Second Half Surge Pushes Tulane Men's Basketball Past Nicholls, 82-72
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Tulane men's basketball (5-2) rode a 21-1 second-half scoring run to secure the 82-72 victory over Nicholls (0-6) Friday afternoon inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The Green Wave shot 56.5 percent from the field and dominating the around the rim, scoring 22 points in the paint during the second half against the Colonels.
With the win, the Wave improved to 3-1 at home on the season. The Green Wave also moved to 22-1 all-time against Nicholls, including a perfect 20-0 record in Uptown. The victory pushed Tulane's record against Louisiana teams under Head Coach Ron Hunter to 16-4, with a 14-4 mark at home.
Tulane Quartet in Double-Digits
Seven players scored at least six points for Tulane, including four in double figures. Asher Woods led the team with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including two three-pointers. The senior guard also contributed five rebounds and a team-high three steals. Curtis Williams Jr. added 16 points, while Tyler Ringgold scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked two shots. Scotty Middleton rounded out the leaders with a season-high 11 points, including three three-pointers.
KJ Greene stepped up to orchestrate the offense, recording a career-high seven assists. As a team, the Wave totaled 20 assists, marking a season high through seven games.
Tulane started strong, racing to an 11-1 lead just over three minutes into the game. They extended their first-half lead to its largest margin 32-18 with 8:11 remaining. Nicholls mounted a brief rally to cut the deficit to five, but the Green Wave responded with a 5-0 run to take a 46-36 halftime lead.
In the second half, Nicholls made an early push, taking their first lead at 49-48 with 15:18 remaining. Over the next three minutes, the Colonels went on a 10-5 run to forge their largest advantage at 59-53 with 12:30 left.
A timeout by Tulane reset the team's focus, sparking a 17-0 run that put the Green Wave back in front, 70-59. The run eventually grew to 21-1, giving Tulane a 14-point lead with 4:27 remaining. The Wave held off Nicholls in the final minutes to secure the 82-72 victory.
Next, Tulane will host in-state opponent Grambling on Tuesday, December 2. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. in Uptown.
Courtesy Tulane Athletics
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.