Tulane Green Wave Lack of Experience Does Them In Against Memphis Tigers
The Tulane Green Wave were playing their biggest game of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season to this point on Thursday night.
They were welcoming the No. 19 ranked Memphis Tigers to Devlin Fieldhouse with a chance to cement their status as one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference. With a victory, they would move into a three-way tie for second place behind the North Texas Mean Green along with Memphis and the UAB Blazers.
Fans turned out in droves, as 3,445 people packed into the arena, more than double what the previous high was; 1,679 against the Florida Atlantic Owls.
For about three-quarters of the game, Tulane fans were treated to an incredibly competitive game of basketball.
Despite some hiccups early on, as it was evident the players were a little tight from how they were performing, the Green Wave was sticking with the Tigers. They would continually respond, showing some heart and moxie.
However, an issue that has plagued them throughout the campaign reared its ugly head again. Their lack of experience, especially in tight games, can only be overcome by going through the growing pains and learning from them.
On Thursday night, Tulane was given another lesson to learn by a veteran-laden Memphis squad.
Ultimately, that was a deciding factor in the outcome.
“For 30 minutes, we played like a veteran team against a top-20 team that can make a deep run in the NCAA tournament,” Hunter said, via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. “Then they hit two big 3s and we missed four of five free throws and kind of lost our composure for about a two- to two-and-a-half minute stretch and kind of just wilted from that point on. This is the first time our kids have played in this type of environment.”
Just how big of a disadvantage was Tulane at when it comes to experience on Thursday night?
The Tigers used a rotation of eight players; seven of them are seniors.
There isn’t a single senior on the Green Wave roster and even the upperclassmen in the rotation, Gregg Glenn III, Asher Woods, Kaleb Banks and Percy Daniels, combined for 33 starts coming into the year; 32 of them were by Woods when he was with the VMI Keydets two seasons ago.
That means point guard Rowan Brumbaugh, a sophomore who transferred into the program from the Georgetown Hoyas, is one of only two players on the roster who started a Division I game last season.
Their lack of experience can certainly be attributed to their struggles at points during the game, such as being outscored by 13 points in the final 10 minutes or so of the game as a young Tulane squad looked like a deer in the headlights at points down the stretch.
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.