Men's Basketball Begins New Era With Familiar Foe
Dec 30, 2014 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - History will be made on Wednesday afternoon as the Tulane men's basketball team begins a new era when they open their inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference against fellow conference newcomer East Carolina at 11 a.m. CT in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
"Entering the new conference is an exciting challenge for us," Tulane head coach Ed Conroy said. "We are really counting on our two seniors - Jay (Hook) and Tre (Drye) - and our junior Lou (Dabney) to lead us into this new era of Tulane basketball. There is no question that this is one of the best basketball leagues in the country and we are excited to be a part of it."
The game will be broadcast live on ESPNews (Ch. 320 on Cox in New Orleans/Ch. 142 on DISH/Ch. 207 on DIRECTV/Ch. 300 on Charter on the north shore), can be seen on WatchESPN (http://es.pn/13lUNYQ) and can also be heard live on the Tulane IMG Sports Network (106.1 FM locally in the New Orleans area).
The Green Wave (9-3) enter conference play having dropped back-to-back road games to nationally ranked opponents with losses at No. 13 Washington against No. 17 St. John's in Brooklyn. East Carolina (7-6) has won three of the last four outings, including back-to-back home wins over Florida A&M and UNC Greensboro.
"It is never easy when you go on the road," Conroy said. "This group is ready for the challenge and I expected this team to come out and have an excellent performance on Wednesday against East Carolina."
Tulane is led b y a trio of guards, each averaging in double figures in the scoring column. Dabney (12.5 ppg), Hook (11.7 ppg) and sophomore Jonathan Stark (11.6 ppg) are tops on the team in scoring, while Hook also averages a team-best 4.8 rebounds per outing.
ECU is also led by a trio of players in double figures. B.J. Tyson and Caleb White each are posting 13.7 points per game, while Terry Whisnant is adding 13.2 points per contest.
This is the 18th meeting between the two former members of Conference USA. Tulane owns a 10-7 series lead and snapped a five-game losing streak to the Pirates with a, 59-54, win in Greenville on Jan. 23, 2014. ECU owns a 5-4 lead in games played in Greenville.
Tulane will begin the New Year and close out the four-game road swing on Saturday when they visit Memphis in an American Athletic Conference game that will tip at 5 p.m. CT from the FedEx Forum. The Green Wave's next game in Devlin Fieldhouse will be the conference home-opener against Temple on Jan. 7.
Season ticket prices for Tulane's inaugural season in The American are $300 for premium chairback seating, $200 for bleacher seating, and $400 for the family zone (2 adult/2 youth for both men's and women's basketball seasons). In addition, men's basketball season ticket holders will have the exclusive opportunity to purchase half-priced women's season tickets.
For additional information, call the Tulane Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE (9283), reserve your seats on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com, or visit the Tulane Team Shop in person on the ground floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center Monday thru Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
TULANE (9-3)
G 2 Jonathan Stark 6-0 170 So. 11.6 ppg 1.9 rpg 3.6 apg Munford, Tenn.
G 0 Louis Dabney 6-3 210 Jr. 12.5 ppg 3.6 rpg 1.4 spg New Orleans, La.
G 24 Jay Hook 6-4 180 Sr. 11.7 ppg 4.8 rpg 1.5 spg Waco, Texas
F 34 Tre Drye 6-6 225 Sr. 5.1 ppg 4.7 rpg .613 FG% Baton Rouge, La.
F 15 Ryan Smith 6-11 250 So. 2.9 ppg 2.8 rpg .500 FG% Wildomar, Calif.
EAST CAROLINA (7-6)
G 0 Terry Whisnant 6-3 190 Jr. 13.2 ppg 2.4 rpg Charlotte, N.C.
G 11 Antonio Robinson 6-4 180 Sr. 3.4 ppg 2.7 rpg Winston-Salem, N.C.
F 2 Caleb White 6-7 205 So. 13.7 ppg 3.6 rpg Buckingham, Va.
F 13 Michel Nzege 6-8 225 So. 7.2 ppg 5.6 rpg Geneva, Switzerland
F 34 Michael Zangari 6-9 235 Jr. 4.6 ppg 5.6 rpg Etters, Pa.
