Senior Andrew Garcia scored a career-high 23 points in leading the Tulane Green Wave to
a 77-72 victory over the Golden Eagles of the University of Southern Mississippi in a Conference USA contest at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans Saturday afternoon.
Garcia made 9-of-11 attempts from the floor, including his only attempt from outside the three-point arc. Garcia also converted on all four of his free throw attempts.
Junior David Gomez added 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, to support Garcia's efforts.
Tulane's record rises to 14-13 overall, and 7-7 in C-USA. USM's record falls to 17-10 overall,
and 7-7 in conference action.
The Eagle's Jeremy Wise led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the floor, and
Courtney Beasley added 12 points.
Tulane owned the paint in the first half, outscoring the Golden Eagles 26-6 inside the lane in the half. For the game, the Greenies outscored USM in the paint 42-18. The Wave's inside dominance was reflected in a 51.6 first half field goal percentage, as the Green Wave led at half time 42-35. The Wave shot 49 percent from the floor for the night.
The Wave outscored Southern Miss 14-3 over the last five minutes of the first half, taking the lead for good at 34-33 with 2:23 remaining on a layup by David Gomez.
Early in the second half, the Golden Eagles cut the Tulane lead to two points at 43-41, but the Green Wave rallied and led by as many as 11. USM rallied again in the final minute and cut the lead to 3 on three different occasions, but could come no closer as Tulane hit 16-of-20 free-throw attempts, including all five of their attempts in the final minute and held on to take the win by the five point margin.
The Green Wave closes out the home portion of the regular season Wednesday at Fogleman Arena,
when they host the East Carolina Pirates in a 7 p.m. contest.