Tulane misses chance at first league win, falls at home to ECU, 85-81

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane freshman Connor Crabtree poured in a career-high 23 points and classmate Moses Wood registered his first double-double, but the Green Wave dropped an 85-81 decision to East Carolina Saturday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.

Crabtree’s 23-point effort marked the fifth time this season and third time in the last five games he has scored in double-figures. He shot 8-for-13 overall and 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

“I felt pretty comfortable and my teammates did a great job finding me out there,” Crabtree said. “When I had opportunities, I was able to knock them down.”

Joining Crabtree in double-figures was senior Samir Sehic (21 points), Wood (15 points) and sophomore Caleb Daniels (14 points). Wood also pulled down a personal-best 12 rebounds and shot 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Daniels led all players with five assists.

Tulane’s 81 points were the most it had scored since its 87-point output at home against UT-Martin on Dec. 5. Additionally, the Green Wave outrebounded the Pirates by a 39-32 count

“Very disappointing loss for us, but we did have a lot of positives,” head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. said. “The energy and effort is what you are looking for, and I think that is good for us for the future.”

Tulane’s second matchup with East Carolina once again came down to the wire as neither team led by more than six points in the final 20 minutes.

Down the final stretch, Tulane trailed ECU by six points with less than three minutes to go, and on three separate occasions, the Green Wave were able to get the contest to a one-possession game, but were never able to retake the lead.

Defensively, Tulane held ECU to just 30 percent shooting from beyond the arc and held leading scorer Jayden Gardner to 11 points. Gardner enter the game averaging 17.5 points per game.

“I really thought we did a nice job on Gardner tonight,” Dunleavy said.

Tulane held a 53-47 lead at the half after it connected at a 50-percent clip from the floor (15-of-30). The Green Wave’s 53 points were the most they have scored in the opening 20 minutes since December of 2017 when they poured in 51 points against Southern.

The Green Wave trailed by as many as 13 points at the 12:58 mark of the first half (22-9), but Tulane charged back with a 19-5 run over the next four minutes to take a one-point lead with 9:04 remaining. Crabtree and Wood keyed the Green Wave’s first-half run as they scored 11 of the team’s 19 points during the charge.

Tulane returns to action on Thursday as it travels to Tulsa. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.