Green Wave Travel to Face No. 1 Syracuse
Dec 21, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2011
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After a 10 day lay-off since the last game, the Tulane men's basketball team jumps back into action in a big way Thursday when they travel to face No. 1 Syracuse at 6 p.m. CT in the Carrier Dome.
The game can be seen live in the New Orleans area on Cox Sports Television (Ch. 37) courtesy of Time Warner Cable Sports. The game will also be live on the Tulane IMG Sports Network (AM 690/104.9 FM locally in New Orleans) and a www.tulanegreenwave.com/allaccess.
The Green Wave (11-1) has been off since a 59-51 victory over Jacksonville State on Dec. 11 in the final game of the Skip Prosser Tournament. The Orange (12-0) defeated Bucknell, 81-60, Tuesday night and Thursday's game will be their third in six days after also having defeated N.C. State Saturday.
"The lay-off has been great for us," Tulane head coach Ed Conroy said. "We were able to focus on exams and the things we are here for and then we got a chance to get some practices under our belt with the focus on playing the No. 1 team in the country."
Tulane is off to the program's best start since the 1991-92 season and is led by Kendall Timmons with 13.3 points per game, followed by Josh Davis with 12.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest. Freshman guard Ricky Tarrant is adding 12.3 points and a team-high 3.2 assists per outing.
As a team the Green Wave shot 44.2 percent from the floor, including 36.6 percent from 3-point range. Tulane is posting 70.9 points a game and is fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 53.0 points a game.
Syracuse is led by senior forward Kris Joseph with 14.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while junior guard Brandon Triche added 12.8 points per contest.
The Orange, as a team, posts 80.9 points per game and allows just 58.6 on the defensive end. They also lead the nation with 11.5 steals per outing.
"They are as good a Syracuse team I've seen," Conroy added. "They are extremely deep. Their defense is tremendous and feeds the offense and gets them out in transition where their great players have space to play."
This will be the second meeting between the two programs. Syracuse won the previous meeting, 73-60, on Dec. 1, 2007 in the Carrier Dome.
The Green Wave is 0-2 against the nation's top ranked team, having lost to No. 1 Memphis, 97-71, in Fogelman Arena on Feb. 20, 2008 and falling to No. 1 Cincinnati, 72-59, on Jan. 12, 2000, also in Fogelman. Tulane will also be looking for the program's first victory over a top 5 team and the first over a top 10 team since a 49-47 win over No. 9 Memphis on Feb. 12, 1983.
Tulane will have an eight-day break following Thursday's game before traveling to Edinberg, Texas, to face UT-Pan American on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. CT.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Tulane (11-1)
G 2 Ricky Tarrant 6-1 180 Fr. 12.3 ppg 3.8 rpg 3.2 apg
G 5 Jordan Callahan 6-0 190 Jr. 10.7 ppg 2.6 rpg 2.3 apg
G 22 Kendall Timmons 6-5 210 Jr. 13.3 ppg 4.4 rpg 2.4 apg
F 00 Josh Davis 6-8 215 So. 12.1 ppg 10.2 rpg 2.5 apg
F 41 Tomás Brůha 7-0 230 Jr. 7.2 ppg 5.1 rpg 57.1 Fg%
#1/1 Syracuse (12-0)
G 11 Scoop Jardine 6-2 195 Sr. 8.3 ppg 2.1 apg
G 20 Brandon Triche 6-4 205 Jr. 11.4 ppg 2.2 rpg
F 25 Rakeem Christmas 6-9 228 Fr. 3.6 ppg 3.2 rpg
F 32 Kris Joseph 6-7 215 Sr. 14.2 ppg 5.9 rpg
C 51 Fab Melo 7-0 225 So. 6.6 ppg 5.0 rpg
