High tides: Wave rolls over Cincinnati in 101-94 OT thriller

Hurdle like Ronald?#RollWave🌊 pic.twitter.com/ZzRYqNWzyo

— Tulane Men's Basketball (@GreenWaveMBB) February 8, 2023

NEW ORLEANS – A 27-point, 14 rebound and six assist night from Kevin Cross pushed Tulane past Cincinnati 101-94 in overtime on Tuesday night in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Tulane improves to 16-7 on the season and 9-3 in conference play. Sixteen wins is the most wins under Ron Hunter and guarantees that Tulane will finish .500 or over for the first time under Hunter.

The Green Wave scored 100 points for the first time since 2017 when they scored 102 vs. LIU Brooklyn.

Cross’ point and rebound totals were both career highs. Jalen Cook and Jaylen Forbes joined Cross in double figures. Cook dropped 27 points and a career-high 14 assists, while Forbes tabbed 24 points and seven boards.

The Green Wave got off to a six-point lead midway through the first half before Cincinnati rallied to take a 13-point lead just before halftime. Collin Holloway and Cross would each get a quick bucket at the end of the first to cut the lead to nine, 37-28.

Tulane knotted things up at 52 with 11:59 left to play. Battle ensued with back-and-forth play before Cincinnati would work their way up to an eight-point lead with five minutes left in the game. The Wave would come back and score the final seven points of regulation to force overtime.

Tuesday’s game was the fourth overtime game in the last five for Tulane, now holding a 3-1 record OT.

Overtime started with a 6-0 run by Tulane before Cincinnati would knot it up at 89. Tulane would pull ahead again with Cross putting the Wave up 96-89 with 42 seconds left on the clock.

Tensions flared as double ejections on both Tulane and Cincinnati would be called and an additional technical foul called on Cook that would send Cincinnati to the line. An out of bounds call moments later would cause another technical foul to be called on Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller.

The Bearcats would continue to foul sending Tulane to the line and pushing them to victory.