Tulane earns just their fourth win of the year on the road against the struggling USF Bulls, 82-67. USF, reeling from the recent loss of their top scoring point guard, Jahmal McMurray, and the recent firing of head coach, Orlando Antigua, notch their fourth straight loss in a row, ninth on the season.
The Green Wave led all but a few minutes of the first half, by as much as ten points at with about 15 minutes to go in the period, but closed the half leading by just a pair, 40-38. Tulane guard, Kain Harris, had a solid half, going 3 for 5, scoring 12 points, while the Bulls had a 14-12 advantage in the paint.
The second half of play was close At the start, with the Bulls leading 45-44 with 15:24 remaining in the game. It was a brief lead, the only one of the half for USF, and the Green Wave quickly took it away, building double digit leads of their own before ending it by 15, 82-67.
Harris had a stellar effort for Tulane, scoring 27 of the Green Wave’s 41 bench points. Fellow guard, Cameron Reynolds scored 14, while center, Ryan Smith, and forward Blake Paul scored 11 and 10, respectively. Tulane scored 22 points off of turnovers, compared to just ten for the Bulls.
The Bulls had three players in double digits, led by guard, Geno Thorpe, with 16. Center, Ruben Guerrero, and forward, Luis Santos, each scored a dozen. The only bright spot for USF was their dominance inside, outscoring the Green Wave 34-28 in the paint. Every other notable statistic favored Tulane.
After the game, interim Bulls’ head coach, Murry Bartow, said, “If I was going to point out a positive, I would look at the five position. If you look at Ruben and Luis combined, those guys play the five, and they had 24 combined points and nine combined rebounds. So, 24 and nine from that one combined position, we can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Tulane improves to 4-12 (1-3) on the season and will host SMU on Sunday. The Bulls drop to 6-9 (0-4) and will visit Memphis on Saturday for a 6 PM tipoff.