Tulane drops physical battle to No. 6 Houston, 73-62

HOUSTON – Sophomore forward Kevin Cross scored a team-high 17 points as the Tulane men’s basketball team dropped their most physical battle of the season to Houston, 73-62, on Wednesday at the Fertitta Center.

With the loss, Tulane moves to 6-4 in conference play and 9-10 overall.

“I thought our kids fought hard,” Green Wave head coach Ron Hunter said. “I am proud of how our kids fought, the last couple of years they’ve blown us out and games haven’t been competitive, and we came in here today and let them know that we’re going to be around now.”

Joining Cross in double figures were teammates Tylan Pope, who came off the bench to score 14 points going 4-6 from the field, along with Jalen Cook and Jaylen Forbes, who each totaled 11 points.

Tulane’s physical defensive effort kept the game close in an impressive second half for the Green Wave, but the Cougar’s efforts on the boards, outrebounding Tulane 45-36, would prove to be crucial down the line.

Tulane shot just 33 percent from the field going 19-58, to Houston’s 46 percent going 29-63. The Green Wave came into the game as the best three-point shooting team in the conference, but they were inconsistent from long-range going just 4-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Midway through the first half Tulane proved they could hang in as it was within one at 22-21 after Cook laid one in on a fast break. Tulane would go on to pick the Cougars pocket 10 times in the contest, an impressive feat against the top offense in the conference.

After trailing by 11 points at the half, 41-30, Tulane came out of the locker room and immediately chipped away at the lead taking just under three minutes to cut the lead to four down 44-40. The Green Wave would keep the lead to single digits for most of the second but were unable to get closer than four with 15:13 left to play. Houston would start to pull away after Houston hit a three to pull ahead by 13. Tulane didn’t go away quietly but ultimately dropped the contest 73-62.

LAGNIAPPE
• Jalen Cook scored in double figures for the 17th time this season.
• Kevin Cross has now scored double figures in 12 straight contests.
• Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 245 consecutive games. The last time the Green Wave failed to do so came on Jan. 16, 2014 at home against Louisiana Tech when they went 0-for-14 from outside.
• Tylan Pope scored a season-high 14 points coming off the bench.
• This is the 17th time this season three or more players have scored in the double-digits.

UP NEXT
Tulane returns to action on Saturday, as it returns home to take on East Carolina. The game will be aired on ESPN+ and will tipoff at 1 p.m.

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Tickets for the 2021-22 season can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

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