Some info before tipoff:
__Because of Tulane's incredibly weak non-conference schedule, the computers and formulas still do no believe in the Wave. KenPom.com has Tulane the second-lowest rated AAC team at No. 153, ahead of ECU (229) but below Wichita State (25), Houston (30), Memphis (40), Cincinnati (43), UConn (76), SMU (84), Temple (89), Tulsa (114), UCF (118) and USF (124). UCF has lost its first four AAC games by an average of 10 points and last won a true road game on Nov. 17, 67-65 at Illinois State after trailing by 9 with 9:30 left. Illinois State is 6-10. If you are wondering why Tulane is so low after starting 2-2 in the AAC, its non-conference schedule strength was rated 340th out of 353 Division I teams in the RPI.
__Freshman post Nobal Days had one of the best zero-point games you'll ever see against Temple. He shut down the Owls inside, moved the ball well on offense and was one of Tulane's MVPs for the game.
"He's my security blanket, he really is, and not only mine, but I think the players," Ron Hunter said. "I took him out the game and K.J. screamed at me to get him back in. He just does so many good things for us. When he's on the floor, he just makes winning plays. He just does."
__Tulane looked like a cohesive team against Temple, moving the ball really well on offense for the first 30 minutes or so, something that had not been the case earlier in the year with a thrown-together lineup of guys playing with each other for the first time. They feel their long road trips the past month made a huge difference.
"They really have progressed," Hunter said. "It's probably my lack of patience because I wanted it right away, but it takes time. We're just now getting to the point where we're learning each other. They are understanding me. I am understanding their strengths and their weaknesses. They understand my language and the way I coach. Our ball movement now is really good. At the beginning of the season it was terrible. We just took one pass and jacked it up, but part of it is we just didn't know and didn't trust the guy next to us, and how are you going to trust somebody you really don't know. It's really taken some time. Honestly, being on the road for a long time helped us. We had to be together and trust each other on the road and be with each other. We have not been the same team from the Memphis game, not so much on the floor, but off the floor."
To that topic, here's a telling quote from Christion Thompson:
"The time on the road helped us, moreso off the court I believe. I remember on our first road trip everybody pretty much stayed in their room, and Nobal and R.J. (McGee) came to my room and were like, so this is what y'all do on road trips? Everybody just goes to their rooms? And now it's almost like we're all in each other's rooms, playing 2K, clowning, hanging out. This group of guys really came together as one on the court and off the court and now we're starting to see the benefits of it."
--I was asked here what I thought the ceiling was for this team in the AAC, and I deferred comment until the next few games because I want to see how this team looks at home. But Hunter and the players believe they can compete for first place. Failing that, getting in the top four would be huge because the top four teams get byes to the quarterfinals in the AAC tourney. Tulane has not gotten a bye in a conference tournament since 2006-07 in CUSA under Dave Dickerson, when it finished tied for fourth at 9-7, won the tiebreaker and beat Tulsa in the quarterfinals before getting clobbered 71-49 by fifth-ranked Memphis in the semis on its home floor. Tulane's best finish since then was seventh in CUSA in 2013-14 and seventh in the American in 2014-15. The Wave had not finished above .500 in conference before 2006-07 since going 11-3 in CUSA in 96-97, when it got hosed out of an NCAA tourney bid by the selection committee and definitely would have gotten in if it had not lost 65-64 to 12th-ranked Cincinnati on a length-of-the-court, last-second pass to Danny Fortson, who traveled before laying it in at the buzzer to win 65-64. If Tulane takes care of its home court the rest of the month and wins at ECU, it will be 6-2 and absolutely in play for a bye.
__The player to watch for UCF, which struggles to put the ball in the basket, is 6-11, 240-pound center Collin Smith. Tulane has no one who can match up with him physically, and he scored 19 points in the last two games against SMU and Cincinnati. He took 15 free throws against Cincy, but Hunter's team rarely foul. Tulane ranks 11th nationally in fewest free throws allowed per game.
