Tulane University
10-19, 3-13AAC
SMU
24-4, 12-4AAC
Tulane stumbles at No. 24 SMU, 74-53
Feb 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball
DALLAS, Texas – The Tulane men's basketball team was unable to carry its productive first-half play into the second as it fell to the No. 24 SMU Mustangs, 74-53, Sunday afternoon at Moody Coliseum. Redshirt junior Malik Morgan led the Green Wave with 15 points in the game, while SMU was paced by Ben Moore's 16 points and 12 boards.
After a strong first half that saw Tulane (10-19, 3-13 American) take a one-point lead into the break, things became much more lopsided in the second half. The Green Wave played a clean first half that saw them shooting 40.7-percent from field and committing just six turnovers, while SMU (24-4, 12-4 American) shot 37.9-percent from the field and tallied 12 turnovers.
After being tied at four at the first media timeout of the game, Tulane used a 6-2 scoring stint to go up 10-6 with 12:06 on the clock. An 11-3 run by the Mustangs quickly put the lead back in their hands. Morgan halted the run as he buried a shot from beyond the arc. Freshman Von Julien laid one in and redshirt sophomore Cameron Reynolds nailed a three after an empty SMU possession, giving the Green Wave the lead back with six minutes remaining. The two teams traded leads as halftime came closer and a pair of free throws from senior Louis Dabney gave Tulane the 29-28 advantage at the break.
It was a much different game in the second half as Tulane was called for six fouls before the first media timeout of the new period, which led to a 13-4 start for the Mustangs. A pair of free throws from freshman Kain Harris followed by five straight points from Morgan got the Green Wave back within three at 45-42 with 12:39 left to play, but SMU put together a 13-0 run just inside the midway point in the half and never let the difference get back to single digits.
SMU finished the second half shooting 64.0-percent from the field and 60.0-percent from three-point range, outscoring Tulane 46-24 in the period. The Mustangs dominated on the boards all game, finishing with a 42-20 rebounding advantage.
Tulane held SMU's leading scored Nic Moore scoreless in the first half, and he finished just 1-for-9 from the field in the game. Sterling Brown added 15 points on the day for SMU, while Shake Milton and Jordan Tolbert put up 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Dabney finished with 12 points for the Green Wave, who shot just 36.5-percent from the field in the game. Reynolds came off the bench to add nine points and five boards, while Julien neared a season best with six assists.
The Green Wave will remain on the road this week as they travel to Orlando to take on UCF on Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m.
