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ULM Takes Positive Vibe into CIT Showdown at Austin Peay

ULM Takes Positive Vibe into CIT Showdown at Austin Peay

Men's Basketball Mar 13
By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist

MONROE, La. – Basketball practice had ended on Monday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum, but senior forward Sam McDaniel and freshman guard Michael Ertel were still on the court going at it in a light-hearted game of one-on-one.

This is a team of players that can't get enough of the game. And ULM isn't done with its season just yet.

The Warhawks play at Austin Peay in the opening game of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee.
 
"We're pretty happy," McDaniel said. "Any time you get to put your uniform on and lace 'em up again, it's always a good opportunity. I'm just thankful to keep playing. I think the vibe is definitely positive throughout the locker room."

"I was glad," Ertel said. "We obviously weren't happy with how the season ended in New Orleans. I was happy to get another chance. It was weird because we thought it was over. Then we heard we might have something else to play for."

ULM (16-15) finished tied for fifth in the Sun Belt at 9-9 and reached the conference tournament quarterfinals before losing to Georgia Southern last Friday night. The team arrived back in Monroe on Saturday hoping for another chance to play.

"We didn't want to end the season with that type of taste in our mouth," ULM forward Travis Munnings said. "For us to have another opportunity to go and play again is a blessing and we really appreciate that."

The team learned on Sunday night that they'd been awarded a CIT berth for the second time in three seasons. ULM lost to Furman 58-57 in the 2016 CIT.

"In my opinion, for us in our situation and with this particular team, it's good to keep playing and accept an invitation to the CIT," ULM coach Keith Richard said. "It's a reward for a decent season."

This will be the first-ever meeting between the Warhawks and Governors (18-14), who fell 94-79 to Belmont in the semifinal round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
Richard certainly has fond memories of his team's postseason run in another tournament in 2015. That season ULM was the runner-up in the College Basketball Invitational tournament which attracted 3,368 for a semifinal matchup against Vermont at Fant-Ewing Coliseum and 4,460 on "Whiteout Wednesday" in Game Two of the CBI Finals against Loyola-Chicago.
 
"There are a lot of positives that can come out of a tournament like this for us," Richard said. "The crowd three years ago was a real positive that came out of this experience. This particular team, the fact that some of our younger guys get to keep playing like Michael Ertel and Sam Alabakis, this is good for them, not to mention the seniors.

"We're going to try to get better in the next two or three days and get something out of this. That's the beauty of playing in something like this."

While Ertel was the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year for ULM, Austin Peay's Terry Taylor earned the same honor in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 6-foot-5, 217-pounder averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, including 121 total offensive boards.
 
All-OVC first-team forward Averyl Ugba led Austin Peay in scoring at 15.4 points per game and snared 8.0 rebounds per contest. Ugba is a 6-7, 225-pounder, who transferred from Grambling State.
 
"Austin Peay has really good post players at the five and four (positions)," Richard said. "They lead them in scoring and the five man is an all-league player. The four is a freshman of the year. Not only are they good post players, but they're tremendous offensive rebounders."

Richard and his staff are familiar with Austin Peay's head coach Matt Figger, the OVC Coach of the Year in his first season. Figger was an assistant at South Carolina last year when the Gamecocks reached the Final Four.

"We know him," Richard said. "He's a friend of ours. Ryan Cross has known him a long, long time. He's been in the business a long time. He was with Frank Martin at South Carolina and was at South Alabama at one time with John Pelphrey. He was at Kansas State.

"He comes out of the Frank Martin, Brad Underwood kind of system defensively speaking, and I see it in his team. That's a tough, physical defense. They try to deny a lot of passes and put pressure on the ball. They pick you up full court, but just straight man-to-man. They don't try to trick you. It's just tough defense and playing hard."   

Richard expects a lively atmosphere at the Dunn Center, which is what the best postseason experiences are all about.

"They're excited about their people and they're hosting," Richard said. "Their AD was on the committee of the CIT board. They're hosting and they're promoting it. It's going to be a little bit of a hornet's nest, which is good. We want them to see some adversity again and play against some different players."

McDaniel expects the Warhawks to compete, just as they did throughout the latter half of the season while winning nine of their last 13 games.

"We were picked last, so to do what we did in the second half of the conference and be invited to play some more basketball is a great opportunity," McDaniel said. "We feel blessed. We see it as another chance to get better in practice this week and go hoop again."

Loose balls: The CIT field features 20 teams and began with four games on Monday. There is no set bracket and future round opponents are determined by the results of the previous round. All games at on-campus sites. … Austin Peay and ULM played a limited number of like opponents; Austin Peay went 3-0 against Troy and Jacksonville State, while ULM went 1-2 with a road loss to the Gamecocks and a split against the Trojans.
 
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