South Florida hands Tulane seventh straight loss

TAMPA, Fla. – Despite a 24-point onslaught from Jaylen Forbes Tulane University men’s basketball (13-16, 4-13) dropped its seventh game in row after falling 85-72 at No. 24 South Florida (23-5, 16-1) on Tuesday. The Green Wave was within two points with just over six minutes remaining, but only managed five points on one made field goal down the stretch.

The seven-game losing streak for the Wave is the program’s longest since dropping nine in a row during the 2019-20 season.

Turnovers proved to be costly for Tulane as the Green Wave committed 17 turnovers including four in the final five minutes of the game. Those turnovers were turned into 25 points by the Bulls.

Forbes led four players for the Wave in double figures with 24 points matching his career-high with seven makes from beyond the arc. The senior guard also tallied five rebounds and a pair of assists. The seven made threes by Forbes vaulted him to the career leader for three-pointers made in the American Athletic Conference with 294.

Sion James posted 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding five boards, three assists, and one steal. Rounding out the leaders for Tulane were Kevin Cross and Collin Holloway with 13 points each. Cross led the Green Wave with eight rebounds and six assists while Holloway followed with seven boards and three assists.

South Florida was led by a season-high 29 points from Chris Youngblood on 10-of-15 shooting. The Bulls also shot a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line.

Tulane jumped out to a 7-0 advantage in the first two minutes of the contest for another strong start on the road. Both teams then settled into a rhythm going back and forth exchanging the lead 13 times the remainder of the first half.

The Bulls held their largest advantage of the opening frame at five points with 7:08 on the clock. Forbes responded on his own with nine-straight points on back-to-back-to-back threes to put Tulane in front 30-29. After trading the lead a few more times before the break, the Wave trailed by four until Forbes knocked down another three just before the buzzer to send Tulane into the locker room down 44-43.

The game of runs continued in the second half as South Florida would extend its lead momentarily until the Green Wave battled right back to tie the game or pull within one possession. Tulane eventually faced a 69-67 deficit with 6:02 remaining, but that would be as close as it would get the rest of the game.

Tulane only made one field goal and turned the ball over four times in the final six minutes of the contest as it was outscored 16-5 by the Bulls resulting in the 85-72 defeat for the Green Wave.

Up next, Tulane will host Wichita State in Uptown for Senior Night on Friday, March 8. Tipoff between the Green Wave and the Shockers is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

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