The Green Wave took down the Tigers 78-76 to snap a five-game losing streak.
In what seemed impossible heading into the day, the Tulane Green Wave men's basketball program knocked off what's been considered a hardwood giant for years.
Rowan Brumbaugh hit a go-ahead layup with just seconds remaining, and the Green Wave took down the Memphis Tigers by a score of 78-76. With the win, Tulane snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 13-9 on the season, including a 4-5 mark in American Conference play.
The team entered a hostile, loud road environment in Memphis but didn't back down from a fight. Tulane went up by as many as 15 points in the matchup, and although the Tigers certainly tried to claw their way back into the game, the visiting squad never fully gave up control.
Brumbaugh finished the night being hailed a hero, leading the team with 27 points. He and teammate Asher Woods played the entire 40-minute contest; Woods finished the night with 19 points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists. Starting forward Tyler Ringgold was the only other Green Wave player to finish in double figures with 12 points, while guard Curtis Williams pulled down a team-high seven rebounds to go along with his seven points. Luke Rasmussen struggled in just his second-consecutive start, but he did contribute two rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes of action.
Scotty Middleton, Percy Daniels and JoJo Moore saw limited playing time from the bench, ultimately combining for 13 points, two rebounds and eight assists.
Tulane did much better than it has in quite a while with an even 50-percent shooting percentage, and it bested the Tigers beyond the three-point line by hitting 41.7-percent of its shots. Additionally, the Green Wave had 17 assists to Memphis' 11.
However, rebounding was once again an issue for the visiting team. Tulane pulled down just 23 total boards -- 20 on defense, and only three on offense. For comparison, the Tigers had 40 rebounds on the day, including 16 on the offensive glass. Those numbers are almost unbeatable -- had the Green Wave not had a much better shooting day, things could've gone in the wrong direction.
On a more positive note, the team did have four blocks and 10 steals on the day.
Sunday's win doesn't magically fix the season for Tulane, but it's refreshing to see the team go out, compete and ultimately come back with a win. Memphis isn't an easy team to beat even on a down year, and the victory shows that the Green Wave does have the potential to hang with some of the league's better teams.
Can Tulane push that win streak to two games? The program will have a week off before looking to do just that against the Wichita State Shockers on February 8th. That game tips off at 1 p.m. in Uptown.