Tulane Men’s Basketball Opens the 2021-22 Regular Season Tuesday Night

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University men's basketball team will tipoff its 2021-22 regular season slate on Tuesday at 7 p.m., as it welcomes Southeastern Louisiana University inside the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

The Green Wave's matchup with the Lions will be aired live on ESPN+. Fans can watch the game live by CLICKING HERE. The Tulane men's basketball regular-season opener will be the second game of a doubleheader. The Tulane women's basketball team opens the day with a meeting with Southeastern, beginning at Noon.

A LOOK AT THE WAVE
Head coach Ron Hunter begins his third season in Uptown (28th season overall) where he will look to build on the team's 2020 Quarterfinal appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship.

This season, Hunter's staff welcomes back six letterwinners, six newcomers and three starters, including preseason All-American Athletic Conference honoree Jaylen Forbes. Forbes, who became Tulane's first all-conference selection since Melvin Frazier Jr. in 2018, averaged 16.4 points per game a year ago – a figure that ranked fourth in the American Athletic Conference last season.

As a team, team made a habit of taking care of the basketball, posting a 3.7 turnover margin – a figure that ranked 18th in the nation and tops in the AAC. Tulane also led the league free throw percentage, as it hit at a 74.6 percent clip.

THE SERIES
Tulane's matchup with Southeastern will mark the 15th all-time meeting between the two teams, with Tulane claiming the win in 11 of the previous 14 matchups. Tulane will be Southeastern's first opponent this year. The two teams last met on the court for the 2019 season opener. In that meeting, Tulane posted a 76-55 win.

THE OPPONENT - SOUTHEASTERN
Southeastern enters the game under the direction of third-year head coach David Kiefer. The Lions return their two top scorers from a year ago in the form of Keon Clergeot (15.9 ppg) and forward Gus Okafor (12.7 ppg). SLU also has added several transfers which Kiefer hopes will provide the Lions with an immediate impact. Florida Southern transfer Jalyn Hinton and North Florida transfer Ryan Burkhardt are expected to be in the starting lineup for Tuesday night's opener.

SEASON OPENERS
The Green Wave will be in search of their third straight season-opening win. Tulane has split its last 10 season openers. Two of those setbacks came against nationally-ranked team (No. 6 North Carolina – 2016 and No. 17/15 Florida State – 2018).

THE PRESEASON
In two exhibition contests, Tulane posted back-to-back preseason wins against ULM (92-61) and Louisiana College (64-56).

Tulane's defense proved ready for the season in its win against Louisiana College, landing 18 points out of 19 forced turnovers. Sion James and Forbes both finished in double-digit scoring, as they poured in 16 and 11 points, respectively.

In the Green Wave's first exhibition matchup against ULM, Forbes showcased his All-AAC form as he scored 24 points. Sophomore Kevin Cross and freshman Jalen Cook also finished in double figures, as they netted 20 and 12 points, respectively.

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TICKETS
Tickets for the 2021-22 season can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

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Tulane Men’s Basketball Opens the 2021-22 Regular Season Tuesday Night

Players Mentioned

Jalen Cook

Kevin Cross

Jaylen Forbes

Sion James

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