Tulane University
14-14 (5-11AAC)
USF
8-21 (1-15AAC)
Men’s Basketball Blitzes USF, 79-68
Feb 24, 2018 | Men's Basketball
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tulane men's basketball team placed four scorers in double-figures and snapped a six-game slide with a 79-68 American Athletic Conference road win at USF on Saturday afternoon at the Sun Dome.
Samir Sehic tied for a game-high with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks off the bench, while Melvin Frazier scored 16 points to complement six rebounds and five assists. Caleb Daniels added 13 points and four assists in reserve, while Jordan Cornish compiled 11 points, seven boards and five helpers.
Tulane (14-14, 5-11 AAC) combined for 20 assists with just six turnovers and outscored USF (8-21, 1-15 AAC), 38-22 in the paint, 17-8 off turnovers, 12-9 on second chances and 30-21 off the bench.
David Collins led four Bulls in double digits with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, as Stephon Jiggetts chipped in 14 points.
After trailing 5-2 early, Tulane got out on a 7-0 scoring run over a span of 100 seconds while making four of its first five shots from the floor down to the 15:40 mark, highlighted by a Frazier baseline drive and one-handed jam where he was fouled and completed a three-point play. The Green Wave continued their efficiency at the offensive end of the floor, making eight of their first 12 attempts to open up their first double-digit advantage of the day, 21-11, when the Bulls called a timeout with 10:20 remaining.
USF got its deficit down into single digits multiple times, but the Wave had an answer each time, as Sehic's third straight layup fell through the nylon with 7:41 left to push the lead to a dozen, 28-16. Tulane was able to stretch the margin to as many as 13 points on three occasions, the last on a Cornish jumper off the glass with 21 ticks left, before heading into halftime with a 41-28 lead.
The Green Wave shot 17-for-30 (.567) on the floor, 2-for-8 (.250) from 3-point range and made all five free throw attempts in the first half, while assisting on 10 of their 17 field goals and forcing eight turnovers. The Bulls shot 9-for-23 (.391) overall, 2-for-7 (.286) beyond the arc and 8-for-14 (.571) at the foul line.
Cornish used his late first-half momentum and scored the Wave's first five points of the second half before Bul Ajang knocked down a deep, straightaway mid-range jumper to make it 48-31, forcing USF to call a timeout with 17:38 remaining.
A 6-0 run over a span of 1:21, capped by a pair of free throws and a baseline jumper by Daniels, gave Tulane its first 20-point advantage of the day, 54-33. After the Green Wave pulled ahead by 24 - the largest margin in the game - on a trey by Sehic to make it 59-35 with 13:10 remaining, but the Bulls responded with eight straight points to cut their deficit to 16 on a triple by Jiggetts at the 11:39 mark.
USF went on another run, making seven of eight shots as part of a 7-0 run to pull within 15, 69-54, with 6:09 to go, while the Wave endured a slump by hitting just one of eight attempts from the field until a two-handed layup by Frazier with under five minutes remaining to make it 71-56.
The Bulls moved within nine of the Green Wave, 75-66, on a 3-pointer by Collins with 49 seconds left, but Tulane was able to close out the 11-point win with a pair of late, fast break points in the paint.
Tulane returns home to host 11th-ranked Cincinnati for Senior Night on Thursday, March 1 at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. Cameron Reynolds will be honored during a pregame ceremony and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN with tipoff set for 8 p.m. (CT).
