Tulane University
Temple
Men's Basketball Opens Conference Play at Temple on ESPN2 Thursday Night
Dec 26, 2017 | Men's Basketball
| GAME 13: TULANE GREEN WAVE (9-3, 0-0 AAC) at TEMPLE OWLS (7-4, 0-0 AAC) |
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| Â When: | Â Dec. 28, 2017 | 6 p.m. (CT) |
| Â Where: | Â Philadelphia | Liacouras Center |
| Â Watch: | Â ESPN2Â / WatchESPN app |
|  Commentators: |  Dave Leno (Play-by-Play) and John Thompson III (Color) |
|  Radio: |  1280 AM New Orleans | Listen Online | TuneIn app |
| Â Radio Talent: | Â Todd Graffagnini (Play-By-Play) |
| Â Live Stats: | Â Sidearm |
|  Notes: |  Tulane | Temple | American Athletic Conference |
| Â Social Media: | Â Twitter: @GreenWaveMBB | #RollWave |
NEW ORLEANS - After closing the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 9-3 record, the Tulane men's basketball team returns from a seven-day holiday break to open American Athletic Conference play in Philadelphia against Temple on Thursday, December 28 at the Liacouras Center.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT), as the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and available on the WatchESPN app. Dave Leno will handle play-by-play responsibilities, while John Thompson III provides color commentary.
HISTORY LESSON
• In its fourth season in The American, Tulane begins league play on the road for the third time.
• Thursday's meeting between the Green Wave and Owls will be the 10th all-time with Temple leading the series, 7-2, as winners of six straight.
• Last season, the Owls won both regular season matchups, including an 86-76 double overtime thriller at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 25, following a 79-71 win in New Orleans on Jan. 31.
LAST TIME OUT
• Melvin Frazier led five Green Wave scorers in double-figures with 18 points as Tulane defeated South Alabama, 77-73, in its non-conference finale Dec. 21 in New Orleans.
• Frazier also grabbed six rebounds and issued six assists. Cameron Reynolds fell just shy of a double-double with 14 points, nine boards and three helpers, while Caleb Daniels chipped in a season-high 12 points, two blocks, a pair of steals and two treys. Blake Paul added 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds to go with three blocks, as Ray Ona Embo scored 11 points.
• Rodrick Sikes led South Alabama (6-6) with 34 points on 10 field goals and six 3-pointers, while Josh Ajayi contributed 17 points.
• Despite leading by 11 at halftime, Tulane trailed by three with 2:25 remaining, but closed the game with an 11-4 scoring run to record its eighth straight home win.
• The Green Wave finished the game shooting 25-for-58 (.431) from the field, 8-for-22 (.364) from 3-point land and 19-for-24 (.792) at the free throw line, while outscoring the Jaguars, 18-10, off the bench and owning a 44-35 advantage on the glass.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
• Picked to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, Temple returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team that finished 16-16 overall and 7-11 in league play.
• The Owls are led by 2017 American Conference All-Rookie Team selection Quinton Rose, who ranks first on the squad in points (16.6 per game), steals (2.1), and 3-point field goal percentage (.444), while ranking second in rebounding (6.0) and assists (3.1).
• Temple dropped two of its final three non-conference games, including its las, 84-66, at Georgia on Dec. 22, but has posted four wins over Power 5 Conference foes thus far, including Auburn, Clemson, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
FRAZIER, REYNOLDS AMONG THE AMERICAN'S TOP SCORING TANDEMS
• Melvin Frazier (16.8 PPG) and Cameron Reynolds (16.5 PPG) rank as the No. 2 scoring duo in the American Athletic Conference this season:
Players                                                 School     PPG
Jalen Adams & Terry Larrier                  UConn     33.7
Melvin Frazier & Cameron Reynolds Tulane     33.3
Rob Gray & Devin Davis                       Houston   32.7
Jeremiah Martin & Kyvon Davenport     Memphis   31.7
Quinton Rose & Shizz Alston                 Temple     31.3
Shake Milton & Jarrey Foster                 SMU         31.0
ONA EMBO EMERGES
• Known for his defensive prowess as a freshman in 2016-17, sophomore point guard Ray Ona Embo has broken through on the offensive side of the ball in 2017-18.
• Ona Embo played in all 31 games and made 25 starts last season, averaging 6.4 points on 37 percent shooting overall, while making 25 percent (13 of 52) of his 3-pointers. In just 12 games as a sophomore, he's averaging 9.8 points per contest, while making 47 percent of his shots and 45 percent (22 of 49) of his attempts from beyond the arc.
REYNOLDS SURPASSES 1,000 POINTS
• Redshirt senior Cameron Reynolds scored his 1,000th career point in the 81-65 win over Alcorn State on Nov. 29 to become the 36th player in program history to reach the milestone.
• While his seventh point of the night gave him 1,000, Reynolds poured in a season-high 28 points in the effort and moved from No. 37 to No. 34 on the school's all-time scoring list in that game alone.
TWENTY DIMES MULTIPLE TIMES
• Tulane has combined for at least 20 assists on four occasions this season and is unbeaten in those contests.
• The Green Wave served up 21 helpers in the 102-96 season-opening win over LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 10, 21 in the 80-53 victory over Colorado State on Nov. 17 and 20 more in the 81-65 win against Alcorn State on Nov. 29. They did it once again on Dec. 6 with 20 in the 95-76 home triumph against Southern.
