A few notes while cleaning out the notebook:
• The significance of two straight road wins during the early portion of Conference USA play was not lost on coach Ben Braun.
The Owls beat SMU 68-52 for their first win in Dallas since 2007 and followed with a 50-49 win at Tulane. Counting the win at Houston to end the regular season last season, the Owls have won three straight conference regular-season road games for the first time since 2005.
“To get two road victories in this league is tough for anybody and certainly has been tough on us over the years,” Braun said. “Teams that can find ways to win on the road I think give themselves a chance to be competitive.
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“You figure you’re going to have more success at home than you will on the road. So you want to try to establish yourself anytime you can on the road. Going back-to-back is a huge step for our program.”
The Owls play four of the next five games at home, beginning this week with games against UAB (Wednesday) and Tulsa (Saturday).
• Braun on the celebration after Connor Frizzelle’s buzzer beater for a 50-49 victory over Tulane: “That’s the highest I’ve jumped in years.”
• During his radio show Monday, Braun said senior forward Emerson Herndon is as healthy as he’s been in years and will see increased playing time.
Herndon played in only 11 games last season after needing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
“He’s playing the best he has for us,” Braun said.
• After the Owls swept the C-USA player of the week honors Monday – forward Arsalan Kazemi was named player of the week and forward Ahmad Ibrahim was chosen freshman of the week – Braun had a message for his players.
“The league kind of rewards you when you win,” he said. “They don’t always give out player of the week and awards when your team is losing. They’re looking at who has helped impact their team. That’s why I think those two guys got those awards.”
• Freshman forward Ahmad Ibrahim has shown he can score this season (19 points against Houston Baptist), but Braun said he has been impressed by his defensive play since he moved into the starting lineup the past two games.
“What I like is he’s been giving us a defensive presence,” Braun said. “He’s made it awfully tough when he’s been in the game engaged and focused and ready to go. I think he’s starting to accept that.”
• It wasn’t exactly the recipe for a win, but Braun said the Owls could use the narrow win over Tulane as a lesson.
The Owls shot only 28.6 percent in the game. But they were able to keep things close with a strong defensive performance that included holding the Green Wave to 18 first-half points and 36.6 percent shooting.
“I hate to say that’s an accomplishment because you don’t want to hang your hat on that,” Braun said. “But it is, in some strange way, a sign that our team even on a bad night was able to pull out a win.”
• The Owls will have their hands full with UAB forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA preseason player of the year.
Moore is sixth in the league in scoring (15.3), third in rebounding (10.3) and is tops with 47 blocks.
“He’s a load,” Braun said. “He’s been giving the league some fits. He’s been a hard guy to defend.”
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