TULSA, Okla. – The Tulane University men’s basketball team (8-7; 3-7 AAC) snapped a 10-game road losing streak at Tulsa Wednesday night, as it posted a 58-48 win over the Golden Hurricane inside the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
The Green Wave’s win over Tulsa marked just the second time in series history that Tulane had posted a win over the Golden Hurricane at the road. Tulsa, which defeated then No. 5-ranked Houston back on Dec. 29, was held to its lowest scoring output of the season.
“I thought in the first half our bench came in and really gave us a lift,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “I thought (Jadan) Coleman was really good and gave us a spark. We’ve really struggled all year with our offense and we finally saw the ball go into the basket and that was great to see for our guys.”
Sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes led the way for the Green Wave finishing with a game-high 20 points. Forbes’ 20-point effort marked the fourth time this season he has scored 20-or-more points.
“We have to come out and compete each and every day and this game is going to be a huge confidence boast for us going forward,” Forbes said. “When you keep putting in the work, it is going to pay off in some way.”
Joining Forbes in double figures was Jadan Coleman, who finished the game with a career-high 13 points in just 14 minutes off the bench. The freshman guard connected on 5-of-10 shots from the field and also pulled down a pair of rebounds.
“He’s a great shooter,” Hunter said. “He came in and made some big shots for us and we really needed that today.
As a team, Tulane held a 35-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Golden Hurricane in bench scoring by an 18-11 count. The Green Wave also continued their strong shooting performance from the charity strip, connecting at an 82 percent clip, while Tulsa shot just 29 percent from the free throw line.
Neither team lead by more than four points in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Tulane made its move with just under six minutes in the first half, as it posted a 19-2 run to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room. Tulane’s 13-point advantage at the break was its largest lead at the half this season. Tulane’s 38-point first half effort was its second highest point total of the year.
Coming out of the break, Tulsa trimmed the Green Wave’s lead to three (38-35), but Tulane countered with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 47-35 lead with 11:32 to go in the game. Tulane’s lead would not fall below eight points for the remainder of the second half, as the Green Wave went on to secure their second road win of the year.
“I thought we were really good defensively in the second half,” Hunter said. “This was a really good road for us. We talk about getting close and getting better. We want to win games, but we also want to continue to get better and I thought today was a product of that work.”
Up next, Tulane heads to UCF for the first of two games in the Sunshine State where it will face UCF at 6 p.m. on Friday and USF at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
{Press release courtesy of Tulane Athletics}