Tulane cruises past Southern, 95-76

NEW ORLEANS – Jordan Cornish led five players in double-figures with 18 points and a career-high nine assists and Melvin Frazier recorded his third double-double of the season, as the Tulane men’s basketball team defeated Southern, 95-76, Wednesday afternoon at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Cornish shot 6-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, to establish a season high in scoring, while Frazier scored 10 points and led all players with 11 rebounds as well as a pair of blocks. Cameron Reynolds added 16 points and six rebounds, Samir Sehic contributed 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting to go with seven boards in just 19 minutes off the bench as Ray Ona Embo had 10 points and five assists for Tulane (7-2)

Eddie Reese led Southern (2-6) with 18 points and made four 3-pointers, while Jared Sam notched a double-double comprising 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Green Wave created their first double-digit lead of the game, 22-12, on a layup by Ona Embo with 10:56 remaining, but the Jaguars countered with a 14-3 scoring run over the next three minutes to cut their deficit to just one, 26-25.

Leading 33-29 with 4:34 remaining in the half, Tulane erupted with an 18-0 run to close the half, capped by a Sehic trey just before halftime buzzer to take a 51-29 advantage into the intermission.

Tulane shot an impressive 21-for-37 (.568) from the field, 8-for-17 (.471) from 3-point range and made its only free throw attempt in the first half, while Southern went 13-for-35 (.371) on the floor, 3-for-8 (.375) from deep and did not shoot a free throw.

The margin would not return to single digits for the remainder of the contest, but Southern did draw within 15 points, 59-44, with 16:08 left to play, but Tulane grew the margin back over 20 when a Sehic free throw with 10:09 to go made it 74-54.

Tulane’s lead ballooned to as many as 29 with score 88-59 following an Ona Embo layup with 5:47 remaining, before entering the rest of the reserves into the game to close out the 19-point victory.

The Green Wave finished the game shooting 34-for-63 (.540) overall, 10-for-23 (.435) from 3-point range and 17-for-26 (.654) at the free throw line, while the Jaguars shot a combined 27-for-71 (.380) from the field, 6-for-16 (.375) beyond the arc and 16-for-19 (.842) at the foul stripe.

Next up, Tulane travels to Tampa, Fla., to take on Florida State on Sunday, Dec. 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. (CT) at Amalie Arena and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.