Tulane gets one more crack at one of the top three teams in the AAC tomorrow, and this is by far the Green Wave's best chance to win. Although UAB is not a top-100 team in the NET due to an incredibly poor non-conference performance, the Blazers have NCAA tournament caliber talent and were the preseason pick of the coaches to win the league over Memphis. Tulane lost to Memphis at home, lost to North Texas on the road and gets UAB at home, where it will be a slight underdog with the point spread. I know this much. UAB is not as good a team on the road as ECU is at home, so Tulane's predictable and annual loss in Greenville, N.C. won't have much bearing tomorrow.
Tulane has yet to lose two conference games in a row, so something's gotta give. A win clinches the 4 seed, and if FAU wins at home against ECU in a game that starts an hour before this one, the Wave will lock up the double bye before its game is over.
I talked to Ron Hunter, Rowan Brumbaugh and Asher Woods today before practice:
HUNTER
On importance of winning for confidence entering AAC tourney:
"We need that. We know we play well in this building. We also know we're playing a really good team in this building also, but right now I want to make sure the message they understand is, hey, we've had a great year, and one of the things we've done is finish games well for the most part; let's finish the season the same way. That's the message to them.--you know what, finish the season the way we started in conference play and let's finish it well."
On key to beating UAB:
"We can't do what we did the other day. We can't turn the ball over early. When you turn the ball over and take quick shots against these guys, they turn them into points at the other end. They've probably got the most talented player in the league sitting there, so we've got our work cut out for us, but we played well when we played them the first time. That was our third game in the league, and we're a much different team now, and so are they. They are all seniors for the most part, but we have another energy in this building. I hope we save our best for last in this building for this season."
On Yaxel Lendeborg:
"We just have to make sure, I thought for the most part we rebounded well against them (in the first meeting), but you just have to take care of the ball and have good shot selection. You can't let them just race up and down the floor with 3s and dunks. They just feed off that energy, and they are really good when that happens."
On Kam Williams taking one shot against ECU and not starting the second half:
"He does (need to be more aggressive), but for a guy like Kam that's a lot of pressure for a freshman. It's one of the reasons why I don't play freshmen because of the ups and the downs. Like most young people, not just our freshmen, they play much better at home than they do on the road. It's something he'll learn. He'll be much better at it a year from now, but just learning how to be able to go to that next level and find the next part of your game. When they take this away, you've got to be able to do this, and all of the hoopla that goes with being a good player, he's learning how to handle all that. We're trying to protect him, but there's only so much protecting you can do."
BRUMBAUGH
On importance of playing well Sunday heading into AAC tourney:
"It's very important just for momentum standpoint. You don't want to come into the tournament with back-to-back losses. We didn't play the way we should have at ECU. It's a big game. I don't think we've lost two in a row in conference, so just to keep that going and be able to return the next day and be better than you were the previous day is very important."
On what went wrong at ECU:
"We got rattled and got away from our game plan offensively and defensively. The crowd was definitely an advantage for them. Our home crowd isn't that great, so when we get those crowds, sometimes we get sped up, and I think that's what happened again."
On potential:
"You see our potential. We lost to UAB. We lost to Memphis. We lost to North Texas, all teams we feel are beatable. We are in fourth place right now. We have the talent. If we have a great game plan and we buy in and we take every possession one at a time and make every possession about winning, I think we can beat any team in this league."
WOODS
On importance of this game:
"It's huge. It wouldn't matter if we had three games left. It's always about the next game. and focusing on that. We've just got to go in and prepare today and be ready to play tomorrow. Everything's in front of us. We've got a huge opportunity to come out and get a win and control what we can control and get it done."
On tourney potential:
"We've got a good group of guys willing to fight and willing to compete and we know that. We know we're right there. We're maturing game by game, practice by practice, day by day. If we get ourselves in a good spot and we come out and compete, there's a lot of wonderful things we can get done when it's conference play."
