Tulane University
Tulsa
Men's Basketball Hosts Tulsa in New Years Eve Matinee
Dec 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball
| GAME 14: TULANE GREEN WAVE (10-3, 1-0 AAC) vs. TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (8-5, 1-0 AAC) |
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| Â When: | Â Sunday, December 31 | 1 p.m. (CT) |
| Â Where: | Â New Orleans | Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse |
| Â Watch: | Â WatchESPN app |
| Â Commentators: | Â Todd Graffagnini |
| Â Radio: | Â 1280 AM New Orleans | Listen Online |
|  Radio Talent: |  Todd Graffagnini  (Play-By-Play) |
| Â Live Scoring: | Â Sidearm |
|  Notes: |  Tulane | Tulsa | American |
| Â Tickets: | Â Purchase Online |
| Â Social Media:Â | Â @GreenWaveMBB | #RollWave |
NEW ORLEANS - Following an 85-75 road win at Temple to open American Athletic Conference play on Thursday, the Tulane men's basketball team hosts Tulsa for its first home game in league play this season and closes out the 2017 portion of the schedule on Sunday, December 31 at Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. (CT), as the game will be broadcast on the WatchESPN app. Tim Grubbs will handle play-by-play responsibilities, while Victor Howell provides color commentary.
HISTORY LESSON
• Sunday's meeting between the Green Wave and Golden Hurricane will mark the 25th all-time with Tulsa leading the series, 18-6.
• Last season, Tulsa won two of three contests against Tulane, including a 66-60 victory in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship in Hartford, Conn. The last time they faced off in New Orleans, the Green Wave defeated the Golden Hurricane, 81-69, on Senior Day in the regular season finale:
LAST TIME OUT
• Melvin Frazier led all players with 25 points and matched a career-high with seven assists, as Tulane defeated Temple, 85-75, Thursday evening in Philadelphia.
• Tulane shot a perfect 15-for-15 at the free throw line and an impressive 15-for-24 (.625) overall in the second half, while tallying a season-high 22 assists to just 10 turnovers in the game. The Green Wave shot over 54 percent overall and 19-for-20 (.950) at the free throw line, while outscoring Temple 21-12 off turnovers.
• Frazier shot 9-for-13 from the field, made all six free throws and recorded three steals, while Cameron Reynolds registered his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ray Ona Embo tallied 11 points, five boards, five assists and three steals, as Blake Paul chipped in 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
• The victory was the Green Wave's first in a conference opener since 2014-15 and the first against Temple (7-5, 0-1 AAC) since a 67-59 triumph at home on Jan. 20, 1996.
• Quinton Rose and Shizz Alston, Jr., led the Owls with 17 points apiece, as Josh Brown chipped in 14 points and Nate Pierre-Louis contributed 11 points off the bench.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE
• Picked to finish eighth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, Tulsa is led by redshirt senior and preseason all-conference second team selection Junior Etou.Â
• The Golden Hurricane is coming off a 79-53 win at home over ECU in their league opener on Thursday night.
FRAZIER, REYNOLDS AMONG THE AMERICAN'S TOP SCORING TANDEMS
• Melvin Frazier (16.8 PPG) and Cameron Reynolds (16.5 PPG) rank as the No. 1 scoring duo in the American Athletic Conference this season:
Players                                                         School     PPG
1. Melvin Frazier & Cameron Reynolds     Tulane     34.0
2. Jalen Adams & Terry Larrier                      UConn     33.7
3. Rob Gray & Devin Davis              Houston   31.7
4. Jeremiah Martin & Kyvon Davenport         Memphis   31.6
  Quinton Rose & Shizz Alston           Temple     31.6
6. Shake Milton & Jarrey Foster                     SMU         30.8
MAN OF STEALS
• Melvin Frazier leads the American Athletic Conference in steals (32) and steals per game (2.5), and has at least three heists in six contests this season.
• As a sophomore, Frazier finished the 2016-17 regular season No. 1 in the American Athletic Conference in steals per game (1.9), while his 55 takeaways ranked second overall.
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 five occasions this season and is unbeaten in those contests.
Date       Opponent                 Result        Assists     FGM
Nov. 10    LIU Brooklyn            W, 102-96      20         36
Nov. 17    vs. Colorado State   W, 80-53        21         27
Nov. 29    Alcorn State            W, 81-65         20         25
Dec. 6   Southern                 W, 95-76         20         34
Dec. 28    at Temple                W, 85-75        22         31
