Tulane University
Florida State
Men's Basketball Hosts No. 17/15 Florida State in Season Opener
Nov 10, 2018 | Men's Basketball
| GAME 1: TULANE Green Wave vs. #17/15 FLORIDA STATE Seminoles | |
| When: | Sunday, November 11, 2018 | 6 p.m. (CST) |
| Where: | New Orleans, La. | Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse |
| Watch: | WatchESPN app |
| Radio: | Sports 1280 AM New Orleans | Listen Online |
| Stats: | Live Scoring |
| Game Notes: | Tulane | Florida State |
| Twitter Updates: | @GreenWaveMBB |
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane men's basketball team opens its 2018-19 regular season at home on Sunday, November 11 at 6 p.m., against No. 17/15 Florida State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CST), and the game will be broadcast on the WatchESPN app.
WELCOME BACK HONEYCUTT!
Tulane will recognize alum Jerald Honeycutt (1993-97) with an on-court presentation at halftime and the first 500 fans will receive a t-shirt in honor of his return to New Orleans. He is a Louisiana Basketball Hall of Famer (2006) and Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame inductee (2013), who is the Green Wave's all-time scoring leader and still ranks No. 1 in program history in assists.
STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane ended the 2017-18 season with a 14-17 record overall, after being eliminated in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship as the No. 10 seed.
2. This season, the league's coaches have picked Tulane to finish 10th in the preseason poll released in October.
3. The Green Wave return three of their top five scorers last season, including junior Samir Sehic with 10.5 points per game, Ray Ona Embo (10.1) and Jordan Cornish (9.9). In all, the Wave return eight letterwinners and welcomes four newcomers.
4. Tulane hosted then-10th-ranked Cincinnati in its final home game of the 2017-18 season and opens the following year against another AP top 25 opponent with Florida State in town. The last time the Green Wave challenged nationally-ranked opponents in consecutive games was the final game of the 2008-09 season at No. 4 Memphis, followed by a home tilt against No. 21 Georgetown in the season opener the following year, but has not hosted consecutive top-25 teams since January of 1982 against No. 9 Louisville (L, 63-55) and No. 17 Virginia Tech (W, 64-45).
5. The Green Wave's last victory over a nationally-ranked opponent came in a 73-62 upset of No. 25 NC State on December 22, 1999.
SERIES HISTORY –FLORIDA STATE
• The Green Wave and Seminoles meet for the 37th time in history Sunday evening and in consecutive years for the first time since 1994-95.
• Florida State comes to New Orleans to play Tulane for the first time since Dec. 5, 1995, when the Wave shocked the Seminoles in the Superdome on Jerald Honeycutt's acrobatic jumper from the baseline on the final play of the game for a 78-77 victory.
• That shot earned Honeycutt an ESPY in 1997 for the College Basketball Play of the Year.
• Tulane has won each of the last two home meetings against FSU, with the other coming in a 77-61 victory on Jan. 3, 1991.
SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES
• The Seminoles are coming off a 23-12 season in 2017-18, as they reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
• Florida State returns 12 letterwinners and three starters, which includes seven of its top nine scorers from a year ago.
• In his 17th year at FSU, Leonard Hamilton and Tulane head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. are two of just eight active NCAA Division I head coaches who held the same title in the NBA. Dunleavy coached four teams over 17 seasons, while Hamilton led the Washington Wizards (2000-01).
• The Seminoles will be a tad short-handed for Sunday's contest, as redshirt senior forward Phil Cofer is expected to be sidelined for at least the first month of the season due to a foot injury. He averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds and was named to the NCAA's All-West Regional Team following FSU's March Madness run.
NBA SEMINOLES THAT PLAYED UNDER DUNLEAVY
• Florida State has sent a number of players into the NBA ranks and four of them had the opportunity to be coached by Tulane head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr.
• Irving Thomas (1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers), Sam Cassell (2005-08 Los Angeles Clippers), Al Thornton (2007-10 Clippers) and Von Wafer (2007 Clippers) all played under Dunleavy at the next level.
THE LEGEND OF WEARING 'ZERO'
• Redshirt senior Jordan Cornish has a specific reason for wearing number '0' which dates back to his initial commitment to Tennessee out of high school.
• Following the Volunteers' head coaching change, several members of Tennessee's 2014 signing class agreed to wear No. 0 at their next schools with the meaning of "Zero Worries, Zero Doubts." Cornish was supposed to get No. 0 at UNLV but another player already had the number. Cornish finally got his wish to don the zero upon his arrival at Tulane.
