Tulane @ Towson preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 21, 2018 ) Towson 73, Tulane 55

Tulane and Towson will meet in the third-place game Saturday in the DC Holiday Hoops Fest Tournament in Washington, D.C. The Green Wave dropped a 62-61 decision to Akron, while the Tigers fell to undefeated Liberty 66-54 in the other contest.

The Green Wave were in a back-and-forth game until the Zips' Xeriyus Williams hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in the game. Tulane finished the day shooting 26-for-64 overall, 4-for-16 beyond the arc and 5-for-10 at the foul stripe. Towson held a seven-point lead two minutes into the second half in the other semifinal and was clinging to a 41-39 lead with 12 1/2 minutes to play before the Flames went on a 20-4 run. Towson will shoot for wins over Tulane n two straight years, as the Tigers defeated the Green Wave 73-55 last season in the Boardwalk Battle in Atlantic City, N.J. behind 15 points and 11 rebounds by Brian Fobbs.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT TULANE (8-3): Junior guard Teshaun Hightower (16.5 points), led four Tulane scorers in double-figures with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and six rebounds Friday. K.J. Lawson (14.9 points) added 14 points and nine boards, while Kevin Zhang chipped in 11 points. The Green Wave, who have played only two teams from a major conference this season (65-61 win over Utah, 80-66 loss to Mississippi State), have the fifth-easiest schedule thus far according to KenPom.

ABOUT TOWSON (5-6): Freshman guard Jason Gibson (6.9 points) scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting versus the Flames, while Fobbs (15.7 points) tallied 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Nakye Sanders (8.8 points, 7.1 rebounds) has finished with at least six rebounds in eight straight games. Sanders leads the team in offensive rebound percentage (12.9) - 85th in the nation - followed by 6-9 senior Dennis Tunstall (12.3), who also leads the team in block percentage (5.4).

TIP-INS

1. The Green Wave have held five of their last six opponents below 70 points.

2, Tulane has already doubled its win total of four from last season.

3. The combined record of the six schools that have defeated Towson is 53-16.

PREDICTION: Towson 64, Tulane 61