Tulane Men's Basketball Wins Roller Coaster Game Against Florida Atlantic

Tulane won their second game in a row after beating Florida Atlantic in a roller coaster affair.

Tulane Green Wave jersey | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Right now, it's largely expected just one team from the AAC will make the NCAA Tournament, and that is not Tulane.

With Memphis being the powerhouse program in the conference and the Green Wave featuring fresh faces across the roster without a single senior present, their chances of earning an at-large bid if they don't win the conference tournament seems slim.

But, if they keep stacking up wins, they'll give themselves a chance.

Tulane (10-8, 4-1 conference) did that on Wednesday against Florida Atlantic (9-9, 2-3) with a roller coaster, 80-65, victory.

While the final score might not make it seem that way, there was more to this contest than just the 15-point difference when the clock hit zeroes.

The Green Wave got into an early deficit before they took their first lead with 14:26 left in the first half. They then went on an 11-2 run that gave them a double-digit advantage with under six minutes remaining.

Tulane was able to keep their large lead and went into halftime up 31-23.

When the second half started, though, a completely new game began.

Florida Atlantic was able to mount a huge comeback, outscoring the Green Wave, 20-10, to take back the lead at, 43-41, with 12:12 left in the contest.

But, with things knotted at 51 points apiece with just over eight-and-a-half minutes remaining, Tulane was able to showcase the offensive prowess they are capable of having when things are clicking.

From that point on, the Green Wave scored 29 points and held the Owls to just 14.

Tulane went 6-for-10 from the field and made 15 free throws, closing out a lesser opponent with hardnosed defense and efficient shooting.

It was another stellar performance from Kaleb Banks who had a game-high 25 points on 8-for-14 from the field with eight made free throws out of 10 attempts.

Rowan Brumbaugh joined him with 20 points while Asher Woods was the only other player to score double-digits with 16.

As a team, Tulane shot 46.3% from the field (25-54) and 26.9% from deep (7-26), but it was their proficiency from the free-throw line (23-27) that propelled them to victory.

The Green Wave have now won two games in a row and are starting to play their best ball against conference opponents, something they'll need to maintain with their next two contests coming on the road.

Tulane will be back in action against Temple (10-6, 2-1) on Jan. 19.

Tip off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT with the game broadcasted on ESPNU.