Tulane Battles Kentucky at New Orleans Arena
Dec 9, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2002
Tulane (3-4, 0-0 C-USA)
vs.
Kentucky (4-1, 0-0 SEC)
December 7, 2002 ~ 7 p.m. (Central)
Nashville, Tenn. ~ Memorial Gym
Official Vanderbilt Athletics Website
Green Wave Facts
2002-03 Record: 3-4
2001-02 Record: 14-15
2001-02 C-USA Record: 5-11
Head Coach: Shawn Finney
Alma Mater/Year: Fairmont St/1985
Record at Tulane/Year: 26-40/3rd
Overall Record/Years: Same
President: Scott Cowen
Athletic Director: Rick Dickson
Basketball SID: John Sudsbury
Direct Phone: 504-314-7271
SID Fax: 504-865-5512
SID E-Mail: jsudsbu@tulane.edu
Ticket Office Phone: 504-861-WAVE
RADIO:
New Orleans, WTIX-AM, 690
New Orleans, WTIX-FM, 94.3
Northshore, WJSH-FM, 104.7
Baton Rouge, WSKR-AM, 1210
Lafayette, KROF-AM, 960
TELEVISION: ESPN, Dave O'Brien and Brad Daugherty
WINNING WILDCATS
Tulane has its hands full on Tuesday, hosting a powerful University of Kentucky team at New Orleans Arena. The Wildcats are 4-1 following an impressive blowout (98-81) of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday. The lone loss for UK came at the hands of Virginia. Senior swingman Keith Bogans leads the 'Cat attack with 18.2 points per game while Gerald Fitch and Marquis Estill tally 15.8 and 13.0 points per game, respectively.
IN THE ARENA
Tuesday's Kentucky game will be the 16th game that Tulane has played in the New Orleans Arena, but the first of the 2002-03 season. It is also the first Arena game since the arrival of the NBA's Hornets. The Green Wave has an 8-7 record in its downtown home. The only other Arena game for the Wave will be against LSU on Dec. 28 as part of the Nokia Sugar Bowl doubleheader.
MENTOR MEETING
Tulane head coach Shawn Finney will be making his second coaching appearance against his long-time boss Tubby Smith on Tuesday. Finney served as a Smith assistant for nine years (three at Kentucky, two at Georgia and four at Tulsa). During that time, those teams compiled a 210-85 (.712) record, with seven NCAA appearances and the 1998 NCAA Championship.
SHOOTING SLUMP
Tulane went ice cold from the floor against Vanderbilt on Saturday, connecting on just 32.8 percent of its shots. Despite playing solid defense (Vandy shot 43.3 percent), the Wave lost by 20 points, 66-46. A second-half rally cut the deficit to six at 48-42, but the Commodores closed the night with an 18-4 run. Brandon Brown was the lone Wave player in double figures with 13 points. He also added nine rebounds.
UP NEXT -- HITTING THE BOOKS
After playing eight games in 19 days, the Green Wave finally gets a break. From basketball that is. The team then embarks on Tulane's grueling nine-day exam schedule, which includes Saturday and Sunday exams.
BACK ON THE HARDWOOD
Following exams, Tulane will host two games prior to Christmas. The Wave meets Savannah State on Friday, Dec. 20 and Jackson State on Monday, Dec. 23 at Fogelman Arena.
NEEDING 70
Tulane continues to struggle when it does not reach the 70-point mark. Last year, when scoring 70 or more points, the Green Wave posted a 12-4 record. However, in games where points were more scarce, the team record was just 2-11. Thus far in 2002-03, the Wave is 3-0 when scoring 70 and 0-4 when not.
INJURY FACTOR
After losing just one full game last year to injury (Nick Sinville missed the entire TCU game with an ankle injury), the Green Wave has suffered through eight games lost to injury: Ben Benfield, Waitari Marsh, George Brown and Wayne Tinsley have all missed games in the first six games of the year.
THE SENATORS CUP
UNO was the winner of the Senators Cup on Thursday, holding off Tulane for an 80-67 victory at Lakefront Arena. The prize, presented by the sponsors of the event: Louisiana state senators Francis Heitmeier (UNO grad) and John Hainkel (Tulane grad), has existed for two years now.
