Feb. 16, 2004

Tulane (10-11, 3-7 C-USA)
vs.
East Carolina (9-12, 1-10 C-USA)

Wednesday, February 18 ~ 6 p.m. (Central)
Greenville, N.C. ~ Minges Coliseum

Game Notes as PDF

Tulane Schedule

Official East Carolina Athletics Website

Green Wave Facts
2003-04 Record: 10-11
2002-03 Record: 16-15
2003-04 C-USA Record: 3-7
2002-03 C-USA Record: 8-8
Head Coach: Shawn Finney
Alma Mater/Year: Fairmont St/1985
Record at Tulane/Year: 49-62/4th
Overall Record/Years: Same
President: Scott Cowen
Athletic Director: Rick Dickson
Basketball SID: John Sudsbury
Direct Phone: 504-314-7271
SID Fax: 504-865-5512
SID E-Mail: jsudsbu@tulane.edu
Ticket Office Phone: 504-861-WAVE

RADIO:
New Orleans, WTIX-AM, 690
Baton Rouge, WSKR-AM, 1210
Lafayette, KROF-AM, 960

TELEVISION:
None.

CATCH THE WAVE
After losing its first seven Conference USA games, Tulane has heated up and won three straight after coming from behind to upset TCU, 67-66, on Saturday. All three wins came at home as the stretch opened with a 70-65 win over USF and a 77-63 victory over Houston. A tough stretch is up next, however, as the Green Wave departs on Tuesday for a Wednesday game at East Carolina. The Wave goes straight from Greenville to Milwaukee for a Saturday match against Marquette.

TOUGH OPPONENTS
Tulane has faced some potent foes thus far in 2003-04, including five teams currently ranked. Here is a list of some of the Wave's opponents thus far, along with their records:

#4 Mississippi State: 21-1
#23 Memphis: 18-4
#17 Cincinnati: 17-4
#10 Louisville: 17-4
#24 LSU: 17-4
Southeastern La.: 16-5
UAB: 15-6

SENIOR SEND-OFF
Tulane celebrated Senior Day on Saturday evening as the Green Wave honored its three seniors. George Brown, Marc Siegel and Wayne Tinsley all arrived in 2000 and have played all four years of Shawn Finney's tenure. The Wave started all three and Tulane's first basket came on a Tinsley dunk and its next points came when Siegel found Brown for a big slam as all three enjoyed the starting nod.

THREE-POINT THREATS
The Green Wave has six players who have connected on 15 or more three-pointers this year. Ben Benfield leads the way with 30 trifectas, while Vytas Tatarunas (21) and Wayne Tinsley (18) are also potent threats. Marcus Kinzer has connected on 17 threes, while freshmen Chris Moore (15) and Dan Fitzgerald (15) have also shown a proclivity for long-range bombing. The 2000-01 squad had six players with 10 or more threes, but this is the first time in program history that the Wave has had six players with 11 or more treys in a season. There is also no other league team with six players in double digits in threes (Memphis and UAB each have five).

EAST CAROLINA EVALUATION
East Carolina has had a tough time since an injury to 6-8 senior forward Gabriel Mikulas ended his season. The Pirates were 8-3 before the game in which Mikulas broke his arm. Since that point, they have lost nine of 10 games. Despite the losses, ECU has been a tough opponent as six of their C-USA losses have been by six or fewer points, four of those at home where the Pirates have always been a tough foe. Guard Derrick Wiley leads ECU with 14.3 points per game, while 6-7 Erroyl Bing and 6-2 Mike Cook have 9.4 and 9.3 points per game, respectively. Big man Moussa Badine is a defensive force with 69 blocked shots.

