NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team opens play in the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship with a first round matchup against Tulsa on Thursday, March 11 in Fort Worth, Texas. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., at Dickies Arena.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and streamed on ESPN+ as Mike Corey delivers play-by-play of all the action and Mark Adams provides color analysis.
STARTING FIVE
1. For the second time in the last four American Athletic Conference Championship tournaments, 10th-seeded Tulane will face No. 7 seed Tulsa, as the two programs met in the same game in the 2017 tournament held in Hartford, Connecticut where the Golden Hurricane held on for a 66-60 win.
2. Defense is a key factor for both teams, as Tulane ranks No. 61 nationally in scoring defense (65.8), while Tulsa ranks 49th in the country in that category (65.1). Additionally, the Green Wave are 70th in fewest fouls committed per game (16.0), and the Golden Hurricane are 99th (16.4).
3. Sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes ranks fifth among all players in The American in scoring (16.5 PPG), while redshirt junior guard Jordan Walker is 12th (12.5 PPG). Walker is also second in the league in steals per game (1.7), as Forbes ranks tied for seventh (1.4).
4. Tulane has won the turnover battle in 17 of its 21 contests this season while also forcing opponents into at least 15 mishaps on 11 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 (.754) and second in turnover margin (+3.8). On the national scale, the Green Wave rank 16th in turnover margin among all NCAA Division I teams and 44th at the free throw stripe.
BY THE NUMBERS
• 4 – Tulane will be the No. 10 seed in the American Athletic Conference Championship for the fourth time in the last five tournaments. The Green Wave also played in the No. 7 vs. No. 10 game in 2015 – their first year in the league – as the No. 7 seed.
• 5 – Tulane has won five American Athletic Conference road games under second year head coach Ron Hunter dating back to last season. The Green Wave’s 53-49 win at USF on Feb. 14 was the third this season after the 81-64 win at Temple on Jan. 31 and the 58-48 win at Tulsa on Feb. 10.
• 225 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 225 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-TULSA CONNECTIONS
» Tulane sophomore guard R.J. McGee and Tulsa senior guard Elijah Joiner are Chicago natives and trained together before college. Their respective high schools were in the same conference, and the two competed against one another multiple times.
» Tulsa director of athletics Rick Dickson held the same position at Tulane from 2000-16.
SCOUTING TULSA
• The Golden Hurricane (11-11, 7-9 AAC) enter Thursday’s contest coming of a 107-74 home win over Northeastern State on March 4. However, they have lost five of their last six conference games with the most recent setback coming March 2 at UCF, 73-69.
• Tulsa is led by senior guard and Louisiana native Brandon Rachal’s 14.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He ranks eighth, sixth and third in The American in each of those categories, respectively.
• As a team, the Golden Hurricane rank second in the conference in field goal percentage (.453) and fourth in turnover margin (+1.6).
• Tulsa owns a 24-7 all-time lead in the series against Tulane, including a 2-1 mark in games played at neutral sites.
LAST TIME THEY MET – FEBRUARY 10, 2021
Tulane snapped a streak of 10 straight trips to Tulsa without a victory in a 58-58 win over the Golden Hurricane. Jaylen Forbes led the way for the Green Wave with a game-high 20 points, while Jadan Coleman scored a season-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers, in 14 minutes coming off the bench. Tulane closed the first half with a 19-2 scoring run to widen the margin and keep a lead it would not surrender for the remainder of the game.
FREE THROW HISTORY
• Tulane has shot 251-of-333 (.754) at the free throw line this season which is the program’s highest single-season percentage since 1967-68 when the team shot 528-of-692 (.763) at the charity stripe.
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 has earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll six times this season (Nov. 30, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, Feb. 15, Feb. 22 and March 1). Most recently, Forbes averaged 24.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from 3-point range in two games for the Green Wave. He scored a career-high 37 points and made a personal-best seven 3-pointers at Cincinnati on Feb. 26. His 37 are the most by any player in The American this season, and the most by a Tulane player since Ledaryl Billingsley scored 38 in an overtime game against Charlotte in 2001. Earlier in the week, Forbes registered his first-career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds at Memphis on Feb. 24.
• 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.
{Press release courtesy of Tulane Athletics}
