Jackson State Beat Tulane on a Timeout Tulane Didn't Have

Jackson State's first lead of the night was the game-winner, and it came from the free-throw line with 1.6 seconds left — because Tulane called a timeout it did not have. The Tigers beat the Green Wave 87–85 on Thursday night in New Orleans, in a game Tulane led for 36 minutes and four seconds of the forty.

For most of the night it looked like a routine home win. Tulane jumped out 10–2 in the first two minutes and stretched the lead to 30–15 with 10:43 left in the first half — its largest of the night, per Tulane's official recap. Jackson State's answer started there: a 7–0 run in 57 seconds, a driving layup by AT Manyuon and a three from Mike Williams, forced a Tulane timeout and cut it to 30–22. A Manyuon steal and dunk made it 37–31. Tulane pushed back to ten, but the Tigers closed the half on a 6–0 run — a Nikk Williams dunk and free throw, then three McMillian free throws — and went to the locker room down just four, 42–38, behind 13 first-half points from Dorian McMillian.

The second half was a tug of war. Jackson State scored the first four points out of the break to tie it 44–44 with 17:48 to play — the first tie of the night. Tulane rebuilt the margin to 57–49, and every time the Wave threatened to pull away, the Tigers answered: a McMillian steal and layup, a personal 7–0 run from Mike Williams that cut it to 65–62, a Ruffin free throw for 65–63. With 5:05 left the Tigers were within one, 74–73. KJ Greene's layup and a TJ Nadeau three pushed Tulane back up six, 79–73 — and Jackson State answered again, an 8–2 run capped by a McMillian three that tied the game at 81 with 3:02 remaining.

The last two minutes were scoreless basketball at its most tense. Tulane's free throws made it 83–81 with 2:43 to play; Daeshun Ruffin's pull-up tied it at 83; the teams traded possessions until the score sat at 85–85 with 1:50 left, and then neither side could get a shot to fall. Somebody was going to win this game on a mistake. It turned out to be a clerical one.

The final sequence is the one that will live on. Tulane's Krystian Lewis, pressured after a rebound in the final seconds, called for a timeout. Tulane had used all four of theirs. The call drew an administrative technical foul — and sent Ruffin, Jackson State's closer all night, to the line with the game in his hands and 1.6 seconds on the clock. He made both. 87–85.

Tulane still had one look. Nadeau's three at the buzzer missed, with McMillian contesting it — a fitting end, because McMillian was the Tigers' best player all night: 23 points and 7 rebounds, including the three that tied the game late. Ruffin finished with 17 points and 8 assists. Mike Williams added 20 points off the bench, Manyuon scored 12 and Nikk Williams 10 — five Tigers in double figures, per Jackson State's official recap. Tulane put six in double figures of its own, Nadeau and Carson Schwieger with 16 apiece, and lost anyway.

The win is the first of head coach Trey Johnson's tenure at Jackson State, and it moves the Tigers to 1–1. Tulane falls to 1–1 with a loss its own recap called heart-breaking — and a historical footnote attached: it was the Green Wave's first loss to Jackson State since the first meeting between the schools on December 23, 1992, per Tulane's recap, against a program that stands 49–5 at home against SWAC teams, per Tulane's own recap. BetMGM's pregame model, HBCU Gameday reported, had the Green Wave at 72.7% to win. The model did not account for a timeout that didn't exist.

The numbers underneath were just as tight as the finish. Jackson State shot 46.8 percent from the floor and hit nine threes; Tulane shot 47.5 percent and hit eight. The Tigers did it with a shuffled deck — a different starting lineup than their opener, per the school's game notes, with Ruffin, McMillian and DJ Davis in the backcourt and Nikk Williams and Kobe Butler up front. McMillian has scored in double figures in both games of the young season, after 10 points in the opener on the road at No. 19 Texas Tech. On Thursday he had 13 by halftime and the biggest three of the night in his pocket by the end of it.

ESPN's own post of the finish — "WHAT AN ENDING IN NEW ORLEANS" — was still circulating on Friday. The box score will say Jackson State led for 1.6 seconds all night. Both things are true, and the second one is the whole story. Next up, per the schools: Jackson State goes to Mississippi State on Monday, and Tulane hosts Nicholls on Tuesday.