Tulane University
Wichita State University
Men's Basketball to Face Shockers in AAC Tournament Quarterfinals
Mar 9, 2023 | Men's Basketball
The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU. 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.
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STARTING FIVE
1. Tulane University men's basketball earned a first-round bye in the American Conference Tournament for the second straight year, earning its highest seeding since joining the AAC at No.3. The team will face No. 6 Wichita State.
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2. Jalen Cook, Jaylen Forbes, Kevin Cross and Sion James all earned AAC Post Season honors. Cook to the All-AAC First Team, Forbes to the All-AAC Second Team and Cross to the Third Team. James earned the leagues Sportsmanship Award.
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3. Tulane has never faced Wichita State in the AAC Tournament.
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4. Tulane leads the conference in scoring offense at 80.8 points per game. Tulane has led the conference in scoring for all but one week. In conference play-only, the team averages 82.1 points per game. Tulane finished last season averaging 73.3 ppg.
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5. When starting Cook, James, Forbes, Tylan Pope and Cross, Tulane is 9-2, making them the most successful starting five of the eight rotations the coaching staff has started. This starting five earned Ron Hunter his 500th career win in the regular season finale.
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TULANE BY THE NUMBERS
500 - With a 19-10 record, 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).
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283 – Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 283 consecutive games. The last time the Green Wave failed to do so came on Jan. 16, 2014 at home against Louisiana Tech when it went 0-for-14 from outside.
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90 – Tulane has scored 90+ eight times this season which is more than the last six seasons combined. Two of those games were wins versus both Wichita State and Tulsa.
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78.2 – Tulane is shooting 78.2 percent from the line which is on track to be the best team average ever for a Tulane team.
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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.
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19 - The last time Tulane had 19 or more wins in a single season was 2012-13 when the team went 20-15.
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12 – 12 conference wins is the most for the Wave since joining the AAC.
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4 - This is the first time four Tulane players have earned AAC postseason honors.
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2022-23 STATISTICAL IMPROVEMENT
Through the first 2 games of the year, Tulane shows improvement through five statistical categories compared to the first right games of last season.
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Category                                2021-22        2022-23
Points Per Game                     73.4            80.8
Field Goal Percentage       .438            .467
Free Throw Percentage      75.2            78.2
Steals per game                       8.1             8.6
Assists per game          13.0             15.8
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SUCCESS FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
• Tulane is currently 484-619 from the free throw line (.782) 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.
• Four Green Wave players are currently shooting over .800 from the line - Jalen Cook (.874), Jaylen Forbes (.864), Kevin Cross (.833) and Jadan Coleman (.800).
THE OPPONENT –WICHITA STATE
• Tulane split its season series with Wichita State winning in OT 95-90 in Wichita and falling at home to Wichita 76-83.
• This is the first time these two teams will meet in the American Conference Tournament.
• The Shockers finished the regular season with victories in five of their last eight, capped by a 20-point home win over USF.
• This is WSU's fifth AAC tourney. No Shocker team has made it past semifinal Saturday in this event.
• Point guard Craig Porter Jr. was named third team all-conference, averaging 13.4 points during the regular season and ranked among the league leaders in blocks (2nd, 1.6), assists (5th, 4.5), steals (10th, 1.5), rebounds (12th, 6.3).
Porter is the only player in the nation ranked in the top-100 in both blocks (56th, 1.6) and assists (81th, 4.5).
A WIN VERSUS WICHITA STATE
• Tulane would get its first post season win over the Shockers.
• Tulane will advance to the semifinals of the AAC tournament for the second straight year.
• Tulane would improve to 20-10, getting 20 wins for the first time since the 2012-13 season when it went 20-15.
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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.Â
