In the course of a basketball season, it helps to start strong, keep it going and finish strong. Given a choice, though, most teams would rather finish strong to increase their shot at a postseason spot.

And then there's Tulane, a team that that beat Auburn, Georgia, LSU and St. John's during its nonconference schedule and won five straight games early in its Conference USA schedule.

At that point, the Green Wave held realistic postseason hopes at 15-6, 5-2 in C-USA. Those hopes all went down the drain when they proceeded to lose eight straight games.

By the time ninth-seeded Tulane lost 75-56 to top-seeded Memphis in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament, its postseason hopes were history. With a 17-15 record, 6-10 in conference play, the season has to be considered a disappointment after the Green Wave finished 17-13, 9-7 in C-USA in 2006-07.

"I'm very proud of our seniors for what they accomplished since they have been at Tulane. We had back-to-back winning seasons," third-year Tulane coach Dave Dickerson said. "That is the first time that has happened in a decade. These guys are the second-winningest senior class in more than a decade. You can also say that no other senior class in college basketball history has had to go through what they have gone through.

"I'm very proud of what we have accomplished in the short period of time we have been together. I wish that things could have ended a little differently, but they didn't."

Those seniors -- forwards David Gomez and Donnie Stith and guard Matt Wheaton -- all played key roles for the Green Wave. Gomez was the team's best scorer and rebounder the past two seasons and Stith and Wheaton were strong defenders.

Sophomore point guard Kevin Sims is an effective scorer and playmaker and junior forward Robinson Louisme made significant progress in 2007-08, but the Green Wave has a lot of other holes to fill in 2008-09.

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