I believe tonight is the game that will determine whether Tulane gets a double bye in the AAC tournament. The Wave has the tiebreaker on FAU and an easier schedule down the stretch, but it easily could have gone 1-3 in its last four games while actually going 3-1 and is facing a surging ECU that has won six of its last eight and has two players who are scorchingly hot. Sixth-year forward C.J. Walker, who transferred after four seasons at UCF, had an OK game the other night but in the four games before that, he went 41 of 66 from the floor and averaged 28.3 points. Guard R.J. Felton, the rare player who has been at the same AAC school for four years, went 7 of 9 on 3-pointers against Charlotte on Sunday and is 16 of 27 from long range over the past three games after going a 47 of 148 (31.8) up until then.
I'd like to say Tulane will have to play better than it has in its previous four games to win, but one of ECU's two losses in its hot stretch was by 13 at home to Rice, so it is capable of a clunker. I also felt Tulane played pretty well against Rice despite almost losing, unlike the lucky victory against UTSA when the Wave played like crap for 38 minutes. The Owls, despite not passing the eye test, were tied with North Texas with a minute left in the game before facing Tulane and have been outscored 11-0 in the final minute of the past two games or they might have won both. But if ECU's two best players stay hot, it will be a tough assignment. Tulane will need to be sharper defensively than it was against Rice, although it still blocked a season-high-tying 10 shots and is so much better athletically on the interior than it was in past years under Ron Hunter.
After covering the point spread in six of its first seven games, Tulane has failed to cover in the the past five and is favored by 2.5 points tonight. Rowan Brumbaugh is playing at a ridiculously high level, and Asher Woods has enjoyed by far the best three-game stretch of his two-year Tulane stint. Gregg Glenn has a nice bounce-back game Saturday after a few rough ones, but the Wave has gotten nothing offensively out of Kaleb Banks in the past four games (save for one huge 3 in the final minute against UTSA), when he has gone for 4, 6, 2 and 2 point. He no longer is even looking for his shot. Maybe tonight he will get going again because he still is rebounding pretty well and playing mostly good defense.
After ECU comes a road game at Wichita State, which has won four in a row including Sunday's victory over Memphis, a home game against Charlotte (the only virtual lock win left), a trip to Tulsa (which is bad but gave Tulane problems at Devlin), a trip to ECU (Hunter is 0-5 there) and a home game with UAB. As you well know, I really like the way Tulane has played in conference and believe this team is legitimately good now, but its only win all year against a top 180 team in the NET was against FAU in January. Its next best wins in the NET were the sweep of No. 185 Rice, and four of the final six games are against opponents with better NET ratings than Rice. Tulane has won with defense (third in field goal percentage D, 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage D in league games) while its offense has slid (with a better showing against Rice). It must maintain that defensive intensity to finish strong. Tulane can win all six remaining games and it could go 2-4. It's up to them.
I talked to Ron Hunter and Asher Woods yesterday, along with a TV reporter:
HUNTER
On where he sees the team right now:
"We've got six regular season games to go and every possession means something, In our league records don't mean anything. Wichita beating Memphis gives us an outside shot of still winning this league, so as I told them, when you're in a race running track, you never want to look back, so we just want to keep looking ahead and worry about the game ahead of us. We've got a good East Carolina team coming in here and we've got to find a way to win that game. That's the only thing that matters right now."
On ECU being hot:
"They are an experienced basketball team. Their two best players have been around this league and are older. They are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country (27th), and so we have to do a job on the glass, and we have to limit them in transition. If we can do that, we feel pretty good about it, but we know we've got our work cut out for us. They're playing good basketball right now."
On taking Asher Woods' game-winning shot against Rice and running with it:
"Well we want to enjoy it, but at the end of the day that's over. Now what's got to happen with these last six games is our leadership has to be great. This is a confident team right now. We're still one of the youngest teams in the country, but we've got is a lot of confidence right now. These kids believe that they can win any game, so as long as you have that and you can bring that to the table, especially like we've been playing defense, we have a chance to win each game every night."
On 24-hour rule:
"Yeah, it was a great shot and we had a lot of great things to happen to make sure it happened, and we were on the other side of it earlier this year it didn't happen for us, so we understand you just have to get ready. East Carolina can care less about that, so we just have to get ready to play East Carolina."
On what R.J. Hunter brings to staff:
"He knows a little bit about last-second shots, but again, what he does is he's been a guy that's been in One Shining Moment, March Madness, the Cinderella story, the whole thing, but he's also been a first-round draft pick. All of our guys would love to have what he's done before, so he brings that to them, he brings the work ethic, and it's great whenever you can work with your son and see his happiness. I just gotta teach him the cool moments of when a coach sees a buzzer-beater, there's a cool way of doing it. I tried to explain that to him, but he looked at me and said yeah, yours was real cool, falling off a stool (when R.J. hit a 30-footer to beat Baylor from a 1-point deficit with 2.6 seconds left against Baylor in the 2015 NCAA tourney). So it's do as dad says, not as he does."
