The Green Wave held on for a road victory against the Tigers on Sunday. Will that momentum carry through the remaining half of league play?
In a largely unexpected outcome, the Tulane Green Wave managed to knock off the Memphis Tigers on the hardwood on Sunday, securing the 78-76 victory with a go-ahead layup by Rowan Brumbaugh with just seconds remaining in the game.
After the past few games, it's easy to imagine that everyone within the program can now breathe a sigh of relief. There's no longer a five-game losing streak hanging over anyone's head, and the Green Wave did some good things in the victory. Memphis might be having a down year, but that doesn't make the win any less impressive for Tulane. After all, the Tigers have been a powerhouse within the American Conference for years now, and they had a major home court advantage in the matchup.
Will this momentum carry the team through the remaining nine games on the schedule, plus the conference tournament? Maybe... but there are still plenty of things to clean up.
While the shots were falling at a much better pace than usual for the Green Wave on Sunday, the lack of defense was alarming at times. This was especially true on the boards: Tulane had 21 defensive rebounds to Memphis' 24, but also gave up 16 offensive rebounds to the Tigers. That's far too many second-chance opportunities.
Additionally, the Green Wave let its opponent climb back into the game late, despite going up by as many as 15 points in the matchup. The team has shown that it has a hard time closing out games -- or, on the other side of things, fighting back from big deficits. While its has put together some gutsy, late-game wins this year, there have been quite a few close losses.
However, the morale boost that the victory has given the program can't go unnoticed. It's a big win for a lot of reasons, and it might can give the Green Wave just the spark it needs to grab a bit of an advantage back in the American.
The past few games have been difficult, but Tulane is entering a more manageable stretch over the next few weeks. The final four games of the regular season will be the toughest -- over a stretch of 12 days, the team will face the league's top team in the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, take on the South Florida Bulls and Temple Owls on the road, then wrap up the year with a home rematch against Memphis.
Are the team's odds of making it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in roughly three decades slim? Yes, as the only way it can reach March Madness at this point is by winning the conference tournament. However, the Green Wave has shown that it can compete with stronger teams... who knows, maybe a little bit of magic can happen.