Tulane Men Head to Hostile Local Territory
Dec 4, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University's men's basketball team remains in its hometown, but visits hostile territory on Thursday evening, traveling across the Big Easy to battle the University of New Orleans at 7 p.m. at Lakefront Arena.
Tulane (3-2) is coming off one of its best games of the year, an 81-60 victory over Southeast Missouri State on Sunday. However, UNO is undefeated at 4-0, following a 90-57 shellacking of Jacksonville on Monday.
"We played our best all-around 40 minutes of the year on Sunday," Tulane coach Shawn Finney said. "But we are still looking for that sort of performance and effort on a consistent basis."
Tulane has received outstanding performances from seniors Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann this season. Both have scored in double figures in every game with Brown leading the team with 17.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Spann, who scored his 1,000th career point last weekend, is scoring at a 15.2 point per game clip, while leading the team with 23 assists and just six turnovers.
"Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann are seniors and they need to lead us the way they have been," Finney said. "B Spann had probably the best defensive game of his career on Sunday."
UNO is led by 6-8 All-American candidate Hector Romero, who is averaging 24.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in the Privateers' four wins. Romero was the Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference last year. Juco transfer Johnell Smith comes off the UNO bench to score 16.8 points per game this year.
"Any time you are playing a local rival, it is great for the fans and exciting for the players," Finney said. "It may not be so good for the coaches, but when you get a lot of talk and anticipation by fans, it makes a game a big event. This is one of those events where you throw the records out the window."
Following the UNO game, Tulane heads to Nashville for a Saturday evening showdown with Vanderbilt. Game time is 7 p.m. The Wave is back in New Orleans on Tuesday (Dec. 10), hosting No. 15 Kentucky at the New Orleans Arena. Tip-off for that game is slated for 8 p.m. on the dot.
