March 5, 2006

NEW ORLEANS, La. -

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2005-06 TULANE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Mar. 8, 2006
No. 8 Tulane (11-16, 6-8 C-USA) vs. No. 9 Marshall (12-15, 5-9 C-USA)
Memphis, Tenn. -- FedEx Forum
Game 28 -- 6 p.m. (Central)

GREEN WAVE FACTS
2005-06 Record: 11-16
2004-05 Record: 10-18
Head Coach: Dave Dickerson
Alma Mater/Year: Maryland/1990
Record at Tulane/Year: First year
Career Record/Years: First year
President: Dr. Scott Cowen
Athletics Director: Rick Dickson
Ticket Office Phone: 504-247-1240
Website: www.TulaneGreenWave.com

TULANE 2005-06 SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Official Marshall Athletics Website

TULANE PROBABLE STARTERS
50 Quincy Davis (Sr., 12.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 25.2 MPG)
7th 20-point game of year with 20 against USM

21 David Gomez (So., 11.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 23.2 mpg)
Has scored in double figures for 6 straight games

5 Donnie Stith (So., 5.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 24.9 mpg)
28 pts, 22 rebs, 14 asts in last 4 games

3 Chris Moore (Jr., 8.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 31.8 mpg)
Now ranks 9th in career 3's with 87

11 Ryan Williams (Fr., 5.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 20.7 mpg)
Leads C-USA freshman in assists

TULANE RESERVES
20 Andrew Garcia (Jr., 5.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 22.6 mpg)
12-of-14 on FTs in final 2 mins of close games

25 Matt Wheaton (So., 5.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 20.0 mpg)
DNP last 3 games due to sprained ankle

40 Vytas Tatarunas (Sr., 3.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 14.8 mpg
Season-best 32 mins with start on Senior Day

44 Daniel Puckett (Fr., 1.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 10.8 mpg)
7 pts, 6 rebs in 23 mins against East Carolina

22 Kory Castine (Jr., 1.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 6.9 mpg)
Season-high 8 points with 4 boards v. Memphis

40 Robinson Louisme (So.)
Likely redshirt as he returns from injury

Radio: Live on the Tulane-ISP Radio Network -- WIST-AM 690 New Orleans; WSKR-AM 1210 Baton Rouge; WJSH-FM 104.7 Hammond/North Shore; KROF-AM 960 Lafayette. Larry Matson provides the call.

Tulane Tickets: Call 504-247-1240 or 247-1241 or go online to TulaneGreenWave.com.

Setting the Stage
Tulane enters its 11th Conference USA Tournament as the No. 8 seed after tying for sixth in the C-USA standings. The Green Wave has surpassed last year's victory total and matched the 2003-04 team total with 11. The first round opponent for the Wave is No. 9 seed Marshall, which has won three of its last five games. If the Wave can upend Marshall, it has the unenviable task of facing national power and top-seeded Memphis on its home court.

The Green Wave has been led through the year by senior center Quincy Davis who has 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game (14.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg in C-USA games only). Sophomore forward David Gomez is the only other Wave player in double figures with 11.9 points per game.

As a team, Tulane is averaging 63.4 points per game while allowing 66.3. The Wave is third in the league in field-goal percentage (44.4), field-goal percentage defense (39.7) and rebound margin (+2.8).

Tiebreaker
Tulane finished the C-USA regular season in a three-way tie for sixth place with Tulsa and Rice. With a three-way tie, conference policy is for the head-to-head results between all three teams to be compared. Tulsa was 2-0 against the other two teams while Tulane and Rice were 1-2. With Tulsa earning the No. 6 seed, the next tiebreaker is record against the top teams in the standings in descending order. Due to its victory over Houston, Rice edges the Green Wave for the No. 7 seed.

Eight Seed
This year will be the first time that Tulane has been the No. 8 seed in the C-USA Tourney. The Green Wave has an 0-1 record as the No. 2 and No. 5 seed; 1-1 as the No. 4 and No. 6 seed; 0-1 as No. 11 and 1-5 as the 12 seed. Tulane has never been the 1, 3, 7, 8, 9 or 10 seed.

