Jan. 29, 2003
Tulane (8-10, 1-4 C-USA)
vs.
East Carolina (11-7, 2-5 C-USA)
Saturday, February 1, 2003 ~ 2 p.m. (Central)
New Orleans, La. ~ Fogelman Arena
Game Notes as PDF
Tulane Schedule
Official East Carolina Athletics Website
Green Wave Facts
2002-03 Record: 8-10
2001-02 Record: 14-15
2001-02 C-USA Record: 5-11
Head Coach: Shawn Finney
Alma Mater/Year: Fairmont St/1985
Record at Tulane/Year: 31-46/3rd
Overall Record/Years: Same
President: Scott Cowen
Athletic Director: Rick Dickson
Basketball SID: John Sudsbury
Direct Phone: 504-314-7271
SID Fax: 504-865-5512
SID E-Mail: jsudsbu@tulane.edu
Ticket Office Phone: 504-861-WAVE
RADIO:
New Orleans, WTIX-AM, 690
New Orleans, WTIX-FM, 94.3
Northshore, WJSH-FM, 104.7
Baton Rouge, WSKR-AM, 1210
Lafayette, KROF-AM, 960
TELEVISION: None.
CATCH THE WAVE
Tulane picked up its first league win last Saturday against UAB, which had been in first-place in the National Division of Conference USA. Now the Wave is just a game out of second-place in the highly competitive division. On Saturday, Tulane hosts league newcomer East Carolina (last year was its first year in C-USA). Following that game, the Green Wave plays two on the road: at Houston (Feb. 4) and at UAB (Feb. 8).
BATTLE ROYALE
After its loss to TCU last Wednesday, Tulane found itself at the bottom of the National Division of C-USA. However, on Saturday, with a win over first-place UAB, the murkiness of the division increased. The Blazers still lead the division with a 4-2 mark, while Houston is next at 3-2. Memphis is next with a 2-3 mark, while South Florida and Southern Miss are both at 2-4, while Tulane (1-4) and TCU (1-5) are still very much in the mix.
EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina had its best start since 1946 this year, opening with a 10-2 mark. While the Pirates have cooled down of late, Coach Bill Herrion's squad remains a formidable foe at 11-7 overall. After dropping four straight C-USA games, the Pirates had a thrilling double-overtime win over South Florida last Saturday. Junior guard Derrick Wiley leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game, while senior Travis Holcomb-Faye, the school's all-time assist leader has 10.7 points and 4.5 assists per game. 6-8 Gabriel Mikulas has 12.2 points per game, while 6-10 sophomore Moussa Badine leads the league with 48 blocked shots.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Saturday's meeting between Tulane and East Carolina will be the first in the history of the two schools. The Pirates joined C-USA last year but did not face the Green Wave. TCU was also a newcomer to the league last year, with the Wave winning its first-ever C-USA meeting with the Horned Frogs. The Wave has had four other first-time meetings with teams this year, winning each one of those (Maine, Southeast Missouri, Savannah State and Morris Brown). The last time Tulane lost a first-time meeting with a team was on Nov. 19, 1999 when Maryland had a 78-70 win in the preseason NIT. The Wave has won seven straight games against first-time opponents.
CRACKING THE WIN COLUMN
The Green Wave had a key victory on Saturday, cracking the victory column in Conference USA play with a 75-72 triumph over UAB. Tulane's defense proved to be the difference as the Wave held UAB to 36.5 percent shooting in a game in which it never trailed. UAB managed to tie the game with 4:24 to go and then again with 3:35 remaining, but each time, the Green Wave responded. Brandon Brown tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, while Ivan Pjevcevic, making his first career start, had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Wayne Tinsley notched a season-high 15 points on perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the floor.
UAB Story and Stats
DEADLY LEAGUE SLATE
Tulane's conference schedule was arguably the most difficult in the league as it opened against Memphis (picked first in the National Division in the preseason coaches poll) and Marquette (picked second in the American Division), followed by perennial powerhouse Cincinnati (picked first in the American). That was followed by a THIRD road game (in the first four) at TCU.
INDIVIDUAL ENEMIES
Tulane has been victimized in the past three games by amazing individual performances. On Saturday against Cincinnati, Leonard Stokes scored 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting to take his team on his back and lead it to victory. That came on the heels of Dwyane Wade's career-best 35 point (13-of-16 shooting) performance last Tuesday to carry Marquette to its win over the Wave. The stretch started in the Wave's C-USA opener when Memphis' Chris Massie tallied 34 points in 15-of-23 shooting. Those three players combined for 99 points on 40-of-56 (.714) shooting.