COMEBACKER AGAINST TCU
Tulane extended its winning streak to three games with a thrilling comeback victory on Saturday against TCU. The Green Wave trailed by as many as 15 in the second half, but battled back with tough defense which produced a 14-1 run. Freshmen Vincent Camper and Dan Fitzgerald keyed the run while senior Wayne Tinsley had a big three-point play with 1:07 to go and sophomore Vytas Tatarunas hit what proved to be the game-winner with a half-hook with 5.7 seconds on the clock. Quincy Davis led four players in double figures with his 14 points, as well as nine boards and four blocks. Tinsley, Fitzgerald and Tatarunas all scored 10.

Recap and Stats

BENCHED!
On Saturday, Tulane's bench scored 39 points, actually outscoring the starting lineup by 11 points. It was just the second time that the Green Wave bench outscored the starters; the first came in the loss to Mississippi State when the reserves had 26 and the starters 24. The 39 points off the bench were also a season-high, surpassing the 34 scored in the USF win. In the last four league games, Tulane's bench has averaged 31.0 points per game (124 points in four games). Prior to the current stretch, the Wave bench was averaging 13.3 points per C-USA game (80 points in six games).

COACHING CALLS
Tulane opened Saturday night's game with all three seniors in the starting lineup as the team celebrated Senior Day. On the first play, senior Wayne Tinsley drove for a dunk, while the senior starting decision paid off for the Wave's next hoop as well, when Marc Siegel found George Brown for an open slam dunk. However, the top coaching moves came down the stretch. When Quincy Davis fouled out with 1:26 to go, head coach Shawn Finney opted for sophomore Vytas Tatarunas, who less than a minute later scored the game-winning basket. After Tatarunas' hoop, Finney subbed 6-8 Kory Castine into the game to help defend any last second shots. When TCU's Marcus Shropshire used a screen to lose defender Tinsley, it was Castine who swooped out to contest the shot and force the miss to preserve the victory.

BE MINE
Tulane has now played 31 games on Valentine's Day in its history, tallying a 16-15 record. Four of the last nine Feb. 14th games for the Green Wave had gone to overtime, including a four-overtime thriller against North Carolina in 1976 which the Wave lost 113-106. Saturday's TCU game narrowly missed the same result. In Shawn Finney's only Valentine's Day coaching outing prior to Saturday, Tulane fell to Charlotte in 2001 in overtime (98-93 in the New Orleans Arena).

UP-AND-DOWN DAVIS
Tulane center Quincy Davis continues to bounce up and down in his performances this year. The young Davis, who played just 161 minutes last season, has 31 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks in the last two games. However, against USF on Feb. 7, he finished with just three points and one rebound. Prior to the USF game, he tallied 19 points and eight boards against DePaul, but that had followed a two-game stretch in which he had a total of six points and nine rebounds. Davis still leads the Wave with 10.8 points per game while also leading the squad with 57 blocked shots, the fifth most in a Tulane single season. He is also averaging 5.6 rebounds while shooting 54.0 percent from the field (4th in C-USA). A Los Angeles native, who moved to Mobile, Ala., as a high school sophomore, he had more points and rebounds in the first four games this year than his totals from ALL of last season.

TURNOVERS TURNED DOWN
A key stat for Chris Moore and Kory Castine has been their low turnover totals. Moore has just five turnovers in 245 minutes while Castine has six in 239 minutes. Moore's average of 0.82 turnovers per 40 minutes leads Conference USA players with 150 minutes or more. Memphis' Ivan Lopez is second in the league with 0.91 turnovers per 40 minutes (eight turnovers in 350 minutes).

YOUNG ROSTER
With the departure of Troy Aaron and the loss of Ivan Pjevcevic to injury, the Tulane roster features just 11 players. While the number is small, the overall experience level is even smaller. Entering this year, Tulane's 10 scholarship players (Marc Siegel is a walk-on) averaged just 1.2 years of collegiate experience.

