March 7, 2003

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University will close the 2002-2003 men's basketball regular season on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. with a Conference USA showdown with the University of Southern Mississippi at Fogelman Arena.

Official Game Notes

The game will be broadcast on the stations of the Tulane ISP Radio Network, including WTIX 690 AM in the New Orleans area. Tickets are available at the door or by calling 504-861-WAVE.

Tulane will honor its senior class as five players will be completing their eligibility this season. The five, Brandon Brown, Waitari Marsh, Byron Parker, Nick Sinville and Brandon Spann, have combined to play in 478 games while scoring 4,177 points, dishing out 993 assists and grabbing 1,649 rebounds. In addition, all five are on track to graduate in 2003. Marsh, Sinville and Spann are expected to graduate in May; Parker will earn his degree following the summer session; and Brown is expected to complete his schoolwork after the fall semester.

Tulane (14-14, 7-8 C-USA) has already clinched a slot in the 2003 Kelly Tires Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament (March 12-15, Louisville, Ky.), but is still jostling for seeding position. Currently tied for third in the National Division and eighth overall, a win over Southern Miss would likely lift the Green Wave into a five-way tie for sixth place. Due to league-tiebreaker procedures, Tulane would come out on top of the other four teams and earn the No. 6 seed.

"This is crunch time," Tulane coach Shawn Finney said. "We need to play hard and play the way we are capable of playing. Every team in the league is battling for seeding and every team has a chance of winning the whole thing. Where you are seeded could be a huge factor."

"We are hoping for a big crowd to send out our five seniors," Finney said. "These guys have given their all for this team and this school. I would love to see a full house at Fogelman tomorrow night."

In the two teams' first meeting, Southern Miss erased a first-half deficit with red-hot second-half shooting to hold the Wave off for a victory. Tulane had a three-pointer which would have tied the game with five seconds remaining, but it was off the mark. The Goldne Eagles hit a pair of free throws to account for the final 76-72 score. USM connected on 17-of-19 second-half foul shots in the outing.

"We came out a little flat against these guys in the second half at their place," Finney said. "Now we saw what they can do. We need to play hard on defense and be ready for a 40-minute war on Saturday."

Tulane is led by Marsh's 15.1 points per game, while brown has 13.9 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game and Spann scores 12.0 points per game.

Southern Miss relies on rugged big man Charles Gaines, who has 14.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Transfer Greg Johnson scores 12.9 points an outing while Jasper Johnson comes off the bench to score 11.0 points per game.

Tickets for next week's Kelly Tires Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament in Louisville are available by calling 504-861-WAVE. Many of the games will also be televised in New Orleans by ESPN2 and ESPN+ (on Cox Sports Television, Ch. 37). All Tulane games will be aired on WTIX AM 690.