THE GRAND PLAN
On Jan. 11 against Marquette, senior Brandon Brown became the second player this season to eclipse 1,000 career points. The 6-8 Houma native connected on a three-pointer from the corner with 11:31 to go in the half to become the 26th 1,000-point scorer in Tulane history. He joins teammate Brandon Spann in the exclusive club. Spann entered the season needing 50 points and reached the impressive milestone in the first half of the UCF game (11/29) with a free throw with 6:36 to go.
ONE MORE?
With Brown and Spann in the 1,000-Point Club, next up is senior guard Waitari Marsh. The Chicago native, who is among Tulane's all-time best in steals and assists, needs 37 points to become the 27th 1,000-point scorer in school history. If Marsh reaches that mark, it will be the first time in school history that three Wave players have hit 1,000 during the same season. It will be the third time in school history that three 1,000-point scorers played together at Tulane: 1994-95 (Jerald Honeycutt, LeVeldro Simmons, Kim Lewis) and 1995-96 (Jerald Honeycutt, LeVeldro Simmons and Rayshard Allen).
MORE GAMES LOST TO INJURY/ILLNESS
After battling injuries for the entire preseason and much of the early season, Tulane was back in relatively good health for seven games (starting Dec. 20). However, on Jan. 18 against Cincinnati, the bug was back - senior Nick Sinville missed the second half of the game due to illness. Sinville went on to miss his first full game on Wednesday against TCU; marking the ninth game lost to injury this year by the Wave. Sinville also missed much of the UAB game, while sophomore Ben Benfield sat out due to illness as well. Last year, Tulane lost just one full game due to injury or illness (Sinville missed the second TCU game due to an ankle injury). Ben Benfield, Waitari Marsh, George Brown, Wayne Tinsley and now Sinville have all missed entire games this year.
THREES ARE FALLING
With a balanced three-point attack thus far this year, the Green Wave is making a run at the Tulane record book. The school record for three-point percentage in a season is 38.0 percent, set in 1990-91. With 105 threes in 282 attempts this season, this Wave is shooting at a 37.2 percent clip from downtown. Eight different players are shooting at 35 percent or better from beyond 19-9. Tulane's three-point percentage currently leads Conference USA (Maruqette is second at 37.1 percent).
TALE OF THE TURNOVER
After averaging nearly 16 turnovers per game in the first 10 games of the year, the Green Wave committed a total of 48 turnovers in a five-game stretch (9.6 per game). After turning it over exactly 10 times in four straight games, Tulane had a season-low eight turnovers (one in the second half) against Marquette on Jan. 14. However, in the last three games (Cincinnati, TCU and UAB), the Green Wave has averaged 19.7 turnovers, although just 7.0 in the second half.
IT HASN'T BEEN EASY
Tulane's schedule so far has proven to be quite difficult as the teams that the Wave has lost to have produced a combined record of 120-60 (.667). Kentucky (15-3, next game 2/1) has the best record of Tulane foes, while Marquette (14-3, next game 2/1) and Cincinnati (13-4, next game 2/1) have also been rolling. LSU (13-6, next game 2/1) and Rice (12-6, next game 2/1) have also been quite impressive this year. Tulane's other losses have come to: Memphis (11-5, next game 2/1), UCF (14-7, next game 2/2), UNO (12-7, next game 2/1), Vanderbilt (9-8, next game 2/1) and TCU (7-11, next game 2/1), the only team with a losing record to beat Tulane this year.
1,000-500
When senior Brandon Brown scored his 1,000th career point on Jan. 14, he became the 13th player in Tulane history to tally 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career. The Houma, La., native now has 1,061 points (22nd all-time) and 557 rebounds (15th all-time).
PASSES AND STEALS, TOO!
The points and the rebounds from Brandon Brown have been expected, especially this season, but in addition to those stats, he has been impressive with assists and steals as well. The 52 assists this year for Brown are a career-best (48 in 2000-01) and rank second on the team. The senior's 25 steals are also second on the team and are six more than he recorded ALL of last season.
ILL SINVILLE
Tulane has been without the full services of one of its key players over the last three games as Nick Sinville has battled a severe upper respiratory infection. He missed the second half of the Cincy game and did not make the trip to TCU. He did return for nine minutes of action on Saturday against UAB. Over his last seven games, Sinville has connected on 60.3 percent (38-of-63) of his shots from the field. He is currently averaging 10.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In the Morris Brown outing, the Shreveport native connected on 7-of-8 shots for 15 points, while against Georgia Tech, he had team-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds. In the loss to Memphis, he led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds.
