Tulane blows out Sacramento State, 92-57

NEW ORLEANS – Stingy and opportunistic defense powered Tulane University men’s basketball (3-0) to a blowout 92-57 win over Sacramento State (1-3) inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Friday night. With the victory, the Green Wave improved to 3-0 to start the year marking the second consecutive 3-0 start for Tulane and the fourth in the last five seasons.

Five players scored double-digits for the Wave with Sion James leading all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field including three three-pointers.

Kevin Cross and Kolby King added double figures for the third consecutive game to start the season. Cross finished with 17 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. King posted 13 points with three made three-points and three assists.

Senior Jaylen Forbes recorded his first game of the season in double figures tallying 14 points and adding three steals. Rounding out the top performers for the Green Wave was Tre’ Williams with 12 points, three steals, and a pair of assists off the bench.

As a team, the Wave shot 58.9 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from beyond the arc. Tulane knocked down a season-high 11 threes with three different players making three each.

On the defensive end of the floor, Tulane forced Sacramento State into 24 turnovers including 13 steals and limited the Hornets to 35.2 percent shooting from the floor. The Wave capitalized on the mistakes by the Hornets to score 27 points off turnovers.

Tulane opened the contest with 15 unanswered points in the first five minutes and never looked back. The Green Wave shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half while also forcing the Hornets into 10 turnovers. The lead reached as many as 16 points for the Wave with 9:08 to play before Tulane closed the opening half with a 41-30 advantage.

Momentum rolled into the second half for the Green Wave as Tulane extended its lead to 20 points with 16:17 on the clock. Sacramento State never got closer than 15 points of the Wave the remainder of the contest with Tulane closing the game on an 18-3 run over the final five minutes to win 92-57.

James and Cross helped Tulane close the door by each scoring 13 points in the second half. Forbes also added eight quick points in a two-minute stretch late in the game. Transfer Logan Stephens tallied his first points in a Green Wave uniform in the final minute as well converting an and-one layup to finish with three points.

Up next, Tulane will make its first road trip of the season to continue competition in the SoCal Challenge in San Juan Capistrano, California. Tulane will square off against Bradley on Monday, November 20, at 9:30 p.m. CT and then will face either Cal or UTEP on Wednesday, November 22. Both games in California will be aired on CBS Sports Network.

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