Tulane University men’s basketball hits the road to open American Conference competition at East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina, on Wednesday. The Green Wave has won its last two league openers and holds a 3-3 mark in such games under Head Coach Ron Hunter.
The game between the Wave and the Pirates is set to tipoff at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU. Fans can also listen to the action live on the Tulane Sports Network from Learfield on 106.7 The Ticket with the Voice of the Green Wave Corey Gloor or streaming on the Tulane Athletics App and The Varsity Network App.
The Green Wave is 5-6 including two-straight victories in conference openers since joining The American ahead of the 2014-15 season. Tulane also holds a 4-7 record in its first road conference game of the season since joining the league.
TU and ECU are Old Friends
This marks the 39th all-time meeting between Tulane and East Carolina with the Green Wave trailing the series 18-20. The Wave and the Pirates split the season series last year with each team defending home court including a 64-73 loss for Tulane in Greenville, North Carolina, on March 6. The Green Wave has lost the last seven matchups on the road against ECU with the last win for the Wave in Greenville coming in overtime on January 31, 2018, by a final score of 71-69.
In its last time out, Tulane closed its non-conference schedule by holding off Portland State for a 63-61 victory at home on December 20. Senior Asher Woods sank a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to secure the win for the Green Wave over the Vikings. Woods led three players in double figures for the Wave with 21 points in the contest followed by 14 points from Rowan Brumbaugh and 10 from Tyler Ringgold.
East Carolina enters American Conference play with a 5-8 record including a 5-3 mark at home. Through non-conference action the Pirates averaged 67.1 points per game on 39.3 percent shooting while surrendering 76.2 points per contest to its opponents on 45.8 percent shooting.
The duo of Jordan Riley and Giovanni Emejuru lead the way for the Pirates so far this season. Riley leads the team and the conference averaging 20.8 points per game while Emejuru is averaging 14.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
East Carolina was selected to finish 10th in The American Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Riley was also named Preseason All- Conference First Team.
Following the contest against the Pirates, Tulane will return to Uptown for its home conference-opener against Florida Atlantic on Sunday, January 4. The game between the Green Wave and the Owls is set to tipoff at 12 a.m. on ESPN2.
