Green Wave Comes Back to Defeat Cal 84-81

Wednesday, November 22

San Juan Capistrano, CA

11:30 p.m.

Tulane University

4-1,0-0AAC

Cal

2-4,0-0Pac-12

California

Tulane

Nov 23, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. – Tulane University men's basketball (4-1) erased an 11-point deficit in the second half to secure the 84-81 come from behind victory over California (2-4) on Wednesday night in the SoCal Challenge consolation game. Kevin Cross led the comeback with a 17-point performance in the second half for the Green Wave.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tulane Men's Basketball (@greenwavembb)

With the win, Tulane improves to 4-1 on the season and marks the first victory for the Wave against a Pac-12 team since beating Utah 65-61 at the Myrtle Beach Invitational in 2019.

Tulane associate head coach Ray McCallum served as the team's head coach in the win because head coach Ron Hunter was unavailable due to non-COVID illness.

Cross led a trio of players for the Green Wave in double figures with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting and a team-high nine rebounds. Sion James added 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field including a perfect 4-of-4 from downtown. Rounding out the top scorers for Tulane was Jaylen Forbes who tallied all 12 of his points in the second half.

The Wave also got key contributions off the bench from Tre' Williams, Gregg Glenn III, and Percy Daniels. Williams recorded seven points and a pair of steals while Glenn III and Daniels each added six points. Daniels also registered three block and Glenn III swiped two steals.

As a team, Tulane shot 51.6 percent from the field attacking the rim consistently to tally 42 points in the paint. Defensively, the Green Wave forced the Cal Bears into 20 turnovers that were converted into 24 points for Tulane.

Tulane fell behind early as the Bears built a seven-point advantage going into the second media timeout. The Wave pulled back within one at 18-17 with 6:51 on the clock, but Cal bounced back with a 9-0 run to go up by 10. After James knocked down a pair of threes down the stretch of the first half to make it a three-point game Jaylon Tyson banked in a three-quarter court heave at the buzzer to put Tulane down 35-29 at the break.

James and Cross led the Green Wave offensively in the first half pouring in eight and seven points, respectively.

In the second half the Wave battled to trim the deficit to three points twice in the first three minutes of the half. After a response from the Bears Tulane faced its largest deficit of the night at 58-47 with 12:11 to play.

Following a timeout called by Coach McCallum, the Green Wave began to mount its comeback. Tulane went on a 20-9 scoring run to tie the game at 67-67 with 6:48 on the clock and then took its first lead of the night, 70-69, on a two-handed jam by Daniels with 5:19 to play.

Cal briefly reclaimed the lead, but the Wave responded to build its largest advantage, 83-77, with 2:22 remaining. Tulane held off the Bears in the closing moments to secure the victory 84-81 and move to 4-1 on the season.

Up next, Tulane will return home to host Prairie View A&M in Uptown on Wednesday, November 29. Tipoff between the Green Wave and the Panthers will be at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL TULANE ATHLETICS APP
Download the official mobile app of Tulane Athletics. Now, you can stay in touch with the Green Wave anytime and anywhere on your Android or iOS mobile device.

TICKETS
Tickets for the 2023-24 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. Men's basketball season tickets are available for just $75 and women's basketball season tickets start at just $50.

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 at NolaBuilt.com.