Tulane University
USF
Tulane Men's Basketball Dispatches USF, 67-63
Mar 7, 2015 | Men's Basketball
TAMPA - Senior Jay Hook led three Tulane players into double figures with a team-high 16 points and the Green Wave outlasted USF 67-63 in front of 3,163 fans in the regular season finale today for both teams at the USF Sun Dome.
Tulane (15-15, 6-12 American) led by 11 points, 32-21, at halftime, but USF (9-22, 3-15 American) used a 10-0 run to start the second half and eventually tied the game at 38-all. The Bulls and the Green Wave exchanged the lead five times and were tied twice over the next few minutes before sophomores Jonathan Stark and Payton Henson each came up with big plays in the late minutes.
Stark, the team's second-leading scorer with 10.7 points per game, scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including a stretch where he tallied seven points in the final minutes to all but put the game away.
With the game tied at 49-49, Stark hit a jumper and Henson nailed a three-pointer to give the Wave a 54-49 cushion. From there, Stark nailed a trey of his own and hit a lay-up to keep the home team from mounting a comeback. Henson then drained two free throws and Stark connected on four consecutive free throws down the stretch to preserve the Green Wave's six road win of the year, including its fifth in league play.
"Today's win was big for us and we were able to play good basketball and establish ourselves as we head into the conference tournament," Tulane head coach Ed Conroy said. "This win was very good for our confidence, especially for some of the guys who came off the bench and played well. Payton, Dylan (Osetkowski), Kajon (Mack), Keith (Pinckney) and Josh (Hearlihy) really gave us quality minutes today and we need that kind of depth this time of year. I thought our guards broke out of their respective shooting slumps, but most importantly today gave us a lot of confidence as a team and this is how we need to play when we head to Connecticut next week."
"We had a lot of great efforts today and I thought Jonathan Stark was magnificent down the stretch and we are at our best when he is fearless. He really commanded his ship down in the last few minutes of the game," Conroy added.
Henson finished with 13 points, while Hook led the team with seven rebounds and Tulane finished with just six turnovers for the game.
For the Bulls, Troy Holston, Jr., led all scorers with 21 points, while Nehemias Morillo added 16 points.
Tulane will now turn its attention to the upcoming American Championships, March 12-15, at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. For tickets to the American Championships, please click here. Tulane will learn of its seeding for the upcoming American Championship when the American regular season concludes on Sunday.
For more ticket information please contact Athletic Ticket Sales & Service at (504) 861-WAVE or online at TulaneGreenWave.com.
GAME NOTES
-Senior Jay Hook's three three-pointers today gives him 67 this season, leaving him one shy of fifth place.
-Hook finished with 16 points for his 19th double figure scoring game of the year and 42nd of his career, while sophomore Jonathan Stark's 15 points was his 17th double figure game of the season and 44th of his career.
-Stark dished out six assists to give him 130 in the year, which is the ninth best effort in a single season.
-Tulane concluded the regular season with a 6-5 overall road record and 5-4 road mark in conference play.
