Tulane Men Try to Break Their Home Voodoo vs Temple Tonight
In this story:
The Tulane men's team aims to bounce back into the win column on Wednesday night when it welcomes Temple into Fogelman Arena tonight. The Green Wave holds an 8-6 record at home this season and is averaging 73.5 points per game in its eight home victories. However, in American Conference games, the Wave is 1-4 at home, something that has been a bug-a-boo for coach Ron Hunter.
"It's become more mental right now than anything else," Hunter shared. "You see (star guard) Rowan (Brumbaugh) miss two layups (Sunday against Wichita) the way he did, it's kind of just filtered through. They're pressing so hard. They want it so badly."
"It's contagious," Hunter said. "You miss two in a row and everybody starts to think about it."
Tonight's game between the Wave and the Owls is set to tipoff at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the action live on the Tulane Sports Network from Learfield on 106.7 The Ticket.
This marks the 25th all-time meeting between Tulane and Temple with the Green Wave trailing the series 9-15. The Wave lost the only meeting between the two programs last season 80-77 in Philadelphia on January 19, 2025, which snapped a four-game winning streak against the Owls. Tulane has won the last three matchups in New Orleans against the Owls and holds a 4-7 record at home in the series. The last time the Green Wave defeated Temple was at home on February 4, 2024, by a final score of 92-80 in overtime.
Tulane's Mental Makeup is Fragile
Though Hunter did not want to make excuses, he refers to the death of Gregg Glenn III over the Summer in a swimming accident. A tragic event that has set the tone for this squad.
"I'll be honest with you," Hunter shared. "The mental health of this team started at the beginning of the season. We haven't recovered from that. The same thing has happened to me. Mentally for me, this has been the toughest year of my life. I'm trying to get through that, and I'm an adult. So, I'm trying to help these young people. When things get bad, we just haven't handled it very well this year. Not to make any excuses, but it's our reality."
Wave Couldn't Find the Bucket Last Game
In its last time out, Tulane was unable to find enough offense against Wichita State on Sunday, February 8, falling 75-61 at home to the Shockers. The Green Wave struggled to find its shooting rhythm against the Shockers connecting at just a 17.6 percent (3-17) rate from beyond the arc. Rowan Brumbaugh and Tyler Ringgold were the only players to reach double figures in scoring for the Wave as Brumbaugh finished with a team-high 17 points followed by 13 points from Ringgold.
Brumbaugh is 27 points away from becoming the 40th player in program history to score 1,000 points in their Tulane career. In his Green Wave career, he is averaging 17.1 points per game across 57 games. The redshirt junior surpassed 1,000 points for his collegiate career earlier this season against Louisiana Tech on December 17. He has totaled 1,230 points in his collegiate career including 973 for the Wave.
Scouting the Owls
Temple enters Wednesday night's game on a two-game winning streak after East Carolina 81-73 on the road on February 7 to improve to 15-8 overall record and 7-3 in conference play. The Owls hold a 5-2 record this season in true road games including a 4-1 mark against league opponents while averaging 67.6 points on 42.7 percent shooting from the field in those games.
The Owls protect the rock better than any team in the conference this season. Temple is seventh in the nation in fewest turnovers per game at 8.1.
Four players average double figures in scoring for Temple - Derrian Ford (17.6), Aiden Tobiason (15.5), Jordan Mason (11.9), and Gavin Griffiths (11.3). Griffiths also sets the tone defensively for the Owls ranking second in the conference with 2.19 blocks per game.
Following the game against Temple, Tulane will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to face UAB on Sunday, February 15. The rematch between the Green Wave and the Blazer is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Portions 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.