NEW ORLEANS -- Tulane jumped out to a 15-0 lead, and never looked back on the way to a 92-57 victory over Sacramento State on Friday evening at Fogelman Arena.
The loss dropped Sacramento State to 1-3 on the young season with all three of those defeats coming on the road. In fact, the Hornets play seven of their first eight games away from home. That includes the SoCal Challenge which begins on Monday in San Juan Capistrano vs. CSU Bakersfield.
Tulane, which resides in the American Athletic Conference and won 20 games a year ago, improved to 3-0 this season with each of those wins coming at home. Dating back to last year, the Green Wave is now 15-3 on the home floor. The Hornets were playing Tulane for the first time since 1995.
Tulane never trailed the entire way as the Green Wave took advantage of the Hornets missing their first seven shots from the field. That led to a 15-0 lead, and Sacramento State would cut the deficit to eight points on three occasions in the first half but would not get closer.
The Hornets had 14 more rebounds than Tulane (37-23), including a 13-0 advantage in offensive boards. However, the Green Wave shot 59% (33-56) from the field, 44% (11-25) from the 3-point line, and 79% (15-19) from the free throw line. Sacramento State, conversely, shot 35% from the field and 27% from distance.
While the Hornets held a 10-0 advantage in second chance points, Tulane had a 27-5 advantage in points off turnovers. The Hornets, uncharacteristically, had 24 turnovers compared to just nine for the Green Wave.
Sacramento State's
Duncan Powell posted his third straight double-double with 17 points (5-10 FG, 6-7 FT) and 13 rebounds. It marked the third consecutive game with 13 rebounds for Powell, a transfer from North Carolina A&T. The sophomore leads the Hornets in scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (11.8 rpg), and has registered at least 14 points in every game this year.
Sharp shooter
Austin Patterson also scored in double figures, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from long range. Patterson is now shooting 46% (11-24) from beyond the arc. Besides Patterson, the rest of the Hornets shot 21% (5-24) from distance.
Alex Kovatchev had seven points and two assists,
Zee Hamoda seven points and two steals,
Jacob Holt five rebounds, and
Akol Mawein four points. Hamoda had scored in double figures in every game until this evening.
As part of the SoCal Challenge, the Hornets will play Monday and Wednesday at The Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano. That includes Monday's game at CSU Bakersfield at noon. On Wednesday afternoon, the Hornets will play either Tarleton State or Austin Peay as part of tournament play.