A SULTAN OF SWAT?
Quincy Davis is moving up the Tulane blocked shots chart at a fast pace. The 6-9 sophomore had a career-high seven blocks against Savannah State (1/24) and now has 25 swats in his last seven games. Nine times this year, Davis has blocked three or more shots. His 57 blocks this year rank fifth on the single-season list for Tulane. He needs just nine blocks to set the Green Wave season record. Davis' 63 career blocks are tied for 10th on the Tulane career charts.

TINSLEY PACKS THE STAT SHEET
Wayne Tinsley is in his fourth year as a starter for the Green Wave and this year he is packing the stat sheet like never before. The senior is second on the team with a career-high 10.4 points per game and leads the team with a .400 three-point percentage. He ranks 13th in Conference USA in steals, 12th in assists and 19th in rebounding. He has also posted three double-doubles this year, the first double-doubles of his career. Entering the season, the 6-5 senior had just 313 less minutes played (2,410) than the other 12 players on the Green Wave roster COMBINED (2,723 minutes).

FRESHMEN FOURSOME
Tulane's freshmen class continues to give major contributions to the Green Wave. In the second half of Saturday's win over TCU, Dan Fitzgerald scored seven points with two rebounds and two assists while Vincent Camper scored all eight of his points to go with two boards and two assists while running Tulane's attack. Fitzgerald made the pass to Vytas Tatarunas for the game-winning hoop with 5.7 seconds to go and another freshman, Kory Castine, contested Marcus Shropshire's potential game-winning shot, forcing the miss. The Wave freshmen played 62 minutes total and combined for 21 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. It was the sixth time in the last seven games that the quartet had combined for more than 20 points.

Here is the game-by-game breakdown of minutes, points, rebounds and assists for the freshmen:

Game - Mins.; Pts.; Rebs.; Asts.
v. Southern (W) 43 13 7 3
v. Ark-Pine Bluff (W) 63 10 9 4
v. Loyola (W) 54 18 12 5
v. UNO (L) 30 2 2 6
v. Rice (W) 27 6 1 3
v. N'western St. (W) 46 15 7 3
v. S'eastern La. (L) 23 4 7 2
@ LSU (L) 32 2 3 1
v. Mississippi State (L) 50 13 9 6
v. Nicholls State (W) 62 14 8 5
v. Cincinnati (L) 64 6 11 5
@ TCU (L) 54 12 6 4
@ Louisville (L) 55 5 6 2
v. Memphis (L) 66 21 6 5
v. Savannah State (W) 69 22 12 6
@ UAB (L) 90 29 8 3
v. Southern Miss (L) 79 25 13 2
@ DePaul (L) 74 14 10 4
v. USF (W) 84 22 18 9
v. Houston (W) 66 19 6 7
v. TCU (W) 62 21 13 9

NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE
Tulane's young lineup has been thrown into the fire this season, with nearly every player more than doubling his career-bests in many categories. The following is the breakdown of minutes played, points and rebounds for the returning players this year compared with last year:

2003-04 (21 games) 2002-03 (Full season)
Mins. Pts. Rebs. Mins. Pts. Rebs.
Vytas Tatarunas 512 216 154 82 35 14
Quincy Davis 514 227 118 161 47 49
Ben Benfield 438 161 59 148 52 15
George Brown 223 64 57 120 29 27
Marcus Kinzer 629 202 79 383 100 35
Wayne Tinsley 664 218 125 740 206 115

REBOUNDING VYTAS
After a strong start, sophomore Vytas (pronounced VEE-tis) Tatarunas struggled for a six-game stretch (6.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg). However, over the past three games, he has come off the bench to average team-bests of 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. The 6-6, 237-pound Lithuanian has used his strength to bull his way to 10.3 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds (9th in C-USA) per game. His 2.62 offensive rebounds per game rank seventh in Conference USA, while his 39.6% shooting from three-point range is second-best on the team (13th in C-USA). He also leads the Green Wave with five double-doubles. After tallying a total of 35 points and 14 rebounds as a freshman, he has 206 and 150 already this year.

