Tulane will try to snap its two-game losing streak when it travels to Wichita State on Wednesday night. The Green Wave had won five straight games before dropping back-to-back games against No. 1 Houston and Tulsa. Wichita State has won three of its last four games, including a 71-69 win at SMU on Sunday.
Tulane has lost consecutive games for the first time this season, as it was able to bounce back from its previous five losses with wins. The Green Wave opened AAC play with an 88-77 setback at Cincinnati on Dec. 29, but they bounced back with a five-game winning streak. They pulled off a pair of upsets during that stretch, beating Memphis as 4-point underdogs and Temple as 1-point underdogs. Tulane also picked up wins against Tulsa, SMU and UCF during that stretch. The Green Wave have been unable to maintain that momentum, losing to Houston and Tulsa in their last two games.
Final in OT.#RollWave?? pic.twitter.com/q4tO9yjC8h
— Tulane Men's Basketball (@GreenWaveMBB) January 22, 2023
They were 10.5-point underdogs against Houston, but they were 9-point favorites in their 81-79 loss to Tulsa. Tulane’s strength has been on the offensive end of the court, as it is ranked No. 73 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency. The Green Wave rank sixth in the country in turnover rate and have the second-best free-throw shooting percentage in college basketball. They are an experienced team, so success in those categories is not particularly surprising. This will be a tough matchup, as Wichita State is No. 13 nationally in effective field goal percentage (44.6). Junior guard Jaylen Forbes leads Tulane with 18.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while sophomore guard Jalen Cook is adding 18.4 points and 4.6 assists. Third-leading scorer and leading rebounder Kevin Cross missed Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury and is questionable for this game.