Tulane Green Wave Shows Promising Growth With Late-Game Execution

The Tulane Green Wave men's basketball team is learning from early-season miscues and showing excellent growth on the court.

Tulane Green Wave forward Kaleb Banks (1) zeros in on a rebound against the South Florida Bulls during the first half of an NCAA men's basketball game at Devin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, Louisiana. | Scott Threlkeld, The Times-Picaune

The 2024-25 men’s college basketball season has been a roller coaster ride for the Tulane Green Wave.

Head coach Ron Hunter knew coming into the season that there would be bumps in the road with nearly an entirely new roster that lacked experience. Without a single senior and several players without extensive playing time, patience would need to be shown.

Tulane has taken some lumps along the way, as their youth has cost them at points during the year.

Long offensive droughts have plagued the team and late-game execution has led to some excruciating losses.

While frustrations can mount from those mistakes, the most important thing is how you respond to them.

On Saturday, in their fourth American Athletic Conference game of the year, the Green Wave looked like they turned a corner.

Prior to the matchup against the South Florida Bulls, all of their victories had been by at least 15 points, as the Green Wave coasted to the finish line. That was not the case at Devlin Fieldhouse on Saturday, as they had to fight and claw to the final whistle.

For perhaps the first time all season, Tulane executed perfectly down the stretch, picking up an impressive 73-70 win that helped get the proverbial monkey off their backs.

“This team had not won a close game all year,” Hunter said, via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. “We needed that, and I needed that. We did a great job down the stretch.”

There was one play that stood out down the stretch that resulted in a dunk for Kaleb Banks, giving the Green Wave a four-point lead late in the contest.

Gregg Glenn III threw a long pass to Asher Woods, who corralled the ball and made the smart move, bringing the ball back out to the perimeter looking to drain more clock. Shortly after he saw Banks wide open under the basket for the dagger dunk.

“It wasn’t supposed to be Asher (on the home-run ball),” Hunter said. “We asked for the most athletic guy to go deep, not the least athletic. I think a month ago he would have tried to shoot that, and he misses the lay-up and we lose by three.”

That shows a lot about the growth the team has undergone as the campaign moves along. Now 3-1 in conference and back over the .500 mark at 9-8, the team is heading in the right direction.

A total team win against a strong opponent is a massive confidence boost. The Green Wave are a team that is going to get more dangerous as the year moves along as they gain more experience and the mistakes made early on disappear.