NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — With back-to-back triple-doubles, Kevin Cross has been the key behind Tulane’s success but the emergence of Jaylen Forbes has boosted the Green Wave to back-to-back 100-point games.
It’s safe to say Forbes is back to 100 percent health after a team-high 26 points in their double overtime win over Furman and a 28-point outburst Saturday against Southern.
“It makes my job easy, it makes Sion’s job easy, it makes everyone’s because you have to gameplan for Jaylen Forbes. You have to gameplan for Kevin Cross and Sion James. I keep saying that’s what’s exciting about it, but if you know anything about me, I’m still worried about the defensive end. That’s when I know that we’ve peaked when we put four or five games in a row defensively together. Sometimes when you have great offense like we do, what happens is we kind of take for granted that other end down there, and that’s what we’ve been built on,” said Tulane head coach Ron Hunter.
After their 30-point loss to Mississippi State, head coach Ron Hunter has emphasized better defense and faster starts.
In their last two games, the Wave have forced a combined 31 turnovers with 98 total first-half points on 55 percent shooting.
“Just another level of focus,” said Tulane guard Sion James.
“Coach Hunter talks about the way we win games is on defense. We have as much talent as anyone in the country on offense, but defense is what’s going to take us over the next step and we have a team who wants to take the next step,” added James.
“We know how good a defensive team we can be, but what happens is more possessions, and so I’ve got to kind of get used to the fact that the numbers are going to be a little higher because they’re more possessions in the game. You know, when I first got here, I tried to control the game because we weren’t as talented. So, I would try to limit, you know, the amount of times and limit possessions in games. Now we want more possessions because we can score so many different levels,” said Hunter.
Tulane currently leads the nation in field goal percentage at 53.63 percent. The Green Wave is third in scoring, averaging 91.7 points per game.
Tulane sits at 8-2 and will face George Mason Friday afternoon.
Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
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