THREE-POINT LEADER
Junior Ben Benfield, who had played 335 career minutes entering this season, has already played that many minutes this year. The shooter from nearby River Ridge, La., leads the Green Wave with 30 three-pointers. He has scored in double figures seven times this year after entering the season with three such efforts. After seven games, he had career bests in essentially every statistical category and now in this season alone, he has surpassed his COMBINED totals from his first two years.

CASTINE AND MOORE GET THE STARTING NOD
Freshmen Chris Moore and Kory Castine had both started four straight games for the Green Wave, before giving way to seniors for Senior Day. Moore is averaging 6.5 points and 19.5 minutes per game over the past eight games while Castine has 6.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game over the last six outings, in which he has averaged 26.2 minutes per game.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The double-double by point guard Marcus Kinzer against Houston last Wednesday was the 13th double-double of the year for a Green Wave player. Vytas Tatarunas leads the way with five, while Wayne Tinsley has three, Quincy Davis two and George Brown, Kory Castine and Kinzer one apiece. Last year, Tulane was led for the year by Brandon Brown's four double-doubles while the team recorded a total of six double-doubles. The 2001-02 Green Wave posted 10 double-doubles on the year, while the 2000-01 squad had 27 total, led by 12 from Ledaryl Billingsley. Charlotte leads Conference USA with 17 double-doubles, followed by East Carolina and Southern Miss with 14 apiece, and then Tulane's 13.

UNLUCKY SEVEN
Tulane lost seven in a row in league play for the first time since the 2000-01 season when it lost seven in a row to open C-USA play and seven in a row to close the slate. The last time the Green Wave lost eight league outings in a row was during the 1997-98 season when it lost 10 in a row.

MIRROR MIRROR
Saturday's game with the Horned Frogs was the Green Wave's first rematch this year. Conference USA schools each play three mirror games this season, with the Wave's three mirror opponents being TCU (2/14), UAB (2/25) and Southern Miss (3/3).

PJEVCEVIC HAS SURGERY
Senior Ivan Pjevcevic had surgery on his right knee on Dec. 16 to repair a chronic dislocating patella. He will miss the remainder of the season. Pjevcevic, slated to be Tulane's starting power forward this year, played eight minutes in the Green Wave's opening game against Southern before injuring the knee in a non-contact play in the backcourt. His career three-point percentage of .439 is the highest in Tulane school history for players with 100 or more attempts.

FINNEY VS. LOUISIANA
Shawn Finney and the Green Wave faced off against seven New Orleans schools this year, closing the stretch of in-state games last week against Nicholls State. In his first four years at the helm of the Wave, Finney has recorded a 12-6 mark against in-state opponents (including 4-3 this year).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Tulane celebrated the 70th birthday of Fogelman Arena on Dec. 20th. Originally nicknamed "The Rose Bowl Gym," the building hosted its first game on Dec. 15, 1933 as the Green Wave defeated Southwestern Louisiana, 38-34. The Wave has an all-time mark of 506-248 in its home gym.

CATCHING THE COUGARS
Tulane dominated in the paint on Wednesday, outscoring Houston 38-12 inside on route to a 77-63 victory. After building a seven-point halftime edge, the Green Wave opened the second half by draining six straight shots and nailed 16-of-24 second-half field-goal attempts. Big men Quincy Davis had 17 points, Vytas Tatarunas had 16 off the bench and freshman Kory Castine tallied 10 points in the win. Point guard Marcus Kinzer scored 12 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds to record his first career double-double.

Recap and Stats

BEATING THE BULLS
Tulane outrebounded USF, 40-26, while also outshooting the Bulls to earn its first league victory, 70-65, on Saturday evening. The Green Wave had four players in double figures as Vytas Tatatunas came off the bench for 14 points, Wayne Tinsley and Marcus Kinzer each had 13 and Dan Fitzgerald scored a career-best 10. USF pulled within four late in the game, but the Green Wave connected on 8-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes to ice the victory. Tulane also matched its season-low with just 11 turnovers.

