Tulsa @ Tulane preview

Tulsa at Tulane

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2017 ) Tulane 60, Tulsa 66

Tulane looks to stay perfect at home – and in American Athletic Conference play – when it hosts Tulsa on Sunday. Both teams are looking to improve to 2-0 in the conference as they aim to surpass tepid expectations entering the season.

The Green Wave continued their impressive start with an 85-75 win at Temple on Thursday to open league play. Tulane needed only nine games to surpass last season’s total of six wins and has high hopes of overshooting its projected 10th-place finish in the American. The Golden Hurricane hammered East Carolina 79-53 on Thursday in their conference opener for their fourth win in five games. Tulsa was picked eighth in the league’s preseason poll.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT TULSA (8-5, 1-0 American): The Golden Hurricane have found their go-to guy in Junior Etou (18.2 points, seven rebounds). The former Rutgers forward posted his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds against East Carolina. Point guard Sterling Taplin (11.7 points, 4.2 assists) and reserve swingman DaQuan Jeffries (11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds) are the next options, but the offensive threats drop off beyond that.

ABOUT TULANE (10-3, 1-0): The Green Wave are led by the conference’s highest-scoring duo in Melvin Frazier (17.5 points, 6.2 rebounds) and Cameron Reynolds (16.5, 6.8). Frazier also leads the league in steals (2.5 per game), helping fuel a vastly improved defensive team. Reserve forward Samir Sehic (10.5 points, 5.8 rebounds) is the team’s only other double-digit scorer, although starting guards Ray Ona Embo (9.8 points) and Jordan Cornish (9.5) are on the brink.

TIP-INS

1. Tulsa leads the all-time series 18-6 and has won nine of the last 10 meetings, including two of three last season.

2. Reynolds, who surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season, needs three rebounds to reach 500.

3. Tulane is 10-0 when shooting better from the field than the opposition.

PREDICTION: Tulane 75, Tulsa 74