__Because of Tulane's incredibly weak non-conference schedule, the computers and formulas still do no believe in the Wave. KenPom.com has Tulane the second-lowest rated AAC team at No. 153, ahead of ECU (229) but below Wichita State (25), Houston (30), Memphis (40), Cincinnati (43), UConn (76), SMU (84), Temple (89), Tulsa (114), UCF (118) and USF (124). UCF has lost its first four AAC games by an average of 10 points and last won a true road game on Nov. 17, 67-65 at Illinois State after trailing by 9 with 9:30 left. Illinois State is 6-10. If you are wondering why Tulane is so low after starting 2-2 in the AAC, its non-conference schedule strength was rated 340th out of 353 Division I teams in the RPI.
__Freshman post Nobal Days had one of the best zero-point games you'll ever see against Temple. He shut down the Owls inside, moved the ball well on offense and was one of Tulane's MVPs for the game.
"He's my security blanket, he really is, and not only mine, but I think the players," Ron Hunter said. "I took him out the game and K.J. screamed at me to get him back in. He just does so many good things for us. When he's on the floor, he just makes winning plays. He just does."
__Tulane looked like a cohesive team against Temple, moving the ball really well on offense for the first 30 minutes or so, something that had not been the case earlier in the year with a thrown-together lineup of guys playing with each other for the first time. They feel their long road trips the past month made a huge difference.
"They really have progressed," Hunter said. "It's probably my lack of patience because I wanted it right away, but it takes time. We're just now getting to the point where we're learning each other. They are understanding me. I am understanding their strengths and their weaknesses. They understand my language and the way I coach. Our ball movement now is really good. At the beginning of the season it was terrible. We just took one pass and jacked it up, but part of it is we just didn't know and didn't trust the guy next to us, and how are you going to trust somebody you really don't know. It's really taken some time. Honestly, being on the road for a long time helped us. We had to be together and trust each other on the road and be with each other. We have not been the same team from the Memphis game, not so much on the floor, but off the floor."
To that topic, here's a telling quote from Christion Thompson:
"The time on the road helped us, moreso off the court I believe. I remember on our first road trip everybody pretty much stayed in their room, and Nobal and R.J. (McGee) came to my room and were like, so this is what y'all do on road trips? Everybody just goes to their rooms? And now it's almost like we're all in each other's rooms, playing 2K, clowning, hanging out. This group of guys really came together as one on the court and off the court and now we're starting to see the benefits of it."
--I was asked here what I thought the ceiling was for this team in the AAC, and I deferred comment until the next few games because I want to see how this team looks at home. But Hunter and the players believe they can compete for first place. Failing that, getting in the top four would be huge because the top four teams get byes to the quarterfinals in the AAC tourney. Tulane has not gotten a bye in a conference tournament since 2006-07 in CUSA under Dave Dickerson, when it finished tied for fourth at 9-7, won the tiebreaker and beat Tulsa in the quarterfinals before getting clobbered 71-49 by fifth-ranked Memphis in the semis on its home floor. Tulane's best finish since then was seventh in CUSA in 2013-14 and seventh in the American in 2014-15. The Wave had not finished above .500 in conference before 2006-07 since going 11-3 in CUSA in 96-97, when it got hosed out of an NCAA tourney bid by the selection committee and definitely would have gotten in if it had not lost 65-64 to 12th-ranked Cincinnati on a length-of-the-court, last-second pass to Danny Fortson, who traveled before laying it in at the buzzer to win 65-64. If Tulane takes care of its home court the rest of the month and wins at ECU, it will be 6-2 and absolutely in play for a bye.
__The player to watch for UCF, which struggles to put the ball in the basket, is 6-11, 240-pound center Collin Smith. Tulane has no one who can match up with him physically, and he scored 19 points in the last two games against SMU and Cincinnati. He took 15 free throws against Cincy, but Hunter's team rarely foul. Tulane ranks 11th nationally in fewest free throws allowed per game.