Men's Basketball Travels to Southern Miss for Mid-Week Clash

GAME 8: (-/RV) TULANE Green Wave (6-1) at SOUTHERN MISS Golden Eagles (2-6)
When:	Wednesday, December 4, 2019 \| 7 p.m. (CT)
Where:	New Orleans \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse
Watch:	C-USA All-Access
Commentators:	N/A
Radio:	1280 AM New Orleans
Radio Talent:	Andrew Allegretta (Play-By-Play)
Live Scoring:
Notes:	Tulane \| Southern Miss
Tickets:	Purchase Online
Social Media:	@GreenWaveMBB \| #RollWave

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane men's basketball team makes the short trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., for its first true road game of the season on Wednesday, December 4 against Southern Miss.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Reed Green Coliseum directly following the Green Wave's women's basketball game against the Golden Eagles which tips at 5 p.m.

STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane (6-1) renews an old rivalry and plays its first true road game of the season in the 80th all-time meeting with Southern Miss (2-6).
2. The Green Wave are riding their second three-game winning streak of the young season following Sunday's 82-65 home win over Southern University. K.J. Lawson scored a career-high 30 points and Teshaun Hightower matched his personal-best with 21 more. Lawson made 10 consecutive field goals at one point and connected on all three of his 3-point attempts, as Hightower shot 7 of 12 from the field and made three 3s. Christion Thompson fell just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds to complement a career-high five steals. R.J. McGee reached double-figures for the first time with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.
3. In Tulane's first seven games this season, 459 of the team's 542 points have been scored by newcomers, accounting for an impressive 84.7 percent of the squad's scoring offense. The Green Wave's top four leading scorers are all new to the roster this year.
4. Teshaun Hightower has three 20-point scoring performances in the Green Wave's first seven games this season, including two in the last three games. He scored 20 in the Nov. 22 win over Middle Tennessee and matched his career-high with 21 in Sunday's win over Southern.
5. Tulane currently ranks 16th nationally in steals per game (10.0) and turnover margin (+6.1). The Green Wave are also 44th in the country in fewest fouls committed per game (14.7).

SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS
• The Green Wave lead the all-time series against the Golden Eagles, 42-37
• The programs last met in Hattiesburg on Dec. 10, 2016, as Tulane held on for a 71-64 victory. Tulane led by as many as 21 points with 8:47 left in the game, as Cameron Reynolds tallied a double-double comprising 23 points and 11 rebounds.
• Southern Miss is led by first-year head coach Jay Ladner, who took over after five seasons leading Southeastern Louisiana's program. Tulane went 3-1 against Ladner's teams during his tenure.
• The Golden Eagles are currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak, following consecutive, double-digit losses to Gonzaga, Seton Hall and Alabama at the Battle for Atlantis in The Bahamas last week. They are 2-0 at home this season, with wins over William Carey and Delta State.
• Southern Miss' top scorer is Boban Jacdonmi at 12.4 points per game, while his 6.4 rebounds per game rank second behind Leonard Harper-Baker's 7.1 boards per contest. Gabe Watson is the Eagles' only other scorer averaging double digits at 11.5 per game.

BY THE NUMBERS
• 15 – In six victories this season, Tulane is winning by an average of 15 points per game. The Green Wave have won by double digits four times and by 21 or more points on two occasions.
• 67– In seven games this season, Tulane has shot 67 more free throws than its opponents (165-98) for a +9.6 margin per game. The Green Wave are also converting at a 73.9 percent clip, while opponents are making just 62.2 percent of their attempts.
• 181 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 181 consecutive games. The last time the Green Wave failed to do so came on Jan. 16, 2014 at home against Louisiana Tech when they went 0-for-14 from outside.

HUNTER WINS NO. 450
•    It took just five wins and six games for first-year head coach Ron Hunter to reach a new milestone, as he earned his 450th career win on November 24 against Utah at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
•    In his 26th season as a head coach, Hunter ranks 35th nationally among active NCAA Division I head coaches and third in the American Athletic Conference behind only Houston's Kelvin Sampson (619) and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall (508).

HISTORICAL WIN OVER PAC-12 FOE
•    In its 110th season sponsoring men's basketball, Tulane's November 24 game against Utah in Conway, S.C., was just its 20th against a Pac-12 Conference program.
•    The Green Wave's 65-61 victory over the Utes was their first over a Pac-12 team since defeating Stanford, 56-53, at home on Dec. 19, 1957.

