The Tulane Green Wave were able to get back into the win column on Tuesday night, picking up a win over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, 72-57.
It was far from their prettiest performance, as the offense hit a few rough patches. In the first four minutes of the game, the Wildcats were able to build a six-point lead thanks in large part to four Green Wave turnovers.
A win is a win, as it was nice to see the team bounce back after losing on the road to the Furman Paladins just four days earlier, 75-67.
However, it turns out it was more than just the game which the team lost.
Starting forward Gregg Glenn II was beat up that night.
He did what he could to help his team, scoring 14 points with 10 rebounds, four assists and one block, but it came at a cost.
He was elbowed in the head on multiple occasions and the effects of those blows seemed to carry over into the Bethune-Cookman matchup. Two of those four turnovers in the early going were committed by him, as he played only six minutes before sitting out the remainder of the contest.
After the victory, head coach Ron Hunter revealed that his starting forward was not feeling well and it certainly impacted his level of performance.
He issued an apology to his player post-game.
“I apologize to Gregg Glenn; he shouldn’t have played today,” Hunter said, via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. “He got elbowed twice in the head last game. They cleared him to play, but he hadn’t practiced. I kind of let him talk me (into playing him), but I’ve got to save the players from themselves sometimes. That’s on me.”
It will be interesting to see how Glenn is feeling later in the week.
The Green Wave don’t play until Friday when they host the New Orleans Privateers at Devlin Fieldhouse.
If the junior forward, one of only a few holdovers from last season’s roster, is unable to play, it could be Percy Daniels who takes his spot in the starting lineup.
After playing sparingly in his first two years with the program, Daniels is a regular part of Hunter’s rotation thus far this campaign. He has played in all five games, and Tuesday against Bethune-Cookman was his most extended playing time with 21 minutes.
He responded positively to the extra opportunities, scoring eight points with seven rebounds and three blocks in only 21 minutes.
“Percy was big today,” Hunter said. “That’s one of the better games he’s played since he’s been in uniform for us.”
Daniels, along with freshman forward Kam Williams, would see their roles increase exponentially should Gregg miss any time.