HELPING HAND
Senior Brandon Brown led the Green Wave in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage last year and this year he has picked up where he left off. In addition to leading the team in those categories, he has dished out 24 assists. Last year, he had a TOTAL of just 43 assists. Brown's total is behind only Brandon Spann's 25 assists on the team.
ONE THOUSAND POINTS
Brandon Spann, who entered the season needing 50 points for 1,000 in his career, reached that impressive milestone in the first half of the UCF game with a free throw with 6:36 to go. He now has 1,046 career points, 23rd all-time at Tulane. The New Orleans native leads the team in assists (25) and is second in scoring (13.7 ppg).
DONE SITTING SIX
Green Wave freshman Vytautas Tatarunas was not eligible to play in Tulane's first six games due to NCAA requirements. NCAA rules require that players who play for certain European club teams must sit out a certain percentage of collegiate games before becoming eligible. Tatarunas was eligible to play for the first time Saturday night at Vanderbilt.
JUST CALL HIM EVEN
Junior Ivan Pjevcevic has been a major surprise for the Wave this year, averaging 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds after averaging 1.6 and 1.0 in his first two years. The 6-11 shooter's last name may be a mouthful (pee-EV-cha-vich), so just remember his first name is pronounced EE-ven, as in Even and Odd, and not EYE-van. Ivan tallied career bests of 15 points and six rebounds against Southeast Missouri on Sunday. He had established a career-high with 12 points against Maine.
PARKER UPS HIS PLAY
Senior Byron Parker has stepped up his play this season. After averaging just 6.1 minutes last season, he is currently playing 17.0 minutes per game in 2002-03. He has established new career highs in nearly every category, but his biggest contribution may be his high energy defense, which has sparked the Green Wave in its first six games. In the UCF game he had career-highs of five steals and two blocked shots; the 6-1 leaper leads the team in blocks with five. Parker took charge against Loyola, establishing new career-highs in points (7), rebounds (4), assists (2) and steals (3).
UNO RECAP
UNO jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead on Thursday and the held off numerous Green wave rallies on route to an 80-67 victory. Tulane was victimized by 38.9 percent (7-of-18) shooting from the free throw line and 22 turnovers. Brandon Spann tallied 15 points to lead the Wave, while Brandon Brown logged a 14-point evening. Nick Sinville and Waitari Marsh each had 11 points in the loss.
UNIVERSITY HOOPS CLASSIC
Tulane had a strong showing at the University Hoops Classic over Thanksgiving weekend at Fogelman Arena. The Wave finished third place in an event, which was won by UCF on a last second shot. Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann both earned all-tournament honors as Brown averaged 18.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 69 percent from the field. Spann, meanwhile, had 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Junior Ivan Pjevcevic also had a strong tourney, twice establishing career-highs and averaging 10.7 points per game, including 6-of-9 three-point shooting in the three games.
THE SEMO GAME - DECEMBER 1
The Green Wave played perhaps its best game of the year on Dec. 1, cruising to an 81-60 victory over Southeast Missouri to claim third place at the University Hoops Classic. Brandon Brown scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and added nine rebounds in the victory, while Brandon Spann had 14 points and nine assists and junior Ivan Pjevcevic scored a career-high 15 points. The Wave nailed 64.2 percent of its shots, while holding the Indians to 43.6 percent shooting.
THE UCF GAME - NOVEMBER 29
A lack of offensive rhythm continued to plague the Green Wave, which fell, 66-61, to UCF on Nov. 29 in round two of the University Hoops Classic. Tulane shot just 37.3 percent from the field overall and 31.8 percent in the first half. Tulane used an early second half run to take its first lead of the game at 41-39, but then went over six minutes without a point as the Golden Knights scored just enough to take charge of the contest. Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann each had 17 points and five assists, while Brown added a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Ben Benfield scored a career-high 13 points.
THE MAINE GAME - NOVEMBER 28
Tulane took advantage of its size and power on Thanksgiving Day in its opener at the University Hoops Classic with an 84-65 victory over Maine. The Wave dominated in the paint and out-rebounded the Black Bears, 44-26, to offset 12 three-points by the foe. Maine attempted just 18 shots from inside the arc (37 from downtown). Brandon Brown tallied his first double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Brandon Spann had 18 and Nick Sinville scored 17.
