Well, this hasn’t been all too much fun.

After a 3-0 start to begin American Conference play, Tulane University men’s basketball has lost five consecutive contests, nearly dropping the team to last in the conference.

As a team that was picked as the third best in conference preseason rankings with the conference player of the year in Rowan Brumbaugh, the Green Wave has underperformed since mid-January.

Brumbaugh has not been a reason for the drought, however. He leads the team in points, assists, rebounds and steals per game. He is also leading the team in minutes per game with 35.8, which is staggering; this means he is on the floor for about 90% of each game.

This stat is worrying because the last thing the team needs is for Brumbaugh to run out of gas late in the season when winning the conference is essentially the only hope for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Curtis Williams Jr., a Georgetown University transfer like Brumbaugh, is second on the team in minutes and scoring. He has proven to be a viable replacement for the gifted scorer Kaleb Banks, who left after last season for DePaul University.

In order to get back on track, Tulane needs more production out of senior Asher Woods. While he is averaging more than 12 points per game, he is shooting a career-low 24.3% from the 3-point line.

Tulane could also be using more of its second-year players, not just the newcomers. Sophomore Luke Rasmussen started his first game of the season against the University of South Florida and played well, especially on the defensive end. Guard K.J. Greene is crafty and quick; seeing him get more playing time could ignite a spark that Tulane needs.

A player like Greene, the highest-rated recruit in Tulane men’s basketball history, could leave the program and dominate elsewhere, especially in today’s college sports climate. This would be a hard pill to swallow. 

Hopefully, head coach Ron Hunter can rectify the recent struggles and get his squad back on track for tough games ahead.