70 IS GOOD
Tulane has managed to start scoring a bit more, but now its defense is buckling. After winning its first seven games when scoring 70 points or more, the Green Wave lost three straight when scoring 70. However, on Saturday, its 75 points was enough for a victory, improving the team's record to 8-3 when scoring 70 or more and 0-7 when not reaching that mark. Last year, when scoring 70 or more points, the Green Wave posted a 12-4 record. However, in games where points were more scarce, the team record was just 2-11.
80 IS BETTER
Prior to the TCU loss, Tulane had been a perfect 6-0 when scoring 80 or more points this season after posting a 6-2 record last year in 80-point outings. In Coach Finney's first season at the helm of the Wave, Tulane tallied an 8-3 record in 80-point efforts, making him 20-6 all-time when his teams post 80 or more points.
P.T. FOR B.P.
After seeing limited playing time as a first-year juco transfer, senior Byron Parker has forced his way into Coach Finney's regular rotation. He played just 6.1 minutes last season, but this year Parker is averaging 14.7 minutes per game and leads the team in steals with 24 and is second in blocks with eight. In the Georgia Tech game, Parker tallied a career-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting (2-for-3 from three) while picking up four steals, four rebounds and a pair of assists. Last Tuesday against Marquette, the Stone Mountain, Ga., native made his first career start.
FREE THROWS WIN BALL GAMES
Tulane is proving the adage true in two ways this season. In its eight victories, the Wave has connected on 70.0 percent (126-of-180) of its free throws while in its 10 losses that percentage drops to 60.1 percent (92-of-153). However, the Wave is also playing poor "free-throw defense." While not a true stat, as there is obviously no defense on free throws, Tulane's opponents are connecting on 77.2 percent (169-of-219) of their free throws when beating the Wave, but shooting just 62.7 percent (74-of-118) from the line when losing to Tulane.
NON-LEAGUE WRAP-UP
Tulane closed its non-league schedule with a 7-6 mark this season. Last year, the Wave had an 8-3 mark in non-conference action, while in Coach Finney's first year, Tulane posted a 7-6 mark as well.
IN THE ARENA
The LSU game was Tulane's 17th game in the New Orleans Arena, and the second of the 2002-03 season. The Kentucky game (Dec. 10) was the first Arena college basketball game since the arrival of the NBA's Hornets. The Green Wave now has an 8-9 record in its downtown home.
BIG EASY CLASSICS
New Orleans fans have the opportunity to catch the Wave 21 times without leaving the city this season. In addition to 18 Fogelman Arena games (including two exhibitions), two games were played at the New Orleans Arena and one was played on the road at Lakefront Arena.
HOME COOKIN'
The Green Wave has four players from the state of Louisiana, including three members of its starting lineup. Brandon Spann is a New Orleans native who attended Jesuit High School, located less than three miles from Fogelman Arena. Spann's older brother, Tookie, played baseball and football at Tulane from 1985-87. Brandon Brown is from Houma, located 60 miles southwest of New Orleans; Nick Sinville's hometown of Shreveport is 340 miles northwest of the Big Easy. The other Bayou State product is Ben Benfield, who is from River Ridge, a New Orleans suburb.
GREAT RATES
In the latest graduation rates figures released by the NCAA, Tulane once again ranks among the national leaders in terms of graduating its student-athletes, and also its men's basketball players. In fact, Tulane's graduation rate of 64% for the four-class average ranks it second among Conference USA programs. The Wave's 100% number for the 1995-96 cohort alone matches two other C-USA schools. The Green Wave's graduation rate of 78% for all student-athletes was 12th nationally and ranked ahead of all other Louisiana and Conference USA schools.
COACHES POLL
Tulane was selected No. 2 in the National Division in a preseason poll of Conference USA Coaches. The Green Wave is behind only Memphis, while Cincinnati was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the American Division and overall.
