PHILADELPHIA – Five Tulane University men’s basketball players finished in double figures to lead the Green Wave (7-5) past Temple University (4-5) 81-64 Sunday afternoon at the Liacouras Center.
With the win, Tulane captured its third win in its last four trips to Temple. The Green Wave’s 81 points were a season high and their 17-point win was their largest margin of victory on the road since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2014.
Sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes scored a career-high 23 points, as he connected on 6-of-12 shots from the field. He also pulled down eight rebounds.
“We really needed this win today,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Our kids have been going through a lot these last few weeks. We finally made baskets and what you saw today was what I thought we could be as a team. I am happy for the kids and everything really came together today.”
Joining Forbes in double figures were teammates Kevin Cross, Jordan Walker, Gabe Watson and Tylan Pope, as they finished with 15, 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively. Since Coach Hunter began coaching at Tulane, the Green Wave have never had five players score in double figures.
Walker also dished out a career-high high eight assists, while Pope pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to record his second double-double of the year.
“We keep talking as a team about consistency and I thought that the second half of the Houston game was the difference,” Hunter said. “We scored 46 points in the second half and I saw glimpses of us sharing the ball and I thought that carried over in today’s game.”
The Green Wave also continued their strong defensive play, as they held the Owls to 39.7 percent shooting. In addition, Tulane held a 43-28 rebounding advantage.
Tulane continued its strong trend from the free-throw line. The Green Wave, which entered the game with The American’s top free throw percentage, connected at a 83.3 percent clip.
Temple opened up a 14-8 lead at the 14:29 mark of the first half, but the Green Wave responded in a big way with eight straight points as part of a 14-3 run which was ignited by back-to-back 3-pointers by Forbes.
Tulane held a 35-27 lead in the first half. The Green Wave’s 35 points were the most first half points in a league game this season. Forbes led all Tulane scorers in the first half, as he poured in 10 points, connecting on 3-of-6 shots from the floor.
Temple came out of the locker room hot, as it scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 35-34 lead at the 18:32 mark of the period.
Tulane responded to the Owls’ second-half charge over the next six minutes to open up a 51-46 lead. Pope netted seven points during the Green Wave push. The Green Wave continued to keep the pressure on the Owls under the 10-minute mark, as Tulane opened up a nine-point lead with 8:07 to go in the game.
Temple did trim Tulane’s lead to five points with 7:02 remaining, but that was as close as the Owls would get, as the Green Wave would go on a 19-4 push to open up a 20-point lead with just over a minute to play to secure the win.
Up next, Tulane heads North to Wichita, Kansas to take on Wichita State on Wednesday, February 3. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (CT) and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
{Press release courtesy of Tulane Athletics}