| Date: Jan. 17, 2004 | Score: Louisville 79, Tulane 58 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (16) Tulane: Quincy Davis (16) |
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| The Cards struggled on offense against Tulane, but used their defense to claim their 13th straight victory. The Green Wave hit four of their first six shots, including two three-pointers, to build a surprising 10-3 early lead. U of L held Tulane to only five field goals in the last 17 minutes of the first half, which allowed the Cards to build a 13-point halftime lead, 42-29, even though U of L itself went at one point 6:05 without scoring. The Cards went up for good at 16-14 on a Luke Whitehead lay-up, which sparked a 10-3 Cardinal run fueled by a three and lay-up from Taquan Dean. |
The Cards did not have a push to open the second half as they have had in previous C-USA games, but two three-pointers from Francisco Garcia, plus a six-minute scoreless drought by Tulane, put the Cards up 57-38 with 12:01 left. Some missed Cardinal opportunities, followed by a Green Wave three-pointer, made the score 62-49 with 6:48 left, but Tulane got no closer the rest of the way. U of L's defensive effort was highlighted by a season-high 14 steals, with Alhaji Mohammed grabbing a career-high four. For the game, U of L shot a season-low 35.4% from the field. That was highlighted by only 9-39 shooting in the second half; U of L kept its advantage by getting 13 offensive rebounds in the second frame. Whitehead led the Cards with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Dean had 15 points, and Larry O'Bannon 13 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Garcia had only eight points, and fouled out for the second straight game, this time with 6:05 left. Otis George had eight points and a game- and career-high 12 rebounds. Tulane shot 41% from the field, but was only 13-24 from the foul line. The Green Wave committed 23 turnovers that led to 22 U of L points. For Tulane, Quincy Davis had 16 points, while Wayne Tinsley had 14 points and 10 rebounds.  |
| Date: March 13, 2003 | Score: Louisville 82, Tulane 66 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines, Francisco Garcia (15) Tulane: Waitari Marsh (17) |
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| The resurgence and elevated play of Luke Whitehead mitigated the absence of Marvin Stone, who sat out his third of U of L's last four games due to an NCAA inquiry over his eligibility. The Cards found out Stone would sit the game out just prior to tip-off, and their sluggish first half performance was a result of the disappointing news. Tulane hit a three to open the game, and Coach Pitino immediately called a timeout to urge U of L to press harder on defense. Taquan Dean, who finished with 12 points for the Cards, made three three-pointers in the first half to keep U of L in it. The Cards were up 31-24, but went the final four minutes of the first half without scoring. A Tulane three and floater in the lane as the first half expired made it 31 all at halftime, and Tulane actually led 43-40 with just over 15 minutes left. But U of L finally got things rolling with a 15-0 run to build a 55-43 lead; the Green Wave committed six turnovers in that stretch, and got no closer than 10 the rest of the way. Two Otis George dunks highlighted the run (for the game, George finished with 14 points) while Reece Gaines and Dean each hit a three during the spurt. A three by Francisco Garcia and a follow shot by Whitehead put U of L up 67-52 with 4:25 remaining. |
| The play of Whitehead, George and Kendall Dartez helped the Cards overcome a poor shooting night. U of L shot only 43% overall, and was a cold 8-28 from three-point range. For the game, U of L had a season-high 14 steals as Tulane committed 25 turnovers leading to 28 Cardinal points. Meanwhile, the Cards had only six turnovers, and had 15 offensive rebounds. On the game, both teams finished with 33 rebounds. Tulane shot 58% from the field, but took 18 fewer shots than the Cards. Tulane was also 9-16 from three-point range. Whitehead had his second straight double-double for U of L, scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end. Garcia, who was named C-USA Freshman of the Year earlier in the week, did not start, but scored 15 points, mostly from inside the paint. Gaines also had 15 points for the Cards. Tulane was paced by Waitari Marsh, who had 17 points but eight turnovers, while Brandon Brown and Nick Sinville each had 12. |
| Game Summary: Tulane | Score: Louisville 89, Tulane 86 (ot) |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (28) Tulane: Ledaryl Billingsley (26) |
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| In the first few minutes of the game, U of L gave away eight quick points on three turnovers en route to a horrific 15-2 deficit. A full-court press (remember that, Cards fans?) terrified the Cardinals. Eight minutes into the game, Marques Maybin was out of the game with two fouls, the Cards had six turnovers and trailed 21-8. Tulane shot 51.7% from the field in the first half. But if the Green Wave had any depth, they could have prevented falling to 38% in the second half. And in a tight overtime game, shooting 23-41 (56%) from the line not only didn't help, but cost Tulane the game. |
| The Cards trailed 40-35 at halftime, and with six minutes left in the game, Tulane led by seven. But then Maybin re-entered the game, and in less than a minute hit a three-pointer, drove to the hoop for a dunk, then stole the ball at midcourt and raced in for another dunk. The game was then tied at the five minute mark. Reece Gaines hit a three to tie the game again with 3:20 left, then scored off a lob to tie the score at 71. With 1:20 left, Gaines hit a deep three with the shot clock expiring to give U of L a 74-73 lead, its first lead since 2-0. Tulane's Ledaryl Billingsley, who led the Green Wave with 26 points, hit a free throw to tie the game with 58 seconds left. Gaines missed a jumper and Maybin missed a tip-in with Tulane then getting the ball back with 25 seconds left. Tulane held for one-shot, but missed a 24-footer at the buzzer. |
