Tulane University
Depaul
Poor Second Half Sinks Men's Basketball
Feb 17, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - DePaul University held Tulane University to a season-low 44 points and rolled to an 84-44 victory in Conference USA men's basketball action on Saturday evening at the New Orleans Arena.
Tulane (9-16, 2-10 C-USA) was held without a field goal for the final 8:35 of the game as DePaul (12-13, 4-8) outscored the Green Wave, 54-21, in the second half.
We tried to get them ready for the game," Tulane head coach Shawn Finney said. "We had an excellent scout. Sometimes you've got to win with defensive effort. When you're not playing well offensively, you've got to do the little things - you've got to rebound the ball, take care of the basketball and we didn't do that.
"I was very, very frustrated with our effort in the second half," Finney continued. "If your shots aren't falling, you still can win the rest of the game. We've got to go out and make plays. You've got to do the fundamental things to win the basketball game whether your shot is falling or not."
The Green Wave was led by senior Ledaryl Billingsley (Chicago, Ill.), who posted his league-leading 11th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Linton Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Johnson hit a jumper with 6:31 to go in the first half to pull the Wave within one at 22-21. However, the Wave went on their first field-goal drought of the game, not hitting a shot from the floor the remainder of the half. In that stretch, DePaul outscored Tulane, 8-1, to take a 30-23 lead at the break.
It was a very frustrating game. The guys came out, couldn't make shots early on and we didn't compete the way we needed to in the second half. The first half we played hard defensively and kept it tight.
DePaul shot 51.7 percent from the field, while holding the Green Wave to just 24.6 shooting. The Wave shot just 15.6 percent (5-of-32) in the second half. The two teams were even on the boards at 41-41.
The Green Wave closes its 2000-2001 home slate next Wednesday, hosting Houston at 7 p.m. at Fogelman Arena. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling 504-961-WAVE.
