Tulane University
East Carolina University
Men's Basketball Hosts ECU on Friday Night
Mar 2, 2023 | Men's Basketball
NEW ORLEANS -Â Tulane University men's basketball hosts ECU on Friday night after seeing the Pirates on Wednesday in Greenville.Â
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the game live on the radio by tuning into 104.1 The Spot or by CLICKING HERE. Tulane's "Voice of the Green Wave" Corey Gloor will call the action live.Â
STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane University men's basketball completes its double header with ECU as they welcome the Pirates to New Orleans after falling to the Pirates in Greenville on Wednesday night.
2. For the first time this season the Green Wave is on a three game losing streak and is in its toughest stretch of play having three games in five days. The last time the Wave lost three straight the defeated Alcorn State (Nov. 24, 2021) to get back in the win column.
3. Sion James (37.0), Jaylen Forbes (36.4), and Jalen Cook (34.1) are one, two and five in the conference in minutes per game in the AAC. James has led the conference for the entirety of the season and in the top 10 in the country.
4. Tulane continues to have the highest scoring offense in the AAC averaging 80.7 ppg on the season.
5. Jaylen Forbes notched his 70th career game scoring in the double figures in his 23 point effort versus ECU. Averaging 18.7 ppg this season marks a career high.
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TULANE BY THE NUMBERS
500 - With a 17-10 record and five games left to play (counting first round of AAC tournament) this is the first time Ron Hunter will finish over .500 as the Tulane head coach. Tulane hasn't finished .500 or better since 2013-14 (17-17).
281 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 281 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.
90 – Tulane has scored 90+ eight times this season which is more than the last six seasons combined.
78.7 – Tulane is shooting 78.7 percent from the line which is on track to be the best team average ever for a Tulane team.
40 - Sion James, Jaylen Forbes and Jalen Cook have all played entire games without subbing out this season. Forbes and James each have two, while Cook has one and played a full 45 when Tulane went into OT at Wichita.
17 - The last time Tulane had 17 or more wins in a single season was 2013-14 (17-17).
10 – 10 conference wins ties Tulane conference win total from last season. Tulane has never won more than 10 AAC games in a single season.
 2 – Head coach Ron Hunter is two wins away from 500 in his career. 53 of those wins are while at Tulane.
THE OPPONENT – ECU
• Brandon Johnson scored 19 points and 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season as East Carolina defeated Tulane 83-68 on Wednesday night.
• Jaden Walker recorded his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• The Pirates have beaten Tulane five straight times in Greenville, but dropped the last two at Tulane.
• The Pirates who are now tied for the most AAC wins in a season since joining the league back in 2014-15.
A WIN VERSUS ECU
• Ron Hunter would be 1 win away from 500 in his career.
• Tulane would get its 11th home win of the season, it's most in the Ron Hunter era.
• Tulane would improve to 18 wins on the year, the most since 2012-13 when the team went 20-15.
2022-23 STATISTICAL IMPROVEMENT
Through the first 26 games of the year, Tulane shows improvement through five statistical categories compared to the first right games of last season.
Category                 2021-22         2022-23
Points Per Game           73.4         80.7
Field Goal Percentage      .438         .464
Free Throw Percentage      75.2         78.7
Steals per game            8.1          8.9
Assists per game          13.0         15.7
SUCCESS FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
• Tulane is currently 458-582 from the free throw line (.787) which is trending towards the program's highest single-season percentage since 1967-68 when the team shot 528-of-692 (.763) at the charity stripe.
• Three Green Wave players are currently shooting over .800 from the line - Jalen Cook (.895), Jaylen Forbes (.867) and Kevin Cross (.837).