Recap and Stats

DEPAUL'S BROWN IS TOO MUCH
DePauls' Andre Brown scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lift DePaul to a 72-58 victory over the Green Wave on Tuesday in Chicago. Despite 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting by Quincy Davis, Tulane shot just 32.8 percent from the floor. The Blue Demons hit 40.0 percent of their shots while also holding a 50-38 advantage on the boards. Davis was the only Wave player in double figures while Ben Benfield and Vytas Tatarunas each added nine points.

Recap and Stats

SOUTHERN MISS PULLS AWAY
The Green Wave dropped its fifth straight C-USA game on Saturday as Southern Miss pulled away down the stretch for a 64-58 victory. Tulane was within one midway through the second half, but Charles Gaines (17 points, 13 rebounds) took charge for the Golden Eagles to put the game away. Freshman Kory Castine had his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Marcus Kinzer matched his career-high with 17 points. Senior Wayne Tinsley had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in the loss.

Recap and Stats

SAVANNAH STATE STOPPED
Tulane closed its non-league slate with a 77-61 victory over Savannah State on Jan. 24. Wayne Tinsley posted his third straight double-double with 13 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, while Marcus Kinzer tallied 15 points. Quincy Davis had 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high seven blocks while Vytas Tatarunas added 10 points. Tulane shot 41.8 percent from the field while holding the Tigers to 36.8 percent shooting. The Wave was 23-of-33 from the line, including 8-for-10 in the last 2:33 of the game.

Recap and Stats

TIGERS TAME GREEN WAVE
Quincy Davis scored 21 points for Tulane but Memphis connected on 10-of-23 three-pointers to pull away with an 85-71 victory on Tuesday evening. The Green Wave pulled within one early in the second half, but an 18-3 Memphis burst put the game away for the Tigers. Memphis shot 50 percent from the field while holding the Wave to 42.3 percent shooting. The Wave was also out-rebounded, 37-31. Wayne Tinsley posted his second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Marcus Kinzer had 11 points and five assists.

Memphis Recap and Stats

#8 LOUISVILLE HOLDS OFF WAVE Despite holding eighth-ranked Louisville to a season-low shooting percentage (.354), Tulane could not overcome 23 turnovers as the Green Wave fell, 79-58, last Saturday evening at Freedom Hall. Tulane pulled within 10 early in the second half, but a 9-0 Louisville run put the game out of reach. Wayne Tinsley recorded his first career double-double while Quincy Davis scored a game-high 16 points and Marcus Kinzer added 15. Tulane shot just 37.3 percent from the field itself while forcing 13 Cardinal turnovers.

Louisville Recap and Stats

TCU TOPS GREEN WAVE Tulane dropped its C-USA road opener to TCU on Jan. 10 as the Horned Frogs scored the final five points of the game to steal a 70-65 decision. Tulane had knotted the game at 65 on a pair of Vytas Tatarunas free throws at 2:11, but TCU hit three free throws and a late breakaway to seal the victory. Wayne Tinsley led the Green Wave with a career-high 18 points while Tatarunas posted his fifth double-double of the year.

TCU Recap and Stats

BEARCATS DEFENSE STOPS GREEN WAVE
Tulane shot a season-low 28.8 percent from the field and scored a season-low 44 points in its 71-44 loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday in both teams' C-USA opener. Tulane pulled with five early in the second half, but the 10th-ranked Bearcats' defense clamped down to put the game away. Tulane held Cincy to its second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season at 43.5 percent. Vytas Tatarunas led the Wave with 15 points and six rebounds while senior Wayne Tinsley, playing his 100th career game, scored 12 points.

