Tulane men’s basketball (13-8, 4-5 American Athletic Conference) came into Tuesday night’s game ranked second in the AAC in points per game, but shot 36 percent from the field and 28 percent from deep in its 62-55 loss to Tulsa (15-5, 8-0 AAC). 

Tulane trailed early, but got a big offensive punch off the bench from freshman Dylan Osetkowski, who scored 7 points down low for the Wave in the first half, finishing with 8.  

The Wave clawed its way back into the game midway through the first half, trading leads, until Tulsa went on an 8-0 run to close the half leading 27-20. 

Tulane’s house of guards shot poorly from the field in the first half, as junior Louis Dabney, sophomore Jonathan Stark, senior Jay Hook, redshirt sophomore Kajon Mack and freshman Keith Pinkney shot a combined 4 for 20 from the field. 

The Wave also shot a mere 11 percent from three-point range in the first half. 

The Wave came out of the locker room with energy early in the second half, but Tulsa extended its lead to 16 midway through the half and sucked the life out of the building. 

Tulane eventually went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to five, lead by an 7 point offensive explosion by sophomore forward Peyton Henson.

Henson, who has struggled from the field this season, shooting 33 percent from the field and 14 percent from deep, finished with 12 points off 4 of 9 shooting.  

Tulsa defended the Wave’s three leading scorers well from the field as Stark, Dabney and Hook finished to shoot a combined 9 for 35 from the field and a similar 26 percent from deep. 

“With our big three, we need at least two of those guys to be on a little bit more than they were tonight,” head coach Ed Conroy said.  

The Wave shot 38.5 percent from three point range in the second half, compared to the aforementioned 11 percent in the first. 

“I thought we moved [the ball] much better in the second half, and we got some really good looks, but missed good shots,” Conroy said. “Overall, we just didn’t get it done on the offensive end.”

Conroy said he was surprised and disappointed that Tulsa out-rebounded the Wave 42-31. 

“Our players know I’m not happy,” Conroy said. “Tonight’s effort, inexcusable, our effort on the boards.” 

The Green Wave have now lost three straight games, but Conroy is poised that Tulane can continue to it’s early season success. 

“I have no doubt the effort is going to be there,” Conroy said. “We just need to enjoy this ride, jump into it and keep getting better. We have the chance to do something special in the second half of the season and we just need to get better at team things, like finishing possessions.”

Tulane next suits up against Temple, Saturday Jan. 31 in Philadelphia PA.