| Starting for the first time in four games for U of L was Luke Whitehead, who had a career-high 16 points. He scored four of U of L's first six points in the extra period. Down 86-84, Tulane missed two shots with 25 seconds left; Gaines pulled down a rebound, was fouled and made one of two free throws. Tulane missed an outside jumper, but rebounded and called timeout with 5.1 seconds left. They missed a three-pointer, and U of L pulled the game out. U of L outrebouned Tulane 43-34, while Reece Gaines, who had a career-high 28 points, shot 10-18 from the field, 3-5 from the line and 5-7 from three-point range. Marques Maybin was 7-8 from the line in scoring all 16 of his points in the second half. Muhammed Lasege had his best came, coming off the bench to score eight points on 4-4 shooting with three rebounds. Tulane's Billingsley was 8-11 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds, while forward Linton Johnson had 22 points on 9-12 shooting. |
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| Game Preview: Tulane | Date: Jan. 10, 2000 |
| Site: New Orleans, LA | Records: U of L: 4-10, 0-1 Tulane: 7-6, 0-1 |
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| The Cards try to rebound against their loss at St. Louis by continuing their conference road trip, heading to the Big Easy to take on the Tulane Green Wave. Tulane is coming off its conference opener as well, a 98-76 loss at UAB. Tulane has four players averaging in double figures, including 6-1 sophomore guard Brandon Spann, who leads the team in scoring with an 18.4 ppg average. Impressively, he also averages 5.3 apg. Another double-double threat of the Green Wave is 6-7 senior forward Ladaryl Billingsley, who scores 16.4 ppg and pulls down 10.2 rpg. |
| Heading into the game, as noted in the summary of the St. Louis game, in which the Cards got demolished on the inside, U of L is last in the conference in team rebounding, averaging 32.3 rpg (UAB leads the league with 38.1 rpg). Unfortunately, the Cards are also last in the conference in team defense, allowing 79.6 ppg. Fortunately, Tulane is second-to-last, giving up 78.3 ppg. As the torture of this season continues, U of L will hope to gain a conference victory when it seems like such victories will be more than hard to come by.
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| Game Summary: Tulane | Score: Louisville 81, Tulane 70 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Tony Williams (22) Tulane: Morris Jordan (20) |
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| It was a bizarre night at Freedom Hall. Returning to action after an incredibly long layoff, U of L successfully opened up conference play with an 81-70 win against the Green Wave. Tony Williams led U of L with 22 points and 11 rebounds (he was 4-9 from three-point range and also had five steals), while Marques Maybin pitched in with 17 points with another impressive night on the boards, collecting seven. Also in double figures for the Cards was Nate Johnson with 14, 12 of them in the first half, and Reece Gaines with 11 points. |
| After committing only six turnovers in their last effort against UNC, U of L was hardly as careful with the ball tonight. The rust showed as U of L gave the ball away 20 times, thankfully though they were able to force Tulane into 20 turnovers as well. The turnover numbers might have been higher had not the officials often awarded teams the ball back after slipping on the Freedom Hall court, which was wet from condensation from the ice surface beneath the court. What appeared like sloppy play was actually almost dangerous playing conditions. Don't they have climate control in Freedom Hall, despite warmer than average temperatures outside? |
| Although Louisville held their biggest lead at 17 points about midway through the second half, Tulane cut the lead to seven at 74-67 with 3:23 remaining. Reece Gaines hit a three after a timeout to push the lead back to 10, and the Tulane charge was over. It was the Cards' defense that pulled them through, as they blocked nine shots and scored 25 points off of 20 Green Wave turnovers. The Cards also held Tulane to 43% shooting and held leading scorer Sterling Davis to only seven points. Tulane went on an 11-0 run to pull within two with 7:21 left in the first half, but a 10-0 Louisville run gave the Cards an 11-point halftime lead at 43-32. |
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| Game Preview: Tulane | Date: Jan. 3, 2000 |
| Site: Freedom Hall | Records: U of L: 7-3, Tulane: 10-1 |
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| The main story line heading into U of L's conference opener is how the Cards will respond after such a long time away from the court. Both Christmas and the 1900's have come and gone since the Cards outplayed North Carolina on Dec. 23; certainly some rust is expected after such a long time off. Tulane, on the other hand, defeated SMU 75-70 just four days ago on New Year's Eve. |
| The Green Wave are riding an impressive 10-1 start to the season, with their only loss coming at Maryland 78-70 back on Nov. 19. Last year the Cardinals finished 11-5 in conference play, and with their first two conference games at home this year, it is imperative that U of L open up C-USA play on the right foot. Tulane is led in scoring by 6-7 forward Sterling Davis, who is averaging 15.3 points a game heading into Monday's game. |
| This is the 20th consecutive season U of L and Tulane have played. This is Tulane's longest winning streak since January 1997; this is the first time in school history the Green Wave have had ten wins heading into January. Only two of Tulane's 11 opponents thus far have scored over 70 points, and Tulane's opponents are shooting only 39.2% from the field.
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