The Tulane Green Wave men's basketball team is on a hot streak right now as they're tearing through American conference play.
When you’re hot, you’re hot, and the Tulane Green Wave men’s basketball team has, seemingly out of nowhere, figured things out. After a five-game skid in American conference play, the Green Wave now have won four straight with an 81-75 takedown of the Rice Owls on Sunday afternoon. That four-game winning streak is tied for their longest in league play as Tulane has suddenly found a rhythm. It was a dominant win for the Wave that followed up a gritty victory over the North Texas Mean Green where they came back from a 15-point deficit in the second half.
The shocking turnaround for Tulane has been led by star Rowan Brumbaugh in the midst of a career season, but other key players on the court have helped elevate the team to suddenly contend. Asher Woods tied his career high with a 24-point outing, followed by two players in double figures in Brumbaugh (19) and Tyler Ringgold with 16 points. That team effort was highlighted by their 34-27 rebound advantage and a considerable lead in nearly every metric, shooting 47.9 percent from the field, 41.4 percent on three-pointers, and a massive eight steals to Rice’s three.
Head coach Ron Hunter acknowledged his team’s hustle in his postgame comments, which was impressive throughout their road gauntlet and against an Owls squad who hadn’t played a game since last Saturday. There were sometimes they had to fight back throughout the contest, but it’s clear that what’s been happening for this team isn’t a fluke, or a stroke of luck. For whatever reason, Tulane figured it out, and they were able to build some grit and be battle tested throughout this latest stretch that they’ve shown the ability to dominate through and suddenly become major players in the American league tournament conversation, a sentence that felt nearly impossible to imagine a few weeks back.
It improves the Wave to 17-10 overall and 8-6 in American play, with a now winning record in league play due to the recent streak that was, frankly, sparked a few weeks back by the major road win against the Memphis Tigers that might have shown this team that they have the pieces for what it takes if they’re able to play together in concert. This four-win stretch has shown an abrupt ability to do that, and one they’ll hope to continue building on against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes on Wednesday night back at Devlin Fieldhouse.