On how conversation went when R.J. decided to join the staff:
"It was interesting. He brought it to my attention. He said I want to try this out, it's family business. I said, listen, it's a hard business to do it, but let's see how we can do it, but let's see how we can do it, an boy he's been great at it, he really has. The players have just adapted to him, and it's really helped us. He spends an enormous amount of time with them on their shooting, so of course he's going to take credit when they're shooting well but not when they're shooting bad."
On Rowan Brumbaugh:
"Probably the biggest thing is his defense is what's really surprised me, but I still think he's probably the most underrated guard in the country. The numbers he's putting up right now are absolutely incredibly, playing about 38, 39 minutes a game, not resting him at all. The guy never gets tired. I absolutely love the guy, and I just think nationally he's not getting the attention he deserves."
On Brumbaugh making two clutch free throws when they were absolutely needed in wins against UTSA and Rice:
"It's his confidence. He's a very confident player right now and he loves playing with his teammates in that regard, and again, one of the things I always look at really good players whether it's at the college level or the pro level, do they make others better around them, and he definitely does that."
ASHER WOODS
On key to beating ECU:
"Focus. Just focus. It's about the next game, the next day, moving on from the last game. It doesn't matter if we're 8-4. Nobody cares in this league. It's about protecting home court. We've got come out with intensity and we've got to prepare. I think we've been doing that the right way each and every day, and if we do that, we put ourselves in a good spot to come out with the Dub."
On having already put big shot past him:
"Yeah, after the game you've gotta enjoy the little moments and be thankful. I always want to show gratitude to God. I'm always thankful for my Lord and savior. It kind of keeps you where you feet are and keeps your perspective. You've got to drop it and move on to the next game, whether you win by 30 or you win by 3 as we did."
On what went through his mind on the game-winning shot:
"On defense the time was running down. Honestly I thought they went a little late, so the kid drove on Rowan. Gregg made an amazing play, one of the best plays I've seen defensively on TV and in person. Kudos to Gregg. It was a big-time play by a big-time player. He got the block, he got the rebound. We made eye contact. I looked up at the clock, and from that point on it was kind of muscle memory. I'm thankful, man, that God gave me the ability to put that time in and execute in that moment and we got a Dub."
On if it was out-of-body experience:
"Somewhat. It was a pretty, a shot that you work on. It wasn't a step-back 3, behind the back. It was a shot that you can replicate over and over and over again."
On momentum from that type of victory:
"When you get a win like that, collectively it brings you together, and I think it did that with us there. It made us hungry. When you get a win like that, you also realize it didn't have to be that close. There's a lot of things we could have cleaned up and we're focusing on cleaning them up to not put ourselves in that situation."
On winning a bunch of tight games:
"It's a testament to the group. We fight, and we don't care about the excuses of we're young or the age. At the end of the day nobody cares how old you are. It's about wins and losses and it's about coming together at the right time and linking arms and getting the job done."
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I'd like to say Tulane will have to play better than it has in its previous four games to win, but one of ECU's two losses in its hot stretch was by 13 at home to Rice, so it is capable of a clunker. I also felt Tulane played pretty well against Rice despite almost losing, unlike the lucky victory against UTSA when the Wave played like crap for 38 minutes. The Owls, despite not passing the eye test, were tied with North Texas with a minute left in the game before facing Tulane and have been outscored 11-0 in the final minute of the past two games or they might have won both. But if ECU's two best players stay hot, it will be a tough assignment. Tulane will need to be sharper defensively than it was against Rice, although it still blocked a season-high-tying 10 shots and is so much better athletically on the interior than it was in past years under Ron Hunter.
After covering the point spread in six of its first seven games, Tulane has failed to cover in the the past five and is favored by 2.5 points tonight. Rowan Brumbaugh is playing at a ridiculously high level, and Asher Woods has enjoyed by far the best three-game stretch of his two-year Tulane stint. Gregg Glenn has a nice bounce-back game Saturday after a few rough ones, but the Wave has gotten nothing offensively out of Kaleb Banks in the past four games (save for one huge 3 in the final minute against UTSA), when he has gone for 4, 6, 2 and 2 point. He no longer is even looking for his shot. Maybe tonight he will get going again because he still is rebounding pretty well and playing mostly good defense.
After ECU comes a road game at Wichita State, which has won four in a row including Sunday's victory over Memphis, a home game against Charlotte (the only virtual lock win left), a trip to Tulsa (which is bad but gave Tulane problems at Devlin), a trip to ECU (Hunter is 0-5 there) and a home game with UAB. As you well know, I really like the way Tulane has played in conference and believe this team is legitimately good now, but its only win all year against a top 180 team in the NET was against FAU in January. Its next best wins in the NET were the sweep of No. 185 Rice, and four of the final six games are against opponents with better NET ratings than Rice. Tulane has won with defense (third in field goal percentage D, 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage D in league games) while its offense has slid (with a better showing against Rice). It must maintain that defensive intensity to finish strong. Tulane can win all six remaining games and it could go 2-4. It's up to them.