BRAGGING RIGHTS
Tulane and Loyola met for the third straight year to battle for Uptown bragging rights on Nov. 25 at Fogelman Arena. The Green Wave struggled with the tenacious Wolfpack, but still managed to earn a 74-58 victory. Brandon Brown and Nick Sinville each tallied 16 points, while Brandon Spann added 15. The Wave held Loyola to just 35.5 percent shooting.
BIG EASY CLASSICS
New Orleans fans have the opportunity to catch the Wave 21 times without leaving the city this season. In addition to 18 Fogelman Arena games (including two exhibitions), two games will be played at the New Orleans Arena and one will be played on the road at Lakefront Arena.
RIVALRY RETURNS
Tulane and LSU will meet on the hardwood for the first time in 20 years this season. The Green Wave and the Tigers will play as part of the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic on Dec. 28th at the New Orleans Arena. Game time is 2:30 p.m. and the renewed rivalry will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports Net. The last meeting was an 83-72 victory by Tulane in the first round of the 1982 NIT Tournament in Baton Rouge.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
In addition to the LSU game, Tulane will also host Kentucky in the New Orleans Arena (Dec. 10). Wave coach Shawn Finney will once again match wits with his mentor, Tubby Smith. Finney assisted Smith for 12 years, including three years at Kentucky where they won the 1998 NCAA Championship.
OTHER BIG GAMES
In addition to LSU and Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Marquette, Memphis, Houston and next-door-neighbor Loyola are all part of the action-packed Green Wave schedule for 2002-2003.
MAJOR STRIDES
Tulane's men's basketball team made an impressive jump last season. After posting a 9-21 record in Shawn Finney's first year as head coach, the Green Wave improved to 14-15 last year and won just its second Conference USA playoff game in league history.
WE'RE BACK
The Green Wave returns its entire starting lineup from last season. Included in that quintet are four seniors, as well as junior Wayne Tinsley, who has started 58 of his 59 career games.
DO IT AGAIN?
Senior big man Brandon Brown made a huge jump last season, from blue-collar workhorse to C-USA star. Brown led the Green Wave with 14.8 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game while connecting on 55.3 percent of his field-goal attempts. As a sophomore, the 6-8 Louisiana native averaged 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
HOME COOKIN'
The Green Wave has four players from the state of Louisiana, including three members of its starting lineup. Brandon Spann is a New Orleans native who attended Jesuit High School, located less than three miles from Fogelman Arena. Spann's older brother, Tookie, played baseball and football at Tulane from 1985-87. Brandon Brown is from Houma, located 60 miles southwest of New Orleans; Nick Sinville's hometown of Shreveport is 340 miles northwest of the Big Easy. The other Bayou State product is Ben Benfield, who is from River Ridge, a New Orleans suburb.
GREAT RATES
In the latest graduation rates figures released by the NCAA, Tulane once again ranks among the national leaders in terms of graduating its student-athletes, and also its men's basketball players. In fact, Tulane's graduation rate of 64% for the four-class average ranks it second among Conference USA programs. The Wave's 100% number for the 1995-96 cohort alone matches two other C-USA schools. The Green Wave's graduation rate of 78% for all student-athletes was 12th nationally and ranked ahead of all other Louisiana and Conference USA schools.
COACHES POLL
Tulane was selected No. 2 in the National Division in a preseason poll of Conference USA Coaches. The Green Wave is behind only Memphis, while Cincinnati was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the American Division and overall.
CONFERENCE USA COACHES PRESEASON POLL
NATIONAL
1. Memphis
2. Tulane
3. Houston
4. TCU
5. South Florida
6. Southern Miss
7. UAB
AMERICAN
1. Cincinnati
2. Marquette
3. Louisville
4. Charlotte
5. Saint Louis
6. East Carolina
7. DePaul
PRESEASON RANKINGS
Tulane has been picked anywhere from second to fourth in the National Division of Conference USA by various publications. Street & Smith's and Basketball Times both selected the Green Wave as the second place team behind Memphis in the division. Athlon's and Blue Ribbon Basketball rank the Wave third and The Sporting News and Lindy's tab Tulane as No. 4.
