Tulane Men Falls in Shriners' Children Charleston Classic Opener to Utah State, 96-75
In this story:
After the game was tied 40-40 at the half, Tulane men's basketball (3-2) was unable to hold off Utah State (5-0) in the second half dropping its first contest of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic 96-75 Friday afternoon. Despite the Green Wave connecting on 15 three-pointers against the Aggies, it was unfortunately not enough to beat the hot shooting of Utah State – 68.0 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from three – in the second half.
With the loss, the Wave falls to 1-3 all-time at the Charleston Classic in just its second trip to the tournament. Tulane went 1-2 in its first appearance in the Charleston Classic in 2009.
Overall, the Green Wave put forth a strong offensive effort inside TD Arena on Friday. Tulane connected at a 43.4 percent (23-53) clip from the field and a 50.0 percent clip (15-30) from beyond the arc. The 15 made three-pointers for the Wave is the most by the program since it sank 15 shots from downtown against Alcorn on November 11, 2024.
The backcourt trio of Rowan Brumbaugh, Asher Woods, and KJ Greene led the offensive attack for Tulane. Brumbaugh finished with a team-high 19 points, including four made threes, to mark his 35th consecutive game scoring in double figures. Woods followed with 16 points and three makes from downtown while Greene added 12 with a pair of triples. Curtis Williams Jr. rounded out the top offensive performers for Tulane with 11 points to go with three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
Defensively, senior Percy Daniels was the standout for the Green Wave as he tied his career-highs for blocks and steals in the contest. He finished with a team-best four blocks and a pair of takeaways.
Utah State claimed the early advantage in the contest before back-to-back threes from Williams tied the game at 12-12 just under six minutes into the game. The Aggies answered to pull back in front by five points, but Tulane responded with 11-unanswered points to take a 23-17 lead.
Another run from Utah State put the Wave behind 27-28 with 7:29 to play, but once again Tulane had an answer. The Green Wave built a six-point advantage with 3:06 on clock, however, the Aggies made the final push of the half to send the teams into the locker room tied 40-40.
Tulane poured in the first five points after the break to take a 45-40 lead less than a minute into the second half. Unfortunately, Utah State had an answer outscoring the Wave 21-5 over the next five minutes to put Tulane down by double figures.
The Green Wave briefly cut the deficit back to single digits at 61-52, but that would be as close as the team would get the remainder of the contest. Eventually the deficit grew to its largest at 24 points in the final minute of the game before Tulane ultimately lost 75-96.
Up next, the Green Wave will face the loser of Boston College and Davidson on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
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.