On key against UAB:
"It's just about heart, intensity. We've got to come out with our foot on the gas and ready to play because we haven't done the best job of starting, so we have to focus on that and coming out and starting well. It's just about the details. We've got to be where we need to be on defense and we have to convert on offense. At the end of the day it's about that competitive spirit."
Tulane has yet to lose two conference games in a row, so something's gotta give. A win clinches the 4 seed, and if FAU wins at home against ECU in a game that starts an hour before this one, the Wave will lock up the double bye before its game is over.
I talked to Ron Hunter, Rowan Brumbaugh and Asher Woods today before practice:
HUNTER
On importance of winning for confidence entering AAC tourney:
"We need that. We know we play well in this building. We also know we're playing a really good team in this building also, but right now I want to make sure the message they understand is, hey, we've had a great year, and one of the things we've done is finish games well for the most part; let's finish the season the same way. That's the message to them.--you know what, finish the season the way we started in conference play and let's finish it well."
On key to beating UAB:
"We can't do what we did the other day. We can't turn the ball over early. When you turn the ball over and take quick shots against these guys, they turn them into points at the other end. They've probably got the most talented player in the league sitting there, so we've got our work cut out for us, but we played well when we played them the first time. That was our third game in the league, and we're a much different team now, and so are they. They are all seniors for the most part, but we have another energy in this building. I hope we save our best for last in this building for this season."
On Yaxel Lendeborg:
"We just have to make sure, I thought for the most part we rebounded well against them (in the first meeting), but you just have to take care of the ball and have good shot selection. You can't let them just race up and down the floor with 3s and dunks. They just feed off that energy, and they are really good when that happens."
On Kam Williams taking one shot against ECU and not starting the second half:
"He does (need to be more aggressive), but for a guy like Kam that's a lot of pressure for a freshman. It's one of the reasons why I don't play freshmen because of the ups and the downs. Like most young people, not just our freshmen, they play much better at home than they do on the road. It's something he'll learn. He'll be much better at it a year from now, but just learning how to be able to go to that next level and find the next part of your game. When they take this away, you've got to be able to do this, and all of the hoopla that goes with being a good player, he's learning how to handle all that. We're trying to protect him, but there's only so much protecting you can do."
BRUMBAUGH
On importance of playing well Sunday heading into AAC tourney:
"It's very important just for momentum standpoint. You don't want to come into the tournament with back-to-back losses. We didn't play the way we should have at ECU. It's a big game. I don't think we've lost two in a row in conference, so just to keep that going and be able to return the next day and be better than you were the previous day is very important."
On what went wrong at ECU:
"We got rattled and got away from our game plan offensively and defensively. The crowd was definitely an advantage for them. Our home crowd isn't that great, so when we get those crowds, sometimes we get sped up, and I think that's what happened again."
On potential:
"You see our potential. We lost to UAB. We lost to Memphis. We lost to North Texas, all teams we feel are beatable. We are in fourth place right now. We have the talent. If we have a great game plan and we buy in and we take every possession one at a time and make every possession about winning, I think we can beat any team in this league."
WOODS
On importance of this game:
"It's huge. It wouldn't matter if we had three games left. It's always about the next game. and focusing on that. We've just got to go in and prepare today and be ready to play tomorrow. Everything's in front of us. We've got a huge opportunity to come out and get a win and control what we can control and get it done."
On tourney potential:
"We've got a good group of guys willing to fight and willing to compete and we know that. We know we're right there. We're maturing game by game, practice by practice, day by day. If we get ourselves in a good spot and we come out and compete, there's a lot of wonderful things we can get done when it's conference play."
On key against UAB:
"It's just about heart, intensity. We've got to come out with our foot on the gas and ready to play because we haven't done the best job of starting, so we have to focus on that and coming out and starting well. It's just about the details. We've got to be where we need to be on defense and we have to convert on offense. At the end of the day it's about that competitive spirit."