January 31, 2021 –
The Green Wave of Tulane had not won a game since January 2nd. They came out with their largest offensive output of the season to post an 81 – 64 win over the Temple Owls at the Liacouras Center. It was the first road win of the season for Tulane. Five Green Wave players scored in double figures led by Jaylen Forbes who scored a game-high 23 points.
The Wave played loose on offense getting the ball to the basket. That helped open up the full offense as Tulane made 16 of 24 (16 of 24) shots in the second half, and converted 11 of 12 free throws in the latter twenty minutes.
“They were a loose group,” said Temple Coach Aaron McKie. “They made their first couple of shots and that gave them life. It’s a dangerous team. They just came out with good energy and made shots early, and that gave them a lot of confidence. We weren’t able to take that confidence away and take them out of their rhythm throughout the game.”
Close to the basket a difference maker
Tulane made 21 shots from inside the arc and got 18 assists on those baskets. Getting to the hoop kept the visitors in the lead.
“There are a lot of individual players that do what they do,” said Owls center Jake Forrester. “And once they got it going, they shots, a lot of one-on-one’s. They were splitting us apart, playing individually loose and we couldn’t keep up with that.”
Where the game was decided
Temple was outrebounded 43 – 28, and made 23 of 58 field goal attempts. From the three-point line the Owls sank two of fourteen attempts. Coach McKie was not happy with the shot selection and felt the attempts were rushed.
Still, the Cherry and White were in proximity. The Owls trailed 35 – 27 at halftime. Temple opened the second half with a 14 – 4 run to take the lead. However, Tulane answered to get the lead back. With just over 7 minutes left to play the Green Wave led 60 – 55, then scored the next 7 points to take control of the game. They closed out the contest making 9 of 10 from the line. Temple could not get a chance to make a late run.
“We came out flat,” said Moorman II. “We just didn’t give our best performance defensively or offensively. I felt like we weren’t as unselfish as we have been in our last few games. Today, we came with a selfish approach that got us a loss at home.”
The Stat Line
Forrester scored 15 points, a season-high, while adding 9 rebounds. Jeremiah Williams took down 11 rebounds and handed out 9 assists to set a career-best in each category. Damian Dunn also scored 15 points.
For Tulane Kevin in Cross and Jordan Walker hit for 15 points each. Walker had 8 assists. Tylan Pope pulled down 13 rebounds in addition to his 12 points registering a double-double.
The Owls record stands at 4 – 5 overall and 3 – 4 in the American. As of now Temple is slated to play Cincinnati at home on Thursday. Tulane improves to 7 – 5 for the season and 2 – 5 in conference.
Temple played with heavy hearts as the school lost legendary coach and Hall of Famer John Chaney who passed away at the age of 89 on Friday.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@phillycollegesports.com
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