Shooting: A+. This goes for every kind of shooting, from three-point shooting (53 percent) to free-throw shooting (84 percent). The Stags were lethal from behind the arc, particularly in the first half, when they hit seven out of 11. Michael Van Schaick ’07 didn’t miss his first free-throw of the season until the final minute of the game, and Terrance Todd ’06 hit all seven of his attempts. Jonathan Han took three three-point shots in the first half, and hit all three of them.
Guard play: A. Todd was awful for the first 30 minutes of the game, but dominated the last nine, scoring all of his game-high tying 18 points during that stretch. Han continued to dazzle the crowd with his ball-handling, floor vision, and shooting touch. Tulane radio play-by-play man Larry Matson, a guest on the WVOF half time show, demanded to see a copy of Han’s birth certificate, saying there was no way a player with that kind of poise could be a freshman.
Low post play: B. Unlike Friday night, the Stags’ actually had a low post game, and it was fairly effective. Though almost all of their offense came from the perimeter, Geoff Middleton ’08 had by far his finest game as a Stag, scoring four points and blocking four shots in 24 minutes off the bench. And after being utterly dominated by the last two big men they faced, the Stags held Green Wave center Quincy Davis, the reigning Conference USA field goal percentage champion, to six points on 1-3 shooting from the field.
Overall: A. After giving No. 14 Iowa all it could handle Friday night, the Stags deserved a win, and got one on Saturday. They continued to employ the same style of play that they used in the previous two games, and since they weren’t playing against a team from the Big East or one of the best teams in the country, they were able to turn their effort into a win. This is a team that, if it continues to play like it did this weekend at the Hawkeye Challenge, could surprise a lot of people in the MAAC.
Not in the box score: Since the campus was shut down for the fall semester after Hurricane Katrina, Tulane’s basketball operations are currently run out of Texas A’M, where the players are enrolled in classes, and where the Green Wave played its only two home games. One of those games was against Texas A’M, and the two teams donated the proceeds to hurricane relief. The Wave will play its first true home game on Dec. 17 against St. Edwards, and players will return to class along with the rest of the student body when the spring semester opens on Jan. 17.
Up next: Loyola, Dec. 9, 8:30, Harbor Yard, WVOF 88.5-FM.
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