Last Game Leaders
With Quincy Davis and David Gomez both in foul trouble against Tulsa, sophomore Donnie Stith stepped up and scored a C-USA season-high 12 points, including 10 in a two-minute span late in the Wave's comeback. Gomez finished with 11 points before fouling out with over six minutes to go, while freshman Ryan Williams hit for double figures for the sixth time this year with an even 10. Andrew Garcia also sparked the comeback, scoring nine second-half points and snagging a team-high seven rebounds while Chris Moore picked up a career-best seven steals.

The 1,000-Point Club
Senior Quincy Davis became the 28th member of the Tulane 1,000-Point Club on Feb. 15 against UAB. He entered the game needing four points and connected on his second basket with a tip-in with 6:41 to go. The Los Angeles native now has 1,073 career points (24th all-time). It was fitting that the milestone came on a tip-in because Davis is also among the best in rebounding in Green Wave history. He currently has 545 rebounds to rank 16th all-time at Tulane. He is just the 14th player in Wave history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

Davis Days
In addition to his career milestones, Quincy Davis is proving himself to be among the top players in Conference USA again this season. While he is averaging 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds overall this year, his C-USA stats are even more impressive. In league games only, Davis is averaging 14.4 points (eighth in the league), 6.9 rebounds (sixth) and 1.4 blocks (fifth) while leading the league by shooting 60.8 percent from the field.

The Marshall Plan
Marshall finished the regular season with a 12-15 overall mark and 5-9 in Conference USA action. The Thundering Herd has won three of its last five games, topping UCF, Southern Miss and SMU in that stretch. The Thundering Herd is led by 6-9 senior big man Mark Patton and his 14.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Joe Miles, a 5-11 sophomore, has 10.7 points per game while 6-1 junior Chris Ross leads the team with 124 assists. Marshall ranks seventh in the league in scoring offense and is 11th in scoring defense, allowing 69.3 points per game.

The Series With Marshall
Tulane and Marshall met for the first time in the programs' histories on Feb. 4 at Fogelman Arena with the Green Wave pulling away for a 61-36 victory.

First Time Around With Marshall - 2/4
Tulane held Marshall to 23.6 percent shooting as the Green Wave rolled to a 61-36 victory. The 36 points matches the league record for fewest points allowed in a league game.

Tulane found itself in a dogfight at the half, holding a 24-21 lead. However, after Marshall pulled within one at 26-25 with 18:07 to go, the Wave defense held the Thundering Herd scoreless for nearly 10 minutes.

While the defense was clicking, the Wave went to work in the paint on the offensive end - pounding the ball inside to its big men Gomez and Davis. Gomez, who finished with a game-high 17 points, scored eight of the Green Wave's first 10 points in the second half; and Davis returned to the lineup with three fouls and followed with three straight baskets to cap a 15-0 run which made it 41-25 with 8:36 to go.

Drew in the Clutch
Tulane has been solid in the clutch from the free-throw line this year. The Wave has hit 29-of-38 (76.3 percent) of its foul shots in the final two minutes of games with the score 10 points or closer. Andrew Garcia is proving to be the most dangerous man to foul late in close games; he has hit 12-of-14 foul shots in those situations. On Saturday at Tulsa, he his a pair of key free throws with 1:51 to go and last Wednesday against Southern Miss, he knocked down a pair of free throws with 15.9 seconds to go to build the lead edge to 50-47, forcing the Golden Eagles to need a three to tie, which they could not manage.

Quincy at the Top
After entering the season as Tulane's all-time leader in field-goal percentage at 57.5 percent, Quincy Davis dropped in the early going this year. However, since Conference USA play has begun, he has been on the mark once again. The senior big man has hit 58.1 percent of his shots overall and 60.8 percent in C-USA games (both marks lead the conference). For his career, Davis has hit 417-of-721 shots for a percentage of .578. The next best mark in Wave history is .573 by Rayshard Allen (1993-97). Davis' current percentage ranks fourth all-time in Conference USA history as well.

Back to the Tournament...Again
Tulane will be making its 11th straight trip to the Conference USA Championship. The Green Wave are joined by Memphis and UAB as the only schools who will have appeared at every C-USA Tournament since the league formed in 1995.

