I'm not sure what ASN is, but the studio commentator was really good, correctly saying when Tulane was up 15 at halftime that it would be the biggest upset of the year in college basketball if it held up and that Tulane had beaten nobody good. Contrast him with the game analyst who kept saying Tulane had gotten a lot better as the year went along and would be extremely dangerous in the AAC tournament. Maybe that latter part will turn out to be true, but all of history indicates otherwise. Heck, Tulane had not won two games in a row in any conference tournament before last year since 1983.
I hope people aren't saying the game showed how much Tulane has underachieved this year. Obviously any team that has only four wins after 25 has underachieved regardless of its talent level, but last night was the outlier, not the other 24. Tulane is not capable of shooting as well as it did in the first half on anything but a rare basis, and good shooting always makes a team look good. One of the only things I've been impressed with this year is Tulane's attitude. The players have remained upbeat despite the dreadful season with the exception of the Houston game, when they let their heads hang in another outlier performance. But the reality is this is a bad team, not one that could have even been middle of the pack.
Tulane lost the game with some soft play from the 14:10 mark to the 8:30 mark of the second half but otherwise played extremely well. Up 54-43, Melvin Frazier traveled and then took a bad 3-pointer, leading to four points that cut the deficit to 54-47. Then cold-shooting Colin Slater took a horrible 3 after coming in for an injured Ray Ona Embo, leading to a transition 3 by SMU's Semi Ojeleye that pulled the Mustangs within 56-52. That got Ojeleye, the best player in the AAC, going after a brutal shooting performance, and he quickly sank another 3 to make it a 1-point game just before the midpoint of the half. Ryna Smith then turned it over with a soft move in the lane, leading to a 3-point play that gave SMU its first lead. Finally, Frazier, let an easy rebound go off his hands and bounce on the floor, handing a basket to SMU as it went up by 4. That's three bad plays by Frazier, but he actually had an outstanding game with a career high in assists and some excellent defense. I'm not trying to pick on him.
I'm impressed Tulane did not fall apart from there. It easily could have become a 15-point loss, but the Wave hung around until the final 30 seconds. If Tulane shoots like it did in the first half, it will be competitive the rest of the way, but there's been little evidence it can maintain that level.
That said, it's possible for Tulane to end the season on a three-game home winning streak, which would be quite remarkable considering the Wave is 2-22 at home in AAC action and has never won one in regulation. South Florida, Saturday's opponent, is 0-7 on the road and lost to Tulane by 15 at home. East Carolina, which comes to Devlin Fieldhouse next Tuesday, is 0-6 on the road in conference games and lost to SMU 86-46. Tulsa, which comes to Devlin on March 5, has lost five in a row overall, including a 22-point defeat at mediocre Memphis and an 18-point defeat at mediocre UCF in its last two road contests.
I'll go one step further. If Tulane wants to say it has gotten any better during the year, it HAS TO WIN ALL THREE OF THOSE GAMES. Otherwise, it's more of the same ugliness we've seen for the last several years.
I hope people aren't saying the game showed how much Tulane has underachieved this year. Obviously any team that has only four wins after 25 has underachieved regardless of its talent level, but last night was the outlier, not the other 24. Tulane is not capable of shooting as well as it did in the first half on anything but a rare basis, and good shooting always makes a team look good. One of the only things I've been impressed with this year is Tulane's attitude. The players have remained upbeat despite the dreadful season with the exception of the Houston game, when they let their heads hang in another outlier performance. But the reality is this is a bad team, not one that could have even been middle of the pack.
Tulane lost the game with some soft play from the 14:10 mark to the 8:30 mark of the second half but otherwise played extremely well. Up 54-43, Melvin Frazier traveled and then took a bad 3-pointer, leading to four points that cut the deficit to 54-47. Then cold-shooting Colin Slater took a horrible 3 after coming in for an injured Ray Ona Embo, leading to a transition 3 by SMU's Semi Ojeleye that pulled the Mustangs within 56-52. That got Ojeleye, the best player in the AAC, going after a brutal shooting performance, and he quickly sank another 3 to make it a 1-point game just before the midpoint of the half. Ryna Smith then turned it over with a soft move in the lane, leading to a 3-point play that gave SMU its first lead. Finally, Frazier, let an easy rebound go off his hands and bounce on the floor, handing a basket to SMU as it went up by 4. That's three bad plays by Frazier, but he actually had an outstanding game with a career high in assists and some excellent defense. I'm not trying to pick on him.
I'm impressed Tulane did not fall apart from there. It easily could have become a 15-point loss, but the Wave hung around until the final 30 seconds. If Tulane shoots like it did in the first half, it will be competitive the rest of the way, but there's been little evidence it can maintain that level.
That said, it's possible for Tulane to end the season on a three-game home winning streak, which would be quite remarkable considering the Wave is 2-22 at home in AAC action and has never won one in regulation. South Florida, Saturday's opponent, is 0-7 on the road and lost to Tulane by 15 at home. East Carolina, which comes to Devlin Fieldhouse next Tuesday, is 0-6 on the road in conference games and lost to SMU 86-46. Tulsa, which comes to Devlin on March 5, has lost five in a row overall, including a 22-point defeat at mediocre Memphis and an 18-point defeat at mediocre UCF in its last two road contests.
I'll go one step further. If Tulane wants to say it has gotten any better during the year, it HAS TO WIN ALL THREE OF THOSE GAMES. Otherwise, it's more of the same ugliness we've seen for the last several years.