Tulane University
Valparaiso (Hawkeye Challenge)
Tulane Comeback Falls Short Against Valpo
Dec 2, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2005
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Andrew Garcia scored a career-high 14 points, all in the second half, to lead a frenetic Tulane comeback, but it was not enough for the Green Wave as it fell to Valparaiso, 79-72, in the first round of the Hawkeye Challenge at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Tulane (1-3) will meet the loser of tonight's Iowa-Fairfield game at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday.
The Green Wave trailed by 22 at 50-28 with 11:16 to go, but Garcia and Donnie Stith keyed a 27-12 run which made it 62-55 with 5:11 remaining. Garcia scored eight points in the stretch while Stith had 10 of his 12 points during the rally. Freshman Ryan Williams capped the run with his first career three-pointer. Tulane had four steals in the backcourt during the run, three by Garcia and one by Williams.
While the Wave continued its tenacious effort, Valparaiso (3-0) settled down and protected the basketball. Despite hitting just two field goals in the final 8:30, the Crusaders connected on 20-of-26 free throws in that time to hold off the Greenies.
"I have to make our guys believe that we are good and that we can win," Tulane coach Dave Dickerson said. "We have to teach that, but at the same time, we need to find the guys that will play with toughness like we saw [in the comeback tonight]."
"We played with intensity on defense and we made plays when we needed it," Stith said. "We need to play with that intensity for 40 minutes and we'll be fine."
Garcia, a six-foot walk-on who debuted collegiately this season, added eight rebounds, three steals and three assists to his career-best 14 points.
"Drew is one of those guys that is for the team," Dickerson said. "He uses his smarts and his toughness to make things happen. His second half tonight let me know that I have to play him more."
Another bright spot for Tulane was the performance of senior Quincy Davis who tallied season-bests of 20 points and 12 rebounds. His dominance in the paint, which included six dunks, forced Valpo into a tight zone which opened up the court for the Wave comeback.
"We have been missing him," Dickerson said. "We need him to play at this level. Twenty points and 12 rebounds is his potential. We need that from him."
Tulane opened the game strong, building an early 13-6 lead. A Davis dunk made it 19-16 with 8:18 on the clock, but the Wave scored just nine points over the next 18-plus minutes as Valpo took charge.
"I am proud of the team that got us back in the game," Dickerson said. "But I am more disappointed in the team that got us down. When we had the lead, we got a little selfish; we stopped playing within in the program. We are not good enough to win individually."
For the game, Tulane hit 26-of-60 (43.3 percent) shots while Valpo was at 40.4 percent (21-of-52). The Wave had 18 points from the charity stripe while the Crusaders finished with 31 points on foul shots. Despite turning the ball over 22 times, the Wave forced 17 to offset its own miscues. Tulane also held a 42-37 edge on the glass.
Following Saturday's game, the Green Wave will host TCU on Wednesday evening at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. Game time is 7 p.m.
