Jack Benjamin delivers play-by-play of all the action and David Grubb provides color analysis.

STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane returns to the court for the first time in one week and just the third time in the last 25 days to begin its American Athletic Conference regular season series with Temple. The two teams were originally scheduled to play on January 6, but the game was postponed due to issues related to COVID-19.

2. Last time out, the Green Wave suffered a 71-50 road setback at No. 11 Houston on January 9. Jordan Walker led all Tulane scorers with 13 points and made three 3-pointers. Jaylen Forbes also finished in double figures with 11 points. Tylan Pope led the way on the glass with six rebounds.

3. Tulane struggled from the field as a team, connecting at a 28.8 percent clip, while Houston shot 44.3 percent. In the first half, the Cougars shot 53.8 percent from the field and hit at a 50 percent clip from beyond the arc.

3. Tulane has won the turnover battle in eight of its nine 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).

4. Tulane currently ranks first in The American in free throw percentage (.759), second in turnover margin (+4.3) and third in 3-pointers made per game (7.8) and fewest turnovers per game (12.3). On the national scale, the Green Wave rank in the top 100 in turnover margin and turnovers per game as of December 31.

5. Tulane currently leads all American Athletic Conference teams in free throw percentage (.766), turnover margin (+4.3) and fewest fouls per game (16.3). The Green Wave rank in the top 75 nationally in all three categories.

TULANE-TEMPLE CONNECTIONS
» Tulane head coach Ron Hunter credits his passion for coaching to watching former Temple head coach (1982-2006) and Naismith Hall of Famer John Chaney.
» Tulane redshirt sophomore Jordan Walker played with Temple forward J.P. Moorman at Victor Oladipo’s basketball camp.
» Temple junior forward Sage Tolbert is a New Orleans native.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
• The Owls (2-3, 1-3) enter Saturday’s game on short rest after defeating UCF at home, 62-55, on Thursday afternoon.
• Temple is led by redshirt freshman Damian Dunn’s 15.4 points per game which rank seventh in The American. Senior J.P. Moorman ranks eighth in rebounding (7.2) while junior Jake Forrester is 10th (6.8). Graduate transfer Brendan Barry leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.522) in five games.
• As a team, the Owls commit the fourth fewest fouls per game (16.8) and are fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.339). However, they are last in turnover margin (-1.6), scoring margin (-5.2) and field goal percentage (.374).

BY THE NUMBERS
• 8 – Tulane’s leading scorer Jaylen Forbes (15.9 PPG) has scored in double-figures a team-leading eight times this season and in five consecutive games.
• 213 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 213 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.
• 362 – Tulane scored 2,050 total points last season but return just 362 of those from one year ago. That means more than 82.3 percent of the Green Wave’s total offense will be replaced in 2020-21 and that is the seventh most among NCAA Division I programs this season.

LAST TIME THEY MET – FEBRUARY 12, 2020
T. Hightower scored a team-high 23 points, but Tulane dropped a 72-68 home decision to the Owls. Tulane (10-14, 2-10 AAC) led for nearly the entire game and by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Temple (13-11, 5-7 AAC) closed the game on 19-4 scoring run to upend the Green Wave. Temple forward Quinton Rose led the way for the Owls, as he finished with 23 points. The Owls led for just 51 seconds in the contest and spoiled Tulane’s bid for a season sweep over the opposition.