Game Story & Stats

NEW YEAR'S EVE CELEBRATION
The Green Wave snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating Nicholls State, 61-56, on New Year's Eve. Tulane struggled in the first half, hitting just 25 percent of its shots, trailing by as many as 17. However, the Green Wave came back with 54.5 percent shooting in the second half to earn the comeback victory. Ben Benfield led the team in scoring for the fifth time this year with 13 points while Vytas Tatarunas added 11 points. Wayne Tinsley finished with eight points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. The Wave held the Colonels to just seven second half field goals.

Game Story & Stats

SUGAR IS NOT SWEET FOR WAVE
Tulane dropped its third straight game with a 72-50 loss to Mississippi State on Dec. 27 in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic. The Bulldogs held Tulane to 29.7 percent shooting as they improved to 10-0 on the season. Tulane fell behind 13-0 and could never get back into the game against the athletic opponent. Quincy Davis came off the bench to score 13 points and Wayne Tinsley added 10 points, while George Brown tallied a career-best 11 rebounds in his first start of the year.

Game Story & Stats

POOR SHOOTING DOOMS WAVE VS. LSU
Tulane shot just 34.4 percent from the field and missed 10-of-11 free throws in its 67-48 Tuesday loss to LSU in Baton Rouge on Dec. 23rd. Wayne Tinsley led the Wave in scoring with 12 points while Vytas Tatarunas added 10 points and nine rebounds. Tulane held a 20-15 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half, but LSU closed the half with a 17-0 run which the Wave would not recover from.

Game Story & Stats

VETERAN SLU STOPS WAVE
With a senior-dominated lineup, Southeastern Louisiana protected the basketball (eight turnovers), controlled the glass (46-37 advantage) and hit its free throws (20-of-25) to hold off Tulane, 66-63, on Dec. 20th. The Green Wave held the Lions to just 34.4 percent shooting, but the little things lifted SLU. With three seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, the Lions held off a late rally by the Wave, which trailed by 10 with four minutes to go. Vytas Tatarunas posted his fourth double-double of the year with 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead Tulane. Junior Ben Benfield scored a game-high 18 points before leaving the game late with an injury.

Game Story & Stats

DOWN WITH THE DEMONS
Tulane placed five players in double figures on Dec. 9, holding off Northwestern State for an 83-66 victory. The Demons pulled within six early in the second half but big shots from Tulane built the margin back to double figures. For the second consecutive game, the Green Wave nailed eight three-pointers. The Wave held a 47-36 advantage on the glass and outscored NSU, 26-10, on second-chance opportunities. Ben Benfield and Marcus Kinzer both tallied 15 points, while Vytas Tatarunas posted his third double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Quincy Davis added 11 points.

Game Story & Stats

REVENGE ON RICE
After losing its season-opener last year on the road at Rice, Tulane gained revenge on Saturday evening, holding off the visiting Owls, 73-67. Tulane trailed for much of the game but took the lead for good with 8:40 to go. The Wave held Rice's leading scorer and rebounder Michael Harris (who entered averaging 15.2 points and 9.6 rebounds) to four and two. After the Owls connected on 55.6 percent of their first-half shots, the Wave held them to 42.3 percent in the second half. Ben Benfield led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Wayne Tinsley had 17 points and a career-best eight assists. Vytas Tatarunas narrowly missed his third double-double of the year with 12 points and eight boards.

Rice Story and Box Score

SENATORS CUP
UNO retained its hold on the Senators Cup on Wednesday by defeating the Green Wave, 69-66, in the teams' annual intracity showdown. Tulane built a 17-point lead with 8:55 to go in the game, but UNO battled back, using a tenacious full-court press to tie the game at 62 with 2:07 to go. The teams traded baskets until a buzzer-beating three-pointer wrapped up the win for the visiting Privateers. Four players scored in double figures for the Wave, including Quincy Davis and Vytas Tatarunas, who both had double-doubles.