Getting Defensive
Tulane has relied on tough defense all season long, having held 10 opponents below 60 points thus far (the last time the Wave held more than that below 60 was the 1984-85 season when it held 14 teams to fewer than 60 points). Over the Green Wave's four-game win streak (1/28-2/7), the defense rose to another level. In that stretch, opponents averaged just 46.5 points per game while shooting 28.9 percent from the field. The Wave held both Marshall and Loyola to just 15 points in the second halves of those games - those two teams hit 8-of-56 (14.3 percent) field goals in the second half . Five teams have shot below 30 percent in games against the Green Wave this year. The school record for opponent field-goal percentage is 39.9 percent, set in 1960-61. This year, foes are shooting 39.7 percent against Tulane.

Friendly Fogelman
Hurricane Katrina forced the Green Wave to give up at least four games in Fogelman Arena, which was a tough blow for the Greenies. Since Fogelman (then Tulane Gym) opened in 1933, the Green Wave has posted a 526-258 (.670) record in the venerable arena. In 10 games this year at Fogelman, Tulane has posted a 7-3 record while holding its opponents 37.5 percent shooting and just 58.0 points per outing. Tulane also out-rebounds its opponents by 4.1 boards per game, while turning it over just 15.6 times per game in Fogelman.

The Road Is Not So Easy
Tulane picked up its second road victory of the season on Feb. 25 at East Carolina - its two road wins is its most since the 2002-03 season. The 17-point margin of victory against Rice on Jan. 28 was the Wave's most convincing road win since an 85-44 victory over VCU on Nov. 30, 1999. Since that time (six years), the Green Wave has won just 12 road games (including this year), including eight C-USA road wins - the last road win prior to this year came on Jan. 26, 2005 at Houston.

Offense-Defense
Tulane's defense has been solid all season and currently the Green Wave ranks third in Conference USA in field-goal percentage defense at 39.7 percent. However, on the flip side, the Wave ranks third in the league in field-goal percentage as well at 44.4 percent. Senior Quincy Davis (58.1 percent) and sophomore David Gomez (51.2 percent) rank first and sixth among individuals in the league in field-goal shooting.

Trends - Field Goals and Assists
Tulane is winless this season when hitting fewer field goals than its opponents (0-11) as well as being winless when tallying fewer assists (0-12). Hitting more field goals does not ensure victory as the Wave is 11-3 when hitting more shots than its foes this year. When tallying more assists, it is 11-4. The Green Wave also did not win a game last season when logging fewer assists than opponents (0-13).

Point Men
Despite the inexperience of its two point guards, the Green Wave is getting strong performances out of the duo of freshman Ryan Williams and junior Drew Garcia. Williams (who has started the last 19 games) and Garcia (a walk-on who did not play college basketball before this year) are combining to average 10.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. On Feb. 15 at UAB, while seeing significant action at the two-guard slot, Williams tallied a career-best 17 points with five rebounds in a career-high 38 minutes. Over the last 10 games, Williams is averaging 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Garcia, meanwhile, leads Tulane in steals and has hit 12-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes of close games this year.

More Moore
Dave Dickerson was very impressed with Chris Moore's work-ethic through the off-season and prior to this year, he named Moore his lone captain for the 2005-06 season. The junior from McKinney, Texas, has responded by leading the Green Wave in three-pointers and minutes and ranking third in scoring (8.7 ppg). After just 14 games, the 6-5 shooting guard had surpassed his career-best season totals in just about every statistical category. He currently has 858 minutes (366 was his career-best), 236 points (95 was his best), 48 threes (23), 37 assists (12) and 34 steals (7) in 2005-06. On Feb. 15 against UAB, the Texas product set a Tulane record by connecting on all five of his three-point attempts and finishing with 15 points.

Start Me Up
The Green Wave used its 10th different starting lineup on Wednesday night as Vytas Tatarunas moved into the rotation for Senior Day. With Matt Wheaton sidelined by a sprained ankle, the Green Wave had to go to its ninth different starting lineup last Saturday. Earlier in the year, Chris Moore did not start the UTEP game due to injury - he had been the only player on the team to start every game up to that point. This year will be the first season since the 1997-98 campaign that a Green Wave player did not start every game.

