Tulane is back in the win column.

The Green Wave beat Nicholls 77-63 on Tuesday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse and moved to 2-1. Nicholls fell to 1-2. After Thursday's 87-85 loss to Jackson State, this was a chance to answer in the same building. Officially, they did.

Krystian Lewis was the night. The junior led all scorers with 35 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three, and he was perfect at the line, 17-of-17. He added 7 rebounds and 1 assist in 39 minutes. The official recap called it his second game with 35 or more in just the first three games of the season, after a 40-point night in the 100-98 double-overtime win over UT Martin on Nov 2. The same recap said the 35 points tied for the 23rd highest scoring output by a Tulane player in a single game, and the 17 made free throws tied for third in program history in a single contest. He had 17 points in the first half and was 9-of-9 at the line before the break.

In my take, that is the engine of this team right now. The start was messy. Official recap: Nicholls threw the first punch and led 7-2 in the first three minutes. Then the Wave went on a 20-2 run, capped by a Josiah Moore layup, and took a 22-9 lead with under 10 minutes left in the first half. The Colonels answered with an 11-2 run and cut it to 24-20. Tulane responded with six straight to get the lead back to double digits, then closed the half with the final five points for a 35-24 lead at the break. Ringgold had 7 of his points in that first half, per the official recap.

Nicholls was not done. Tulane stretched the lead to 13 on the first possession of the second half, and the Colonels chipped all the way down to one, 46-45. That is the moment you hold your breath after Thursday. Official recap: Lewis refused to let them take the lead back. The Monroe, Louisiana, native scored five straight points to spark a 21-7 run that put the Wave in control, 67-52, with 3:58 to play. The largest lead of the night was 75-59.

Final: 77-63. Tyler Ringgold was the only other Wave player in double figures, 12 points and 6 rebounds. Carson Schwieger added 8 points with a pair of threes. The bench showed up, too. Joah Chappelle led the team on the glass with 8 rebounds and scored 7 points in 23 minutes. I'm really high on Joah. Josiah Moore finished with 4 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 26 minutes, and he was the one who capped that 20-2 run. TJ Nadeau added 5 points and 2 assists in 23 minutes. Official box: the Wave bench scored 16 points. The shooting splits explain a lot of the win. Official box: Tulane went 19-of-44 from the field (43.2 percent), 9-of-18 from three (50.0 percent), and 30-of-38 at the free throw line (78.9 percent). Nicholls was 23-of-53 (43.4 percent), 4-of-19 from three (21.1 percent), and 13-of-17 at the line (76.5 percent). The Wave won the glass 34-29 and had 10 assists to 7.

Here is what still has to get cleaned up, and I will say this as my take, off the official numbers. Both teams turned it over 12 times. Nicholls got 14 points off those turnovers. Tulane got only 9 the other way. That is better than Thursday, when the official recap had the Wave with 17 turnovers that became 18 Jackson State points, but it is not clean.

Ringgold's 12 and 6 came with 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. You will take the production. You cannot live with the fouls and the giveaways every night, not with Akron on a short week. One more box note, because it matters after the official preview had Nicholls seventh nationally in steals at 14.0 a game and 17th in fastbreak points at 24.0: the Colonels finished with 7 steals and 5 fast-break points. That is a real defensive step in the right direction.

Photo: @ParkerWaters Official recap: this was Tulane's sixth straight win over Nicholls. The Wave is now 23-1 all-time in the series and 21-0 at home against the Colonels. Ron Hunter is 9-3 against Southland teams, and Tulane is 74-37 against that league under him. What's next is the first road game of the season. Tulane is at Akron on Saturday, Nov 14, at 11:00 AM Central on ESPN+. Same day as football at Rice. Two-sport Saturday.

Take the bounce back, clean up the turnovers, and go get another one. That's my take. The response was there. Lewis was there. Now we find out if it travels. Roll Wave. #RMFW @RollDatWave Sponsor: @RedshirtLtd Redshirtltd.com Code: RDW 10% Off Officially Licensed Tulane Lids