Tulane Eliminated from AAC Championship by North Texas

Thursday, March 14

Fort Worth, TX

6 p.m.

Tulane University

14-17,5-13AAC

North Texas

18-13,10-8AAC

Tulane

North Texas

Tulane Eliminated from AAC Championship by North Texas

Mar 14, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas – Despite a career performance from junior Sion James, Tulane men's basketball (14-17) was unable to pull off the upset against the No. 7 seed North Texas (18-13) falling 81-71 in the second round of the American Athletic Championship on Thursday night. The Green Wave outshot the Mean Green from the field, but turnovers cost the Wave as North Texas scored 17 points on 14 Tulane turnovers.

James led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor including 3-of-4 from downtown. The junior guard also tallied a team-high 10 rebounds to notch his first career double double.

The only other player in double figures for the Wave was Collin Holloway with 13 points. He also matched his career-high with three made three-pointers.

Four players finished in double digits for North Texas led by CJ Noland with a career-high in points with 23 points and made threes with four.

Tulane came out on the attack to open the contest taking a 9-2 advantage in the first three minutes. North Texas chipped away over the next few minutes until the game was tied at 20-20 with 9:43 remaining in the first half.

The back half of the opening 20 minutes favored the Mean Green as the Wave trailed by as many as nine points with 6:47 on the clock. James helped Tulane close the half strong scoring seven of the team's last 11 points including a floater as the clock ran down to put the Green Wave down 36-33 at the break.

The Wave immediately cut the deficit to one point to begin the second half, but North Texas had an answer with a pair of threes. Tulane stayed within striking distance until the Mean Green extended its lead to 62-52 with 6:45 to play.

Tulane did not back down in the final minutes, however, cutting it to a two-possession game at 66-61 with just under four minutes on the clock. Unfortunately, that would be as close at the Wave would get ultimately falling 81-71 in the second round of the AAC Championship.

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