• Florida State's Phil Cofer wears the number, while Larry Austin wore No. 0 at Xavier (before transferring to Vanderbilt) and CJ Turman wore No. 0 when he played at Florida Atlantic.
STRENGTH WITHIN THE SCHEDULE
• Tulane will play a minimum of 11 regular-season games against nine teams that earned postseason bids in 2018, including seven opponents that played in the NCAA Tournament (Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia State, Houston, South Dakota State, Texas Southern and Wichita State). Temple and Southeastern Louisiana made NIT appearances.
• The Green Wave will host 15 home games and will head out to compete in five neutral-site contests. The Wave will play just one true road tilt in the non-conference slate at South Alabama on Dec. 8.
NEW WAVE
Tulane will deploy five players with freshman eligibility in 2018-19, including a trio of first-year players (Connor Crabtree, Moses Wood and Kevin Zhang), as well as a pair who saw limited time early last season but preserved eligibility (Shakwon Barrett and Buay Koka).
WHAT WAS LOST
• The Green Wave have plenty of production returning from one year ago, but will also have to replace a considerable amount vacated by two starters and six total letterwiners from last season that do not return.
• Melvin Frazier Jr. (15.9 PPG) and Cameron Reynolds (15.1 PPG) comprised the American Athletic Conference's No. 5 scoring duo last season.
• Frazier was an all-conference second team choice in 2017-18, while he and Reynolds won back-to-back Most Improved Player of the Year honors from The American the last two years.
#NBAWAVE
• Melvin Frazier Jr. and Cameron Reynolds have begun their professional careers in 2018-19, as Frazier is currently on the Orlando Magic's active roster and Reynolds begins the season with the Sacramento Kings' G-League affiliate in Stockton.
• Frazier became the 20th player in Tulane history to be chosen in the NBA Draft and the first in 21 years when he was chosen in the second round, 35th overall, by the Magic in June.
• Reynolds received a guaranteed contract from the Kings, including a spot on the club's Summer League team, a training camp invitation and a guaranteed a roster spot with Stockton for the 2018-19 campaign.
DUNLEAVYS LONE FATHER-SON HEAD-COACHING DUO
• In his third season as head coach, Mike Dunleavy Sr., is the only head coach with a son who is also a head coach at the NCAA Division I level.
• His son, Baker Dunleavy, is in his second season at the helm of Quinnipiac's program, a job he took over in April 2017.
ZHANG'S ARRIVAL MARKS RARE FOREIGN IMPORT
NCAA Division I men's basketball players hailing from China are rare, as freshman swingman Kevin Zhang is one of just three players nationally who can stake that claim along with Cal-Berkley freshman James Zhao and UPenn frosh Michael Wang.
CLEANING UP IN THE CLASSROOM
• Tulane was named the recipient of the American Athletic Conference's Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2017-18 season, an honor given annually to one of the conference's 12 institutions sponsoring men's basketball that achieves the highest cumulative grade point average.
• Over the last three academic semesters, the Green Wave have registered some of the highest combined GPA marks ever recorded, falling just shy of the 3.0 threshold.
OLDEST ARENAS
Tulane's home arena, Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, is one of the oldest active arenas in college basketball:
1. Matthews Arena – Northeastern – April 16, 1910
2. Rose Hill Gym – Fordham – Jan. 16, 1925
3. Lavietes Pavilion – Harvard - 1926
4. The Palestra – Penn – Jan. 1, 1927
5. Edmundson Pavilion – Washington – Dec. 27, 1927
6. Williams Arena – Minnesota – Feb. 4, 1928
7. Hinkle Fieldhouse – Butler – March 7, 1928
8. Payne Whitney Gym – Yale – Dec. 10, 1932
9. Fogelman in Devlin – Tulane – Dec. 15, 1933
10. Haas Pavilion – California – Jan. 13, 1933
FINAL FOUR HEADED BACK TO NOLA
• In announcement made on Nov. 10, 2016, the NCAA and the Division I Men's Basketball Committee announced the 2022 Men's Final Four will be played in New Orleans with Tulane serving as the host institution.
• New Orleans will host the Final Four for the sixth time overall and the first time in 10 years. New Orleans traditionally has been one of the most popular Final Four cities and has provided several iconic championship moments that will be celebrated as anniversaries in 2022.
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For behind-the-scenes coverage, follow Tulane men's basketball (@GreenWaveMBB) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.
