ULM Warhawks

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
MONROE, La. – ULM basketball hits the reset button this week as postseason play begins with the first round of the Sun Belt Championship.

After losing the regular-season finale to Arkansas State at home on Saturday, ULM faces a rapid rematch with the Red Wolves on Wednesday night. The No. 6 seed Warhawks play their No. 11 foe at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

"It's a tough loss, but you have to move on to the next day," ULM junior Travis Munnings said. "We can't keep this on our mind and beat ourselves up over this game. We've got a good chance to go to the tournament and win four games. We've just got to stay locked in and stay true to our team."

"It's a close, evenly matched conference," ULM senior Sam McDaniel said. "Coach will have a good game plan for us come Wednesday, and hopefully, we can execute it."

ULM (15-14, 9-9 Sun Belt) will try to recapture the magic that saw the team win eight of 11 games down the stretch after starting 1-6 in conference play. The Sun Belt's preseason poll predicted the Warhawks to finish last in 2017-18, so this is a squad of overachievers according to those projections.

"We're a six seed, which is still a good showing by our team this year," Richard said. "We were picked 12th, which is last, before the season started. We went 9-9, so it's a good conference year for this particular group. Let's go to the conference tournament 0-0 and see what we can do."

Arkansas State (11-20, 6-12) swept the season series from ULM. The Red Wolves won the first meeting, 79-64, in Jonesboro back on Dec. 29 in ULM's Sun Belt opener. In the most recent outing, ULM overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to regain the lead late but couldn't complete the comeback, losing 83-79 and missing out on a chance to secure the first-round bye that goes to a top-four seed.

"We had a hard time stopping them," Richard said. "They really dominated the first half. We dominate the second half up until the four-minute mark. We take a four-point lead and then they win the last four minutes."

When the Warhawks are at their best, they shoot with confidence, rebound throughout the lineup and simply outhustle their opponent.

"Defense, rebounding, just being locked in for 40 minutes," McDaniel said when asked for ULM's keys to success. "(Against Arkansas State) we played great in the second half, but it was just that first half. That's why we lost the game.  We need 40 minutes of locked in defense. Offensively, I think we're doing all right. We need to move the ball around a little more, swing it around a bit. Other than that, it's mainly the defense."

"We just need to continue to do what got us this far," Munnings said. "Shoot the ball with confidence and get our groove back. Once we get our defense back right, we should be good."

A win over Arkansas State earns ULM a Friday night quarterfinal date with No. 3 Georgia Southern at 7:30 p.m.  A successful bracket run for ULM leads to the semifinals at 2 p.m. on Saturday with the Sun Belt Championship at 1 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN2.
                                                       
"It doesn't matter who we play," Richard said, "Troy won four games in five nights last year. It can be done. Obviously, we've got to play well. Good things have to bounce our way."

Loose balls: Playing as the No. 12 seed in last year's Sun Belt tournament, ULM upset No. 5 Arkansas State, 73-70, in overtime. Nick Coppola scored 15 points, Sam Alabakis 14 and Marvin Jean-Pierre scored 12 in that first-round knockout. A 63-51 loss to No. 4 Texas State ended ULM's season in the quarterfinals despite 18 points and 10 rebounds from Munnings. … Troy is the defending Sun Belt Champion after winning as the No. 6 seed in 2017.