SMU sophomore guard Ryan Manuel in a game against Southern Miss. (Christopher Saul / The Daily Campus)

SMU was not able to change their recent fortunes in New Orleans, falling to Tulane 78-67 on Saturday afternoon. The Green Wave was led by Ricky Tarrant, who scored 25 points, and Jordan Callahan, who added 20 points off the bench to drop the Mustangs to 3-8 in C-USA play.

Tarrant, who scored 24 points against the Mustangs in a losing effort in Dallas earlier this season, was 7-of-14 shooting and made 4 of 8 from 3-point range against the Mustangs to pull the Green Wave within a game of .500 in C-USA play (5-6).

The Mustangs knocked down 56.3 percent from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 2 of 6. Even with the Mustangs’ starters all scoring in double figures, led by Shawn Williams with 16 points, the team could not sweep the season series against Tulane.

SMU once led by as many as 14 in the game in the first half, but the team fell a part late in the game even though the team had over 42 minutes played by the Mustangs’ bench.

With 3:29 to go in the game, the Mustangs trailed by just three points, 65-62, but Tarrant responded with consecutive 3-pointers and Ben Cherry added another to build a big cushion for the Green Wave to cruise to victory.

Even though the Mustangs outrebounded the Green Wave 31-22, the Mustangs could not overcome Tulane being on fire from 3-point range.

Where the Mustangs really struggled was on the turnover margin, forcing only 12 turnovers, but committing 20 of their own. Ryan Manuel struggled the most, having six turnovers on the night. The lack of a true point guard available for SMU has led to most of the struggles on the season offensively for SMU.

Next game for SMU is a home game against East Carolina at Moody Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. CT.