Tulane comes up short against Memphis, 80-74

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2020-21 campaign on Wednesday, as it dropped an 80-74 decision to Memphis inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

“I really like how our kids came out and fought,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “There are a lot of good things I am going to take from this game, but as long as I am coaching at Tulane, I don’t play for moral victories. We have to be better at the end of games, especially in this league.”

Junior Gabe Watson came off the bench and provided the Green Wave (4-1, 0-1 AAC) with a major spark, as he poured in a team-high 18 points to go with five rebounds.

Watson was one of four Green Wave scorers that finished in double figures. Teammates Jordan Walker, Jaylen Forbes and Kevin Cross also chipped in with 16, 15 and 12 points, respectively.

The Green Wave continued their strong defensive play as they forced the Tigers into 15 turnovers which Tulane turned into 15 points.

“I love the fight and I love the grit in this team,” Hunter added. “Maybe a year ago, we might have folded in this game, but I learned a lot about my team in this game. This team can play in this league, and this team can win games in this league. We just need to grow.”

Memphis (5-3, 1-0 AAC) controlled the boards, as it held a 44-33 rebounding advantage. The Tigers also outshot Tulane 43-41 percent from the field and held a 36-24 percent lead in shooting from beyond the arc.

The Tigers came out hot as they opened up a commanding 22-7 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game. Memphis would go on to lead by as many as 17 points in the opening 20 minutes, but the Green Wave would respond in a big way, as they outscored Memphis 19-7 in the final seven minutes of the first half and trailed by just one, 31-30, heading into locker room.

Coming out of halftime, both teams went back and forth with neither squad leading by more than five points for the first 10 minutes of the second half. The game remained close with under five minutes to go, as Memphis held a slight 59-56 advantage, but the Tigers would go on to make their move behind a 12-2 scoring run to open up a 13-point lead with 1:36 remaining.

Tulane would not go away as it trimmed the Memphis lead to five with 28 seconds to go, but that was as close as the Green Wave would draw for the remainder of the night.

“I’m proud of the way our guys played,” Hunter said. “They came out and fought for 40 minutes.”

The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, December 19, as they welcome Grambling State to Fogelman in Devlin. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., and the matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.