Senior Day
Tulane honored its two seniors last Wednesday as Quincy Davis and Vytas Tatarunas played their final Fogelman Arena games. The duo has combined to score over 1,500 points to go with nearly 1,000 rebounds while playing in 190 games. Both players were presented with commemorative gifts prior to the game. In the last 16 years, Tulane is 11-5 on Senior Days, including two years ago when the team honored its seniors prior to the final home game of the year (due to spring break and availability of family members).

Winning with 50
When the Green Wave defeated Southern Miss, 50-47, last Wednesday night, it marked the Wave's first victory when scoring 50 or fewer points since March 6, 2002. That game was in the first round of the 2002 C-USA Tournament and Tulane defeated Saint Louis, also by a 50-47 score.

36 Points in One Game
By holding Marshall to just 36 points in its Feb. 4th victory, Tulane matched the C-USA record for fewest points allowed in a league game. It was also the least points allowed by the Wave since Jan. 4, 2004 when it topped Morris Brown, 88-30. It was the fewest points scored by Marshall in a game since a 41-23 loss to San Diego State during the 1947-48 season.

77 Points in Two Games The 77 points allowed by the Green Wave in the back-to-back games against Marshall and Loyola were the fewest points allowed in a two-game stretch since Dec. 4 and Dec. 6, 1952 when Tulane held Birmingham Southern and Southwestern (Tenn.) to a combined 74 points.

Against the Ranked
Tulane has not defeated a ranked team since it upended No. 25 N.C. State on Dec. 22, 1999. The Green Wave's last win over a Top 10 program came on Feb. 12, 1983 when it upset No. 9 Memphis State, 49-47, at Fogelman Arena (then known as Tulane Gym). The last Tulane victory over a Top Five team came on Jan. 22, 1977 when the unranked Green Wave defeated No. 2 Cincinnati, 78-75, at the Louisiana Superdome. Tulane is currently on an 11-game losing streak against ranked foes.

Ranked Teams in Fogelman
Memphis was the highest ranked team to visit Tulane since Jan. 12, 2000 when No. 1 Cincinnati defeated the Wave, 72-59. However that game was played at the New Orleans Arena. When the Wave upset No. 2 Cincinnati during the 1977-78 season, that game was played in the Superdome. The last time a team ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation played in Fogelman Arena was Jan. 12, 1959, when top-ranked Kentucky came to what was then known as Tulane Gym and posted an 85-68 victory.

Mirror, Mirror
Once again the Green Wave will play three "mirror" games in 2005-06. Every team in Conference USA plays every other team once, with each team having three teams which it plays twice in order to total 14 league games. Tulane's three mirror opponents are Southern Miss, Rice and East Carolina. The Wave was 2-1 against those teams last year (1-1 vs. Southern Miss, 1-0 vs. ECU and 0-0 against league newcomer Rice). Thus far this year, Tulane is 2-2 in mirror games (1-1 vs. Rice, 1-0 vs. East Carolina and 0-1 vs. Southern Miss).

Block Party
While the intensity of Tulane's second half defense against Loyola forced the Wolfpack into bad shots, even when it had good looks, the Wave more often than not swatted them away. Tulane matched the school record with 12 blocked shots, including 10 in the second half. Sophomore Donnie Stith rejected a career-best six Loyola offerings - tied for the third-most blocks in a game by a Green Wave player.

Four in a Row
The last time Tulane won four straight games was during the 2002-2003 season when the Green Wave stopped UAB, East Carolina, Houston and UAB again consecutively. Tulane had a pair of four-game streaks in 2001-02 (both in non-league play) and the last five-game win streak was during the 1999-2000 season, which ended with a trip to the NIT.

Player of the Week for First Time Since 1996-97
Quincy Davis was named the Conference USA Co-Player of the Week on Monday. Davis, who averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for the week, is the first Green Wave men's basketball player to earn the honor from the league since Jan. 20, 1997 when Jerald Honeycutt won the weekly honor. Davis led Tulane to a pair of league wins over SMU (59-56) and Marshall (61-36) to lift the Green Wave to a 4-4 Conference USA mark, good enough for fifth place in the league.

