In what will probably be the toughest regular season game for Tulane, the Green Wave lost decisively to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. From the get-go, Tulane was never really in the game with the Orangmen scoring the game's first 11 points. After a slow start though, Tulane showed some heart by not giving up. Easily, the Green Wave could have just given up and let this game be a 30 point blowout.
But the Green Wave fought back and played tough defense, trimming the lead to seven by half-time. In the end, Syracuse's talent turned out to be too much, as for most of the second half Tulane was down by double-digits. Tulane had a lot of trouble with the size of Syracuse, as expected, giving up 20 offensive rebounds. But in the loss, the team showed it was never willing to quit, and this is a characteristic that is needed to be succesful once conference play starts.
Player of the Game: Daniel Puckett
Daneil Puckett was really the only player who got anything going offensively. He was 6-11 from the field, including two three-pointers, and led the team with 16 points. He kept the game close going into the half, hitting a three-pointer followed by a jumper to cut the lead from 12 to seven. Puckett was huge in the first half when everyone else on Tulane could not score, scoring 10 of his 16 points.
Stat of the Game: .18%
That is the combined shooting percentage of Tulane's two best players, David Gomez and Kevin Sims. Obviously Tulane got killed on the boards, but what really did them in was their terrible shooting. When your top two players go a combined 5-28, it is going to be hard to beat anyone in the country, let alone Syracuse. While Tulane is certainly a deep team, having seven or eight players on the roster who could lead them in scoring, it would be nice to have somebody you can always count on. During this three game losing streak, David Gomez has been anything but that. He was supposed to step up and be the leader, but so far that has yet to happen. While it is still early in the season, if he waits any longer to get it going, it may be too late.
Next up for Tulane: Huston-Tillotson on Wednesday, November 5th at Fogleman Arena, 7:00 PM
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Really disappointing. This was a winnable game, especially with Greene playing poorly. Gomez needs to wake up a realize that the team goes as he does. Without him, this team has no go-to guy to bail them out. Great defense and plenty of depth, but can't put the ball in the hoop.
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