SEASONED COACHING STAFF
• Head coach Ron Hunter has assembled a veteran coaching staff featuring two former NCAA Division I head coaches - Ray McCallum (Ball State - 1993-2000; Houston 2000-04; Detroit Mercy - 2008-16) and Kevin Johnson (Centenary - 1999-2005), as well as Claude Pardue.
• The Green Wave are one of just nine schools nationally to have three of its four coaches currently or previously holding head-coaching titles, along with Pittsburgh (4), Iowa (4), Creighton (3), Michigan State (3), Minnesota (3), Oklahoma State (3), South Carolina (3) and Washington (3).

TULANE INKS TWO EARLY SIGNEES
•    Head coach Ron Hunter received two NLI's in the NCAA's Early Signing Period from Jadan Coleman (Madison, Ala.) and Sion James (Atlanta, Ga.) as part of his first signing class.
•    A 6'4 wing player, Coleman plays at Bob Jones High School. On the AAU trail, he averaged 9.7 points per game for the Alabama Fusion on the 2019 Nike EYBL circuit. He made 34 3-pointers in 13 games and set the EYBL record with 10 3-pointers made in a 36-point outburst against Team United.
•    A 6'5 guard from Lanier High School, James earned Region 8 Class 6A Player of the Year honors and received 2019 North Atlanta boys' all-state first team honors and all-county recognition after averaging 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game as a junior. He led the Longhorns to the Class 6A title and was a 2019 Gwinnett County All-Metro Second Team pick while being selected to the 2019 North Georgia All-Star Basketball Classic.

2020 PAC-12 CHINA GAME
• In an announcement on November 8, the Tulane University and University of Washington men's basketball programs will meet in Shanghai for the sixth edition of the Pac-12 China Game, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2020.
• Tulane possesses one of just five Chinese-born players in NCAA Division I for the 2019-20 campaign in Shenyang native Kevin Zhang. He is also the son of 1992 Olympic silver medalist and former China Women's National Team coach Wang Fang.

NEWCOMER RUNDOWN
Following a roster overhaul, Tulane enters the 2019-20 campaign tied for the sixth most newcomers nationally:
1. TCU 13
T2. Nebraska 12
T2. ECU 12
T2. Utah 11
T5. Tulane 11
T5. Austin Peay 11
T5. Cleveland State 11
T5. Long Beach State 11
T5. Navy 11
T5. Southern Miss 11

SMALL NUMBERS RETURN
• Tulane returns just two scholarship players for the 2019-20 season in Kevin Zhang and Buay Koka. Zhang was the only Green Wave player to appear in the team's final 15 games of last season.
• This season, Tulane is one of just six NCAA Division I teams returning less than 21 percent of their scoring while also bringing back less than 16 points per game. Among those teams, the Green Wave return the fewest in both categories:

1. Tulane (10.8 PPG, 12.2%)
2. Virginia Tech (13.3 PPG, 18.1%)
3. Washington (13.9 PPG, 19.8%)
4. UCF (14.5 PPG, 20.0%)
5. Long Beach State (15.2 PPG, 20.2%)
6. South Dakota State (15.8 PPG, 16.9%)

SEASON TICKETS
Fans can get their hands on season tickets starting at just $75 – a $50 reduction from last year. That means fans can lock up a seat for every home contest for as little as $5 each. Visit TulaneTix.com or call the ticket office at 504-861-9283 to reserve your seats.

All sections are available for purchase so you can customize your viewing experience from your favorite seating location. Discounts are also available for Tulane faculty and staff.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For behind-the-scenes coverage, follow Tulane men's basketball (@GreenWaveMBB) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
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.

Men's Basketball Travels to Southern Miss for Mid-Week Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teshaun Hightower

Buay Koka

K.J. Lawson

R.J. McGee

Cameron Reynolds

Christion Thompson

Kevin Zhang

Footer

Tulane University Athletics

Men's Basketball Travels to Southern Miss for Mid-Week Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teshaun Hightower

Buay Koka

K.J. Lawson

R.J. McGee

Cameron Reynolds

Christion Thompson

Kevin Zhang

Related Videos

Footer