Close But No Cigar
Following Saturday's loss at Tulsa, Tulane has been involved in nine games decided by 10 points or less, posting a 3-6 record in those games. While battling hard every time out, Tulane has suffered some tough losses. On Jan. 14 against Rice, the Owls buried a game-winning buzzer-beater while on Dec. 31 against UNO, the Wave's own last second effort was off the mark for a one-point loss. Other close games include the Valparaiso game when time ran out on a furious comeback, the St. Edward's game when the Wave fell in overtime and the Southern Miss game, when the Greenies were within six, but missed a key shot in the final two minutes. The Rice road game was a tight affair until the end when the Wave pulled away for a 17-point victory.

Garcia's Guide to Colleges
Andrew Garcia may be in his first-year playing college basketball, but he has more college experience than most students. The Pittsburgh native attended Villanova as a freshman, before transferring to Pitt for his sophomore season and walking-on to a football team which included the likes of Larry Fitzgerald. He headed south for Tulane in 2004, walking-on to the Green Wave basketball team and red-shirting last year. This year, he has added Texas A&M as his fourth college in as many years.

Spring Semester at Tulane is Underway
After spending the first semester as visiting students at Texas A&M, the Tulane basketball team returned to its New Orleans home prior to Christmas. Tulane officially began its spring semester on Jan. 17. In order to assist students who missed requirements and necessary classes, Tulane will also have a "Lagniappe" semester, a short seven-week semester immediately following the spring semester. That semester will be free to any students who had full-time status in both the fall and spring semesters.

Tulane Goes to Four Sites
In an unprecedented move, the Tulane University Athletic Department has relocated to four different campuses for the fall of 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina. In addition to Texas A&M, SMU, Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech are hosting Green Wave teams.

Site: Tulane Teams
Louisiana Tech: Football, Track & Field
SMU: Men's and Women's Golf
Texas A&M: Men's Basketball, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball, Men's & Women's Tennis, Women's Swimming & Diving
Texas Tech: Women's Basketball, Baseball

The Decision Process
While Katrina has caused a myriad of questions and problems for the Green Wave football team and the Tulane Athletic Department in general, all of those pale in comparison to the true tragedies which have been faced in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. In its thought process for dealing with the relocation of its athletic department, Tulane focused on five specific tasks - enroll the student-athletes in school, provide for the housing needs, assist with meal services, arrange for books, and provide the counseling needed to all involved. With those five objectives obtained, the Green Wave staff moved on to more general needs such as staffing needs at its multiple locations, scheduling work, and preparation for games.

Here's Dickerson
Dave Dickerson takes over the reins of the Green Wave program, becoming the 22nd head men's basketball coach in Tulane history. Dickerson comes to the Wave bench after nine years as an assistant at Maryland under Gary Williams, helping the Terrapins to nine straight postseason appearances, five Sweet Sixteens, two Final Fours and one National Championship. In 15 years as an assistant coach, he has never seen a losing season while making 10 postseason appearances.

New Kids in Town
Dave Dickerson is not the only first-year head coach in Conference USA this season - Ricky Stokes at East Carolina and Doug Wojcik at Tulsa were also hired in the off-season. Larry Eustachy at Southern Miss and Tom Penders at Houston are both entering their second seasons in the league, while Doc Sadler is in his second year at C-USA newcomer UTEP.

Linton Johnson Earns a Ring
Former Tulane standout Linton Johnson earned a spot on the Chicago Bulls roster two years ago and proceeded to average 17.9 minutes per game while starting 20 games. His performance in Chicago drew attention from around the league, and he signed a free agent deal with the San Antonio Spurs. Despite spending the majority of the season on the injured reserve, Johnson still earned a ring from the Spurs, who captured the 2005 NBA Championship. The Chicago native was recently traded from the New Jersey City to the New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets and scored 17 points with 11 rebounds in his debut.

Graduation Continues
Three more Green Wave basketball players recently earned their degrees as Ivan Pjevcevic, Marcus Kinzer and George Brown all collected diplomas in 2005. Of the 13 seniors who have played for the Wave in the last five years, only Ben Benfield has not graduated; he remains in school and is on track to earn his degree in May of 2006.