UNO Story & Box Score

BATTLE FOR UPTOWN
Tulane won the Battle for Uptown for the fourth straight year on Sunday, defeating Loyola, 77-57. Quincy Davis led the Green Wave with career-bests of 26 points and 14 rebounds as Tulane used its size to dominate, out-rebounding the Wolfpack, 53-34. Tulane opened the second half with a 26-5 run to put the game out of reach. Ben Benfield added 13 points and career-highs of eight rebounds and five assists.

Loyola Recap & Box Score

WAVE CRASHES OVER GOLDEN LIONS
Big George Brown tallied his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Green Wave rolled to an 80-50 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday. Tulane jumped to a 16-1 lead as the Golden Lions missed their first 10 shots. The lead continued to grow throughout the first half, while Pine Bluff battled hard in the second stanza to keep the final margin at just 30. Tulane hit 52.7 percent of its shots and held UAPB to 26.2 percent shooting. The Wave also had an enormous 53-28 advantage on the boards.

Pine Bluff Recap and Box Score

STOPPING SOUTHERN
Ben Benfield scored a career-high 21 points to lead Tulane to a 78-72 victory over Southern on Tuesday. The junior sharp-shooter connected on 5-of-6 three-pointers, including four in the second half as Tulane shot 50 percent from the field while holding Southern to 41.9 percent shooting. The Green Wave also held a commanding 44-28 advantage on the boards. Sophomore Vytas Tatarunas registered his first career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds while a jumper by freshman Troy Aaron with 28 seconds left made it 75-70 to ice the victory.

Southern Recap and Box Score

BIG EASY CLASSICS
Tulane's schedule features an all-time high of 20 games in New Orleans. The team does not leave the state of Louisiana until a Jan. 10 game at TCU. The lone road game in the 11-game stretch to open the season is a visit to LSU in Baton Rouge. Included on the schedule are seven Louisiana foes, also a school record.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
With the departure of five seniors from last year's team, the Green Wave must make up for the loss of nearly 70 percent of its scoring and 60 percent of its rebounding. Of a possible 6,250 minutes last year, the quintet of seniors played 3,908 minutes (62.5 percent). And, in league games, the seniors played 63.6 percent of the Wave's minutes.

MORE, MORE, MORE
Shawn Finney's first year at the helm of the Green Wave saw Tulane win just nine games. However, they improved to 14 victories in 2001-02 and then to 16 last season. The Wave is one of three teams in Conference USA to improve its win total in each of the last two years. Tulane's league wins have climbed each year as well, from two to five to eight last season.

STAFF INTACT
The Tulane basketball coaching staff remains intact for the 2003-2004 season. Head coach Shawn Finney, in his fourth year at the helm of the Wave, welcomes back Jeff Reynolds and Wade O'Connor for their fourth years as well. Meanwhile, Steve Snell and administrative assistant Mark Dannhoff return for their third seasons.

EXHIBITION VS. GLOBAL SPORTS
Tulane closed its exhibition schedule on Nov. 19 with a 69-54 loss to Global Sports. The Green Wave used all of its available players, with nine players seeing 10 minutes of action and scoring points. Projected starters Ivan Pjevcevic (did not play) and Marcus Kinzer (three minutes) were both hampered by injuries. Senior Wayne Tinsley led the Wave with 13 points, while sophomore Quincy Davis had eight points, four rebounds and six blocked shots. Tulane shot just 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field, while Global nailed 49.1 percent (27-of-55) of its shots, including 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the second half.

Recap and Box Score

EXHIBITION OPENER VS. VASDA
In its exhibition opener, Tulane posted an 80-66 victory over Vasda. The Wave used 11 players, with 10 seeing double digits in minutes. Senior Ivan Pjevcevic led the squad with 14 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Quincy Davis added 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Seniors Wayne Tinsley and George Brown each chipped in with 10 points. Tulane shot just 43.2 percent (35-of-81) but held Vasda to 36.5 percent (23-of-63) shooting. The Wave also held a 53-39 advantage on the boards.

Recap and Box Score