Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
The Tulane Green Wave and Tulsa Golden Hurricane will take the court Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Tulane is 12-6 SU and 7-11 ATS this season. Tulsa is 4-13 SU and 2-14-1 ATS. The Green Wave won both meetings last season, but the Golden Hurricane lead the all-time series 24-10.
Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. ET.
At 5-2, Tulane is tied for second place in the American Athletic Conference standings. The Green Wave didn't perform like a team itching for a conference title on Tuesday, though.
Tulane dropped its latest game 80-60 to AAC leader Houston, shooting 40 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from three. The Green Wave trailed 40-32 at halftime and never led by more than two points in the game. Houston won the rebounding battle 35-27 and shared the ball, recording 20 assists on 31 made field goals. It was a humbling loss for the home team with back-to-back road games upcoming.
HE'S COOKIN'
TU 46 | UH 53#RollWave?? pic.twitter.com/tcK00xvIx6
— Tulane Men's Basketball (@GreenWaveMBB) January 18, 2023
Tulane shoots 46.5 percent from the field (78th nationally) and scores 80.7 points per game (26th). It hits 33.3 percent of its treys and converts 82.2 percent of its free throws (2nd). The Green Wave averages 29.1 rebounds and has a -5.1 rebounding margin. They're 62nd nationally in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Junior guard Jaylen Forbes paces the team in scoring (19.4 PPG) on 43.0 percent shooting. He hits 38.8 percent of his three-point attempts and shoots 91.3 percent from the foul line. Other players to watch are sophomore guard Jalen Cook (18.1 PPG and 4.5 APG), junior forward Kevin Cross (14.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 3.9 APG), and sophomore guard Sion James (10.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.8 APG).
The Green Wave give up 74.2 points per game, and their opponents shoot 43.2 percent from the floor, including 35.8 percent from three-point range. They're 127th in schedule-adjusted defensive efficienc y and 15th in assist-per-turnover ratio (1.46).