Dec. 29, 2009

Game Notes in PDF Format

NEW ORLEANS - 2009 will come to a close for the Tulane men's basketball team on Wednesday when they host North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m. CST in Fogelman Arena in the final game of the calendar year.

The Green Wave (4-7) also complete the non-conference home schedule on Wednesday when the Aggies (4-8, 1-0 MEAC) visit.

Tulane is coming off an eight day break for the holidays after defeating UL-Lafayette on the road on Dec. 21. The Green Wave led early in that win but then had to mount a come-from-behind surge to overtake the Ragin' Cajuns for the 73-70 victory. David Booker led Tulane with a career-high 26 points, while Kevin Sims added 15 points and four assists.

NC A&T has dropped three straight games and lost six of its last seven outings. The Aggies, out of the MEAC and bases in Greensboro, N.C., did defeat Norfolk State on Dec. 5 in the team's first conference game of the season.

NC A&T's last outing was a 99-78 loss at Tennessee on Dec. 23 and Wednesday's game in Fogelman will mark their eight straight games on the road.

The Aggies average 72.6 points per game and are shooting 38.6 percent from the floor, including taking 30.8 3-point shots per outing.

"NC A&T has played a very tough schedule and they have some very good players," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "They also shoot about 30 3-pointers a game so we have to play really on our 3-point defense."

In addition to the loss at Tennessee, NC A&T has also lost at Miami (Fla.), at Northwestern, at Marshall, at UTEP and at Lamar.

Dwane Joshua leads the Aggies with 16.5 points per game, while Tavarus Alston posts 14.8 points per outing. Thomas Coleman is the team's leading rebounder with 8.4 per game and he also averages 2.4 blocked shots a contest.

Kris Richard leads Tulane with 13.2 points per game, while Kevin Sims is averaging 12.9 points and 3.5 assists per outing. Booker leads the Green Wave with 4.5 rebounds to go with his 8.5 points per contest.

"Our goal as a team is trying to get to a point where we play solid basketball for 40 minutes and give ourselves a chance to be a great team going into conference play."

As a team, Tulane is scoring 63.4 points per game, shooting 41.8 percent from the floor and connecting on 72.8 percent from the free throw line. The Green Wave defense has forced 268 turnovers this season, collected 81 steals and held opponents to 65.2 points per game.

This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs. Tulane won the previous three contests, including an 81-55 decision on Dec. 18, 2008 in Fogelman.

Tulane will begin the new year with the final non-conference game of the season in Beaumont, Texas, on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST against Lamar.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Tulane (4-7)
G 0 Kris Richard 6-5 180 Jr. 13.2 ppg 3.5 rpg 2.4 apg
G 1 Kevin Sims 5-10 169 Sr. 12.9 ppg 2.6 rpg 3.5 apg
G 20 Aaron Holmes 6-5 195 Jr. 7.9 ppg 3.5 rpg 1.3 apg
F 2 David Booker 6-7 235 Jr. 8.5 ppg 4.5 rpg 1.4 spg
F 4 Asim McQueen 6-7 240 Sr. 7.1 ppg 3.7 rpg 1.2 spg
NC A&T (4-8)
G 3 Tavarus Alston 6-0 170 Sr. 14.8 ppg 3.2 rpg 4.0 apg
G 12 Nic Simpson 6-3 190 So. 9.9 ppg 2.8 rpg 1.6 apg
F 33 DaMetrius Upchurch 6-7 210 Fr. 3.3 ppg 4.1 rpg
F 34 Robert Johnson 6-6 210 Sr. 11.4 ppg 4.4 rpg 1.0 apg
C 23 Thomas Coleman 6-9 235 Jr. 9.8 ppg 8.4 rpg 2.4 bpg

Camps
Game Day
2011-12 Season
Conference USA
2010-11 Season
Fogelman Arena
Tickets

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