Tulane Basketball Bounces Back From Their First Loss, Beat Bethune-Cookman
The Tulane Green Wave faced their biggest test of the season to this point last Friday against the Furman Paladins.
After defeating the Southern Conference standouts last season in New Orleans in double-overtime, they lost in the rematch. Furman led wire-to-wire in what ended up being a 75-67 loss.
While the defeat was disappointing, teams can learn a lot about themselves based on how they respond to adversity.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but the Green Wave were able to answer the call on Tuesday night against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
Tulane ended up winning, 72-57, but there were points where things got a little hairy.
With four turnovers committed in the first four minutes of the game, Bethune-Cookman was able to get out to an early six-point lead.
Eventually, Ron Hunter’s squad settled in and found their groove.
Redshirt freshman guard Mari Jordan provided a spark and helped build his team’s lead late in the first half. He scored 11 points in a row, knocking down three 3-pointers and adding another bucket to help push what was a close game to 40-26 advantage.
That was all the breathing room the Green Wave needed, as they were able to keep the visitors at bay.
Jordan finished the game with 14 points, eight rebounds, one steal and two blocks. The most damage offensively was done by Rowan Brumbaugh and Kaleb Banks, who each recorded a double-double in the game.
Brumbaugh, a point guard transfer from the Georgetown Hoyas, scored 20 points with 10 assists, adding five rebounds with one steal and only two turnovers in 37 minutes of action.
"My teammates just gave me confidence," he said, via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. "I think this is what I can do."
Banks, who scored only six points against the Paladins after being in double-figures the first three games of the season, got back on track against the Wildcats when he scored a game-high tying 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year.
The Indiana Hoosiers transfer rounded out his stat line with one assist, one steal and two blocks in 36 minutes. 18 out of his 22 points were scored after halftime, as he admitted he was settling too much early on.
"I was settling in the first half," he said. "I shot more 3s, but in the second half I was more aggressive. I started off with a dunk, got an offensive rebound and got fouled, and that got me going."
It was a struggle at times offensively with Gregg Glenn III dealing with an injury and playing only six minutes. The only other players to score for Tulane in the game were Kam Williams and Percy Daniels, who scored eight points apiece off the bench.
But, the Green Wave got the victory, which is the most important thing.
They will be back on the hardwood Friday night when they host the New Orleans Privateers at Devlin Fieldhouse with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.