Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
TULANE (C-USA TOURNAMENT)
Marquette Edges Tulane, 72-67
3/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2001
By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Cordell Henry scored 16 points and Oluoma Nnamaka added 13 as Marquette beat Tulane 72-67 in the first round of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday night.
Brian Wardle added 12 points and John Mueller chipped in 11 as the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (15-13) snapped a three-game losing streak.
Brandon Brown and Lindon Johnson each had 17 points to lead 12th-seeded Tulane (9-21), which lost its eighth straight game. Ledaryl Billingsley had 12 points and Brandon Spann added 10 for the Green Wave.
Marquette advanced to take on No. 4 seed Memphis at 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
Marquette trailed by two at halftime but opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 36-32 lead. Spann's 3-pointer tied the game at 40, but a 9-2 run pushed the Golden Eagles' lead back to 49-42 midway through the half.
Tulane whittled away at the lead and tied the game at 58 on Brown's 3-point play with 4:53 to play.
The lead changed hands several times down the stretch before Odartey Blankson's layup with 1:06 to play put the Golden Eagles in front for good.
Marquette shot 53 percent to Tulane's 48 percent and outrebounded the Green Wave 30-24. The Golden Eagles' bench outscored Tulane's reserves 14-3.
Neither team could put together a run early as Marquette led by only a basket or two much of the first half. A 9-2 run gave the Golden Eagles their largest lead, 26-18, with 4:20 remaining.
From that point, Tulane outscored Marquette 12-2 - including consecutive 3-pointers by Johnson and Justin Amick - to take a 30-28 halftime lead.
