Tulane Green Wave Star Needs To Get Back on Track for Team To Remain in AAC Race

To the surprise of many people, the Tulane Green Wave men’s basketball team has been incredibly competitive during AAC play.

Given their struggles out of conference, they went 6-7 with two of those victories not against Division 1 teams, it was anyone’s guess how they would perform once the conference schedule began.

The Green Wave has been a pleasant surprise, as they are currently 7-4 during AAC play, putting them in a tie with the Florida Atlantic Owls for fourth place. That is the spot to be in, as the top-four seeds will receive double byes into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in March.

Tulane is in a good spot, but if they want to remain one of the top four teams in the conference, they will need their star Kaleb Banks to get back on track.

The team’s leading scorer has hit a rough patch over the last three weeks or so.

In the first 17 games of the campaign, he scored in double-figures 16 times. He emerged as the go-to option offensively, scoring at all three levels and doing so with efficiency.

But, over the last six games he has struggled to consistently find a rhythm. It isn’t all too surprising that victories have been tougher to come by without their star putting the ball in the bucket, as the Green Wave are 3-3 during that stretch.

During the six-game stretch, Banks has made only 19-of-47 shot attempts overall. That comes out to 40.4%, well below his season number.

He has been ice-cold from 3-point range, knocking down only 3-of-19 attempts for a ghastly 15.8%. His free throw numbers are down as well, in terms of percentage and attempts, as he is only 3-for-9 from the charity stripe in his last six contests.

In four of the games he failed to make at least one free throw and went without an attempt twice. During the first 17 games, he failed to attempt a free throw only once and made at least two in every other game.

Head coach Ron Hunter has to figure out a way to get his leading scorer some easier opportunities as opponents are now keying in on him as the player they need to focus on slowing down the most.

Fatigue could also be playing a part, as this is the most that he has played during his collegiate career. His 718 minutes played this year are already double the 358 minutes he played the last two years combined with the Indiana Hoosiers.

His teammates have stepped up, as Rowan Brumbaugh and Asher Woods have taken on more of the scoring load.

But if Tulane is going to remain in the top four, Banks needs to get going again.

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