Tulane holds off Coastal Carolina to pick up first win of year

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University men’s basketball team (1-1) withstood a furious second-half rally by Coastal Carolina (2-1) to pick up its first win of the 2018-19 season, defeating the Chanticleers, 81-76, Tuesday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Tulane held an eight-point lead with just under four minutes to go and appeared to be headed toward its first victory, but Coastal Carolina went on an 11-5 run to trim the Green Wave’s lead to two points with 30 seconds remaining.

“We’re happy to get the first victory of the season, but it didn’t happen easily, which is a credit to them,” head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. said. “We had a lot of good contributors, and we got a lot of film on tape.”

The Green Wave hung tough however and was able to hold off the Chanticleers thanks to some clutch free throw shooting to secure the win.

Sophomore guard Caleb Daniels led the way for Tulane down the stretch, as he scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes.

“Caleb Daniels did what we thought he could do for us all year,” Dunleavy said

Daniels’ 22 points also were a career-high. Nine of his 22 came from the free throw line.

“We know that Caleb is a scorer. He is a bonafide scorer,” redshirt senior Jordan Cornish said. “We know he can score at all three levels. We just told him to pick his spots and he did well, especially in the second half. The ball was going in.”

Cornish and redshirt junior Samir Sehic joined Daniels in double-figures as they finished with 19 and 15 points, respectively. Cornish connected on a career-high six 3-pointers.

Sehic also played a major role in helping the Green Wave hold a 40-38 rebounding advantage, as he pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. His 13 boards fell just one shy of his career high.

Redshirt freshman guard Shakwon Barrett helped the Green Wave hold an 18-12 assist advantage, as he dished out a career-high 10 assists with just two turnovers. Barrett is the first Tulane player with 10-plus assists since Malik Morgan accomplished the feat at ECU on Feb. 4, 2017.

“The confidence my coaches and teammates have in me makes the game easy,” Barrett said. “They know I can make plays. I’ve been making plays in practice, and watching games last year, I know what Coach (Dunleavy) wants to see. I was just trying to make the right plays and guys were hitting shots.”

The Green Wave led by as many as 13 points with 8:41 ;eft in the game and never trailed in the second half. Tulane held a 33-29 halftime lead.

Coastal Carolina forward Zac Cuthbertson led all scorers with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting. He scored 21 in the second half.

Tulane returns to action on Monday as it takes on South Dakota State in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida, which runs through Nov. 21.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For behind-the-scenes coverage, follow Tulane men’s basketball (@GreenWaveMBB) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.