There have been few bright spots for the Green Wave as its season has continued to spiral, but the team will look to find some stability and get back on track against a tough Bulls squad.
Things have been rough for the Tulane Green Wave on the hardwood -- and in all honesty, that's putting it lightly.
Tulane is now on a four-game losing streak after starting 3-0 in American Conference play, and the team will face another tough task on Wednesday night as it looks to tame the South Florida Bulls. USF enters the matchup with a 13-7 overall record, including a 5-2 mark in conference play that ties them for second place. Interestingly enough, the Green Wave's home court advantage might not be too much of a factor in this contest, as the Bulls are 4-2 on the road.
There have been very few bright spots for Tulane in its four-game losing streak, and there's been little effort to change some glaring mistakes. Preseason American Conference Player of the Year Rowan Brumbaugh continues to carry the load for the team, making the most significant contributions as a scorer and rebounder. He's coming off a career night against the Charlotte 49ers in which he scored 35 points.
The rest of the starting lineup has been largely shaky. Asher Woods has been a consistent scoring threat alongside Brumbaugh, though he's had his fair share of struggles in the last few weeks. Any of the other usual starters -- Scotty Middleton, Tyler Ringgold and Curtis Williams Jr. -- have been hot and cold.
One of the biggest problems for Tulane remains its lack of production off the bench. While few teams in college basketball have consistent double-digit scorers just waiting to get into the game, there's no reason why the Green Wave can't expect its bench players to come in and fill a significant void. Most of these second and third-string players have had at least one solid outing on the year, especially in the early weeks of the season, but it just hasn't translated to American Conference play.
One player who could hear his name called off the bench more quickly is Luke Rasmussen. The redshirt sophomore guard out of Lafayette College went 3-for-3 from the field for eight points in just seven minutes in last Friday's game against Charlotte and will look to carry that momentum through the rest of the season.
There are quite a few other glaring issues that the program needs to fix, but can it overcome the odds and take down a tough USF squad to give itself a chance heading into February? It'll be a tough task, but this team has proven that anything is possible.
Tip-off between the Green Wave and the Bulls is set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The game will air on ESPNU.