CONFERENCE USA COACHES PRESEASON POLL
NATIONAL
1. Memphis
2. Tulane
3. Houston
4. TCU
5. South Florida
6. Southern Miss
7. UAB
AMERICAN
1. Cincinnati
2. Marquette
3. Louisville
4. Charlotte
5. Saint Louis
6. East Carolina
7. DePaul
RESERVES NOT ENOUGH
After building a 16-point advantage in the first half, an under-manned Tulane squad could not hold on as TCU pulled away for a 93-84 victory on Wednesday. Starting power forward Nick Sinville missed the game due to illness and leading scorer Waitari Marsh sprained his ankle with 13:33 to go (and a game-high 20 points) and missed the remainder of the game. The Wave held a 55-54 lead before Marsh's injury and TCU heated up with 60 percent shooting in the second half to go with 21-of-26 marksmanship from the foul line in the victory. Brandon Brown added 18 points and six rebounds while Wayne Tinsley had a season-high 14 points.
TCU Story and Stats
STOKES THE FIRE
Leonard Stokes erupted for 30 points on Saturday to lead Cincinnati to a 77-54 victory over the Green Wave at the Shoemaker Center. Tulane had 16 points from Waitari Marsh and a double-double from Brandon Brown (13 points, 11 rebounds), but shot just 42.6 percent and turned the ball over 20 times. Tulane pulled within four with 16:21 to go in the game, but the Bearcats fed Stokes, who scored 10 of the next 12 points to take control of the game. Cincinnati shot 51.9 percent from the field.
Cincinnati Story and Stats
MARQUETTE WRAP-UP
Tulane hosted No. 21 Marquette on Tuesday evening at Fogelman Arena, and had to deal with a sterling performance from All-American Dwyane Wade, who matched his career-high with 35 points (on 13-of-16 shooting). Despite a career-best day from its own Waitari Marsh (30 points, 27 in the second half), the Green Wave fell 85-73. Marsh put the team on his back and pulled them within two at 61-59 with 7:11 to go, but six points from Robert Jackson and a Wade layup pushed the margin back to 10. In addition to Marsh's effort, Brandon Brown tallied 16 points (including the 1,000th of his career) and eight rebounds.
Marquette Story and Stats
TOO MUCH OF MEMPHIS' MASSIE
The Green Wave had a rough league opener last Tuesday as Memphis big man Chris Massie was a monster, scoring 34 points with 16 rebounds in an 85-73 win for the Tigers. Tulane held a first-half lead but Memphis closed the stanza with a 29-9 run to put the game away early. The Wave was out-rebounded 52-29 in the game. Nick Sinville led Tulane with 17 points and seven rebounds while Waitari Marsh added 16 points and four assists.
Memphis Story and Stats
DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN MORRIS BROWN
On Jan. 4, Tulane put on a clinic against Morris Brown in an 88-30 victory. The Wave held the Wolverines to 20.7 percent (12-of-58) shooting while shooting 55.0 percent (33-of-60) itself. In addition, Tulane handed out a season-high 27 assists and committed a season-low 10 turnovers (for the third game in a row). Twelve different players scored, while Ivan Pjevcevic came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points, including four three-pointers. Nick Sinville connected on 7-of-8 shots to finish with 15 points while Waitari Marsh collected 11.
Morris Brown Story and Stats
DO IT AGAIN
After losing to the Green Wave last season at home, Georgia Tech came to New Orleans with revenge on its mind. But Tulane had a different idea as five players scored in double figures in an 80-66 Green Wave triumph. The Wave shot 51.7 percent from the field and committed just 10 turnovers while holding the Yellow Jackets to 41.1 percent shooting and forcing 16 turnovers. Nick Sinville had team-bests of 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann each added 15 points while Byron Parker came off the bench for a career-high 12 points.
Georgia Tech Story and Stats
RIVALRY RETURNS
Tulane and LSU met on the hardwood for the first time in 20 years on Saturday and the Tigers held on for a 74-62 victory at the New Orleans Arena. The Green Wave and the Tigers played as part of the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic at the New Orleans Arena. Tulane was led by a career-high 27 points from senior Waitari Marsh, who added eight rebounds as well. Brandon Brown tallied 14 points while Nick Sinville added 11. The Wave was torched by LSU's three-point shooting as the Tigers nailed 11-of-21 shots from behind the arc.
LSU Story and Stats
TWO IN A ROW
Tulane had its second straight rout on Monday, cruising to a 94-70 victory over Jackson State at Fogelman Arena. The Wave jumped out to a 30-6 lead and never looked back, shooting 55.9 percent (33-of-59) from the floor while holding the Tigers to just 35.0 percent (28-of-80) shooting. Brandon Brown led the way with 19 points while Brandon Spann (16), Nick Sinville (15) and Wayne Tinsley (11) also hit for double figures. Seven different players had at least five rebounds as Tulane controlled the glass as well, 52-34.
