The Tulane Green Wave men’s basketball team under head coach Ron Hunter faced a formidable challenge against the USC Trojans in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown on Tuesday night.
The shortchanged roster because of the transfer portal opening prior to the tournament led to a swift elimination as the Green Wave fell 60-89 in the program’s first postseason appearance since 2014.
Unfortunately, it was clear from the start that it would likely be a fruitless endeavor with five players entering the portal prior to the tournament starting.
It was a sloppy night on both sides with each team committing 14 turnovers, despite four players reaching double figures. Tulane lost a season-high 13 of those turnovers in the first half.
Asher Woods led the Wave with 18 points, four rebounds, and a pair of assists. Rowan Brumbaugh finished with 11 points, seven assists, and three steals. Tyler Ringgold and Gregg Glenn III both totaled 10 points each.
It wasn’t enough to compensate for USC shooting 63.6 percent from the field and 50 percent on three-pointers. Tulane made seven of 22 three-point attempts.
After a slow start, the Green Wave kept fighting, trailing by nine with 3:46 left on the clock. However, an 11-5 run by the Trojans to end the first half led to a deficit Tulane never could climb out of.
With a team at full strength, they might have achieved this. Three of the team’s top scorers from the season initially entered the portal: Kaleb Banks, Kam Williams, and Mari Jordan.
Jordan then removed his name from the portal. He was surprisingly absent from the tournament in Las Vegas, as reported by Guerry Smith of NOLA.com, who stated that he is no longer with the team and did not travel.
Not only did the Green Wave have to take the court without three key starters, but depth pieces were critically missed, as Michael Eley and Spencer Elliott also entered the portal.
As a result, head coach Ron Hunter had to start players for the first time in months—and junior Percy Daniels for the first time in his career.
The lineup on Tuesday more closely resembled a group of strangers, having lost all the chemistry built up throughout the regular season.
It’s difficult to field a competitive team when both starters and bench players that paved the way to the College Crown are not there on the roster.
Tulane ends the season 19-15, and regrettably, didn’t learn much at all about the competitiveness of their full-strength roster in their first postseason appearance in 11 years.
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