I talked to Ron Hunter and Asher Woods yesterday, along with a TV reporter:
HUNTER
On where he sees the team right now:
"We've got six regular season games to go and every possession means something, In our league records don't mean anything. Wichita beating Memphis gives us an outside shot of still winning this league, so as I told them, when you're in a race running track, you never want to look back, so we just want to keep looking ahead and worry about the game ahead of us. We've got a good East Carolina team coming in here and we've got to find a way to win that game. That's the only thing that matters right now."
On ECU being hot:
"They are an experienced basketball team. Their two best players have been around this league and are older. They are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country (27th), and so we have to do a job on the glass, and we have to limit them in transition. If we can do that, we feel pretty good about it, but we know we've got our work cut out for us. They're playing good basketball right now."
On taking Asher Woods' game-winning shot against Rice and running with it:
"Well we want to enjoy it, but at the end of the day that's over. Now what's got to happen with these last six games is our leadership has to be great. This is a confident team right now. We're still one of the youngest teams in the country, but we've got is a lot of confidence right now. These kids believe that they can win any game, so as long as you have that and you can bring that to the table, especially like we've been playing defense, we have a chance to win each game every night."
On 24-hour rule:
"Yeah, it was a great shot and we had a lot of great things to happen to make sure it happened, and we were on the other side of it earlier this year it didn't happen for us, so we understand you just have to get ready. East Carolina can care less about that, so we just have to get ready to play East Carolina."
On what R.J. Hunter brings to staff:
"He knows a little bit about last-second shots, but again, what he does is he's been a guy that's been in One Shining Moment, March Madness, the Cinderella story, the whole thing, but he's also been a first-round draft pick. All of our guys would love to have what he's done before, so he brings that to them, he brings the work ethic, and it's great whenever you can work with your son and see his happiness. I just gotta teach him the cool moments of when a coach sees a buzzer-beater, there's a cool way of doing it. I tried to explain that to him, but he looked at me and said yeah, yours was real cool, falling off a stool (when R.J. hit a 30-footer to beat Baylor from a 1-point deficit with 2.6 seconds left against Baylor in the 2015 NCAA tourney). So it's do as dad says, not as he does."
On how conversation went when R.J. decided to join the staff:
"It was interesting. He brought it to my attention. He said I want to try this out, it's family business. I said, listen, it's a hard business to do it, but let's see how we can do it, but let's see how we can do it, an boy he's been great at it, he really has. The players have just adapted to him, and it's really helped us. He spends an enormous amount of time with them on their shooting, so of course he's going to take credit when they're shooting well but not when they're shooting bad."
On Rowan Brumbaugh:
"Probably the biggest thing is his defense is what's really surprised me, but I still think he's probably the most underrated guard in the country. The numbers he's putting up right now are absolutely incredibly, playing about 38, 39 minutes a game, not resting him at all. The guy never gets tired. I absolutely love the guy, and I just think nationally he's not getting the attention he deserves."
On Brumbaugh making two clutch free throws when they were absolutely needed in wins against UTSA and Rice:
"It's his confidence. He's a very confident player right now and he loves playing with his teammates in that regard, and again, one of the things I always look at really good players whether it's at the college level or the pro level, do they make others better around them, and he definitely does that."
ASHER WOODS
On key to beating ECU:
"Focus. Just focus. It's about the next game, the next day, moving on from the last game. It doesn't matter if we're 8-4. Nobody cares in this league. It's about protecting home court. We've got come out with intensity and we've got to prepare. I think we've been doing that the right way each and every day, and if we do that, we put ourselves in a good spot to come out with the Dub."
On having already put big shot past him:
"Yeah, after the game you've gotta enjoy the little moments and be thankful. I always want to show gratitude to God. I'm always thankful for my Lord and savior. It kind of keeps you where you feet are and keeps your perspective. You've got to drop it and move on to the next game, whether you win by 30 or you win by 3 as we did."
On what went through his mind on the game-winning shot:
"On defense the time was running down. Honestly I thought they went a little late, so the kid drove on Rowan. Gregg made an amazing play, one of the best plays I've seen defensively on TV and in person. Kudos to Gregg. It was a big-time play by a big-time player. He got the block, he got the rebound. We made eye contact. I looked up at the clock, and from that point on it was kind of muscle memory. I'm thankful, man, that God gave me the ability to put that time in and execute in that moment and we got a Dub."
On if it was out-of-body experience:
"Somewhat. It was a pretty, a shot that you work on. It wasn't a step-back 3, behind the back. It was a shot that you can replicate over and over and over again."
On momentum from that type of victory:
"When you get a win like that, collectively it brings you together, and I think it did that with us there. It made us hungry. When you get a win like that, you also realize it didn't have to be that close. There's a lot of things we could have cleaned up and we're focusing on cleaning them up to not put ourselves in that situation."
On winning a bunch of tight games:
"It's a testament to the group. We fight, and we don't care about the excuses of we're young or the age. At the end of the day nobody cares how old you are. It's about wins and losses and it's about coming together at the right time and linking arms and getting the job done."
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