Jackson State Story and Stats
SHUTTING DOWN SAVANNAH
Tulane played its most complete game of the year on Dec. 20, exploding for 103 points while holding Savannah State to just 47 points in a blowout victory in which no player saw more than 20 minutes of action. Tulane shot 51.6 percent from the field while holding the Tigers to 30 percent. Freshman Vytautas Tatarunas led the Wave with 18 points while sophomore Ben Benfield added a career-best 17 points.
Savannah State Story and Stats
WINNING WILDCATS
Tulane had its hands full on Dec. 10 with 12th-ranked Kentucky visiting the New Orleans Arena. The Wildcats topped the Wave 76-60 behind a deadly inside-outside attack. Its mammoth frontline started things and swingman Keith Bogans (21 points, 5-for-5 three-pointers) finished them for UK. The Wave was led by Waitari Marsh, who scored a season-high 19 points, including a career-best five three-pointers.
Kentucky Story and Stats
SHOOTING SLUMP
Tulane went ice cold from the floor against Vanderbilt on Dec. 7, connecting on just 32.8 percent of its shots. Despite playing solid defense (Vandy shot 43.3 percent), the Wave lost by 20 points, 66-46. A second-half rally cut the deficit to six at 48-42, but the Commodores closed the night with an 18-4 run. Brandon Brown was the lone Wave player in double figures with 13 points. He also added nine rebounds.
Vanderbilt Story and Stats
UNO RECAP
UNO jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead on Dec. 5 and the held off numerous Green wave rallies on route to an 80-67 victory. Tulane was victimized by 38.9 percent (7-of-18) shooting from the free throw line and 22 turnovers. Brandon Spann tallied 15 points to lead the Wave, while Brandon Brown logged a 14-point evening. Nick Sinville and Waitari Marsh each had 11 points in the loss.
UNO Story and Stats
UNIVERSITY HOOPS CLASSIC
Tulane had a strong showing at the University Hoops Classic over Thanksgiving weekend at Fogelman Arena. The Wave finished third place in an event, which was won by UCF on a last second shot. Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann both earned all-tournament honors as Brown averaged 18.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 69 percent from the field. Spann, meanwhile, had 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Junior Ivan Pjevcevic also had a strong tourney, twice establishing career-highs and averaging 10.7 points per game, including 6-of-9 three-point shooting in the three games.
THE SEMO GAME - DECEMBER 1
The Green Wave played perhaps its best game of the year on Dec. 1, cruising to an 81-60 victory over Southeast Missouri to claim third place at the University Hoops Classic. Brandon Brown scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and added nine rebounds in the victory, while Brandon Spann had 14 points and nine assists and junior Ivan Pjevcevic scored a career-high 15 points. The Wave nailed 64.2 percent of its shots, while holding the Indians to 43.6 percent shooting.
SEMO Game Story and Stats
THE UCF GAME - NOVEMBER 29
A lack of offensive rhythm continued to plague the Green Wave, which fell, 66-61, to UCF on Nov. 29 in round two of the University Hoops Classic. Tulane shot just 37.3 percent from the field overall and 31.8 percent in the first half. Tulane used an early second half run to take its first lead of the game at 41-39, but then went over six minutes without a point as the Golden Knights scored just enough to take charge of the contest. Brandon Brown and Brandon Spann each had 17 points and five assists, while Brown added a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Ben Benfield scored a career-high 13 points.
UCF Game Story and Stats
THE MAINE GAME - NOVEMBER 28
Tulane took advantage of its size and power on Thanksgiving Day in its opener at the University Hoops Classic with an 84-65 victory over Maine. The Wave dominated in the paint and out-rebounded the Black Bears, 44-26, to offset 12 three-points by the foe. Maine attempted just 18 shots from inside the arc (37 from downtown). Brandon Brown tallied his first double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Brandon Spann had 18 and Nick Sinville scored 17.
Maine Game Story and Stats
BRAGGING RIGHTS
Tulane and Loyola met for the third straight year to battle for Uptown bragging rights on Nov. 25 at Fogelman Arena. The Green Wave struggled with the tenacious Wolfpack, but still managed to earn a 74-58 victory. Brandon Brown and Nick Sinville each tallied 16 points, while Brandon Spann added 15. The Wave held Loyola to just 35.5 percent shooting.
Loyola Game Story and Stats
