Tulane rallies in second half to beat Nicholls, 76-69

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half, but Jordan Cornish scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the final 20 minutes to close out a 76-69 victory over Nicholls on Monday evening at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Tulane’s (8-3) last victory in a game in which it trailed by 20 or more points came on Nov. 29, 2015 in a 60-59 victory over Stephen F. Austin. The Green Wave trailed by 26 in that contest.

Cornish led four Green Wave scorers in double-figures, as Cameron Reynolds added 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Melvin Frazier and Ray Ona Embo contributed 12 points apiece.

Tulane shot an incredible 18-for-27 (.667) from the field in the second half, including 5-for-8 (.625) from 3-point range to outscore Nicholls, 48-24, in the period.

The Colonels were led by Tevon Saddler’s game-high 24 points and nine rebounds, while Jahvaughn Powell nabbed eight steals.

Nicholls (5-6) scored the first seven points of the game and built an 18-4 lead while forcing the Green Wave into five turnovers at the first media timeout with 15:02 to go in the opening half.

Tulane missed its first seven shots, before Frazier created a turnover in the open court and raced to the other end for a windmill dunk at the 13:17 mark. The Green Wave cut the deficit to 10 points, 34-24, on an Ona Embo trey with 4:18 to go, but never drew within single digits for the remainder of the period before going into halftime down 45-28.

Tulane shot 8-for-25 (.320) from the field, 3-for-10 (.300) beyond the 3-point arc and 9-for-11 (.818) at the free throw line in the first half, while Nicholls went 19-for-31 (.613) on the floor, 2-for-5 (.400) from deep and 5-for-6 (.833) at the foul stripe.

The Colonels pushed their advantage to 20 points with the score 50-30 and 17:39 remaining, before maintaining a 17-point lead, 57-40, at the 12:07 mark. That was when Tulane flipped the switch.

After a pair of Saddler free throws made it 59-45 in Nicholls’ favor with 11:05 left, the Green Wave made six-straight shots and used an scoring 8-0 run to cut the margin to just six, 59-53, forcing Nicholls to call a timeout with 9:43 left. The run grew to 20-straight over a span 6:32 to reclaim the lead, 65-59, with 4:17 on the clock.

Tulane would not surrender the lead for the remainder of the night before closing out the seven-point triumph.

The Green Wave shot 26-for-52 (.500) overall, 8-for-18 (.444) from 3-point land and 16-for-23 (.696) at the free throw line on the night, while the Colonels went 27-for-62 (.435) from the field, 5-for-15 (.333) beyond the arc and 10-for-12 (.833) at the foul stripe.

Nicholls shot just 8-for-31 (.258) as a team in the second half.

Tulane will close out its non-conference slate Thursday, Dec. 21 against South Alabama. Tipoff is set for noon (CT) at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.