Nicholls vs Tulane prediction: Tulane's transfer shooters debut against a Nicholls team starting over
Both rosters were rebuilt, but Tulane's imports arrive with proven jumpers while Nicholls brings back almost nobody who played last season.
- Expect a feeling-out game between two rebuilt rosters, with Tulane's size and transfer shooting likely deciding it at Devlin Fieldhouse.
- Watch Detroit Mercy transfer TJ Nadeau's catch-and-shoot threes against a Nicholls perimeter defense built almost entirely from new faces.
- No spread or total has been posted yet. Tulane won last season's meeting on this floor 82-72.
Two programs hit reset
Most of what these teams did last season walked out the door. Nicholls returns just 10.0% of last season's minutes, and Tulane brings back only 25.5%. That makes last season's team profiles a loose guide at best, so the better read comes from who actually suits up.
Tulane lost its engine. Rowan Brumbaugh averaged 19.2 points last season and is now at SMU. Ron Hunter is set to enter his eighth season and rebuilt with a 10-player class of seven transfers and three true freshmen. Redshirt junior Tyler Ringgold, who started 32 games last season, is the anchor among five returners.
Nicholls has even less continuity. Christian Winborne is the only returner who played real minutes, and the team's leadership on the bench is not settled in any confirmed report, so the Colonels arrive as the bigger unknown.
Tulane imported its jump shot
Shooting was Tulane's problem last season. The Green Wave made 32.1% of their threes, 289th of 365, while taking them at one of the heavier rates in the country. The new guards should change that.
TJ Nadeau made 46.7% of his threes at Detroit Mercy last season, and Carson Schwieger hit 40.9% on 225 attempts at Queens. Krystian Lewis, the UL Monroe transfer, carried a heavy load with 18.4 points a game, though his effective field goal percentage (a shooting mark that counts threes 1.5 times) sat at a modest 42.9%. Lewis set the tone in the Oct. 28 exhibition, scoring 27 in a 108-97 win over Spring Hill with five players in double figures.
Tulane also plays bigger. Its roster averages 77.6 inches when weighted by minutes, against 75.1 for Nicholls.
Can Nicholls still turn people over
The Colonels' identity last season was pressure. They forced turnovers on 21.1% of opponent possessions, 15th in Division I, and their steal rate ranked 13th. Tulane was reasonably careful with the ball, ranking 104th in turnover rate.
The catch is that the hands behind those numbers are mostly gone. Sincere Malone and Trae English each averaged 1.8 steals last season and neither is on the roster. Whether the new group can recreate that havoc is the biggest open question for Nicholls, and it is the clearest path to keeping this close.
The free throw line
Tulane lived at the line last season, posting a free throw rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempt) of 43.4%, 13th in the country. Nicholls was loose with fouls, ranking 251st in opponent free throw rate.
The Colonels also struggled to cash in their own trips, making 66.7% of free throws, 347th of 365. Doyel Cockrill III, the Chicago State transfer who shot 83.3% there last season, could help fix that if he takes on the volume his 11.8 points a game suggest.
What to watch
- Tulane opens with UT Martin tonight and hosts Jackson State on Nov. 5, so this is its third straight home game. That gives the Green Wave a head start on chemistry.
- Tulane won the last two meetings at home, 91-81 in 2023 and 82-72 last season.
- Both teams were poor on the defensive glass last season, so second-chance points could swing it if the new frontcourts don't fix that.
Key players
- Krystian Lewis (Tulane): Averaged 18.4 points at UL Monroe last season and scored 27 in Tulane's exhibition win.
- TJ Nadeau (Tulane): Made 46.7% of his threes last season with an offensive rating of 132.1.
- Carson Schwieger (Tulane): Hit 92 threes at a 40.9% clip last season.
- Tyler Ringgold (Tulane): Started all 32 games last season, averaging 9.4 points and 0.9 blocks.
- Doyel Cockrill III (Nicholls): Averaged 11.8 points with a 25.3% usage rate at Chicago State last season.
- Christian Winborne (Nicholls): The lone rotation returner averaged 7.9 points and made 54 threes last season.
Numbers that matter
| Nicholls returning minutes | 10.0% | Almost none of last season's Colonels rotation is back, so last season's team stats say little. |
|---|---|---|
| Nadeau 3-point % | 46.7% | Tulane's top shooting import arrives with an elite mark from Detroit Mercy last season. |
| Nicholls forced turnover rank | 15th | Last season's pressure defense was elite, but its top ball hawks have left. |
| Tulane free throw rate rank | 13th | The Green Wave got to the line as well as almost anyone last season. |
| Nicholls FT% rank | 347th | Last season's Colonels left points at the stripe, a liability if the game is close. |
Nicholls vs Tulane: quick answers
When is Nicholls vs Tulane?
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 7:30 PM ET.