With February right around the corner, much of the sports world has turned its eye toward the Super Bowl and, coincidentally, college basketball tends to fly relatively under the radar.
For a struggling team like the Tulane Green Wave, that may not necessarily be a bad thing. The Wave added to their less-than-impressive 2015-16 campaign on Sunday when it traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats, losing 97-75.
Though the game seemed to be a blowout on paper, Tulane and Cincinnati both notched impressive milestones. It is unfortunate for the Green Wave and their fans that Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin picked Sunday to tally his 200th career win (second all-time in school history). Sub-par shooting (27-of-56 on free throws) and 19 turnovers (which turned into 27 UC points) helped ensure that the Wave would be on the short end of this historic day in the American Athletic Conference. The team’s 20 fouls and inability to block shots (one total on the day) also didn’t do much for Tulane’s chances.
From the opening minute on, the Bearcats led, and although the defeat was that of the ugly variety, the Green Wave had a few stars that shined on a dim day in the Queen City. Senior Malik Morgan put up a career-high 23 points, racking up five three-point shots en route to his best performance to date.
Teammate Von Julien came off the bench to score 12 points of his own. Sophomore Dylan Osetkowski’s 10 rebounds aided the team, also, on a day when it as a unit came away with 29 rebounds.
Despite Tulane’s glimpses of talent, the team still suffered yet another conference loss. This one drops the Green Wave to 8-13 on the year (1-7 AAC). More importantly, wins by both USF and East Carolina make it so Tulane falls one spot to 10th in the conference standings, and a loss to the Bulls (1-7) on Wednesday would plummet the Wave into the conference’s lowest spot.
The team’s third loss in a row has fans wary of March, instead of excited for it. So, what’s the good news for Tulane
Its next opponent, USF, is the very team it beat earlier this month to record its one and only conference victory. The Green Wave are hoping for history to repeat itself in New Orleans along with perhaps a Temple win over East Carolina (1-6) mixed in there to, hopefully, begin a second-half climb up the standings.
Time is beginning to run out on Tulane’s 2015-16 season, making Wednesday’s matchup against the Bulls all the more important for both teams. Tip off against USF is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN3.
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