BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – To begin its 64th season of basketball, the ULM men's program will travel to UAB for the 2014-15 season opener on Saturday in a 7:00 p.m. contest at Bartow Arena in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
The Warhawks return three starters and six student-athletes from a team that more-than double both its overall and conference win totals last season. They also brought in seven newcomers.
ULM brings back its leading scorer in senior Tylor Ongwae who was named to the Preseason All-Conference Second-Team and College Sports Madness All-SBC Second Team. Ongwae ranked fourth in the league in scoring last year and earned recognition on the NABC All-District Second-Team, All-Louisiana Third-Team and College Sports Madness SBC Fourth-Team.
Also coming back for the Warhawks are starters Nick Coppola and Marvin Williams. Coppola started all 27 games last year as a true freshman at point guard and played 40 minutes nine times. He shot .407 from three-point range in conference games and also ranked top-10 in the league in assists.
Williams, a senior, ranked top-10 in the SBC in blocks last year. He tallied nine double-figure scoring games and a pair of double-doubles. Williams notched a 19-point performance against No. 5 Kansas and outscored both Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, the first and third picks of the 2014 NBA draft.
UAB finished 18-13 overall and 7-9 in Conference USA last season. The Blazers ranked fourth in the nation in rebounding margin and return leading rebounder C.J. Washington. The 6-8 senior forward also comes back as the team's leading scorer with 13.0 points per game and was named to the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference Team.
Live radio coverage of the game can be heard on KMLB 540 AM (Nick White, play-by-play). Follow the ULM men's basketball program on twitter, @ULM_MBB, for all of the latest news and live in-game updates.
NOTES
- The contest is the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament but is not part of the main bracket. The Warhawks will take on Coastal Carolina in the first of their bracketed tournament games on Wednesday, Nov. 26 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
- The Warhawks were tabbed for sixth in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll
- ULM is looking for its first victory on opening night since Nov. 14, 2008 when it defeated Morehead State, 56-54. ULM seeks its first opening day road victory since Nov. 23, 1999 when it won at Samford, 67-60
- Keith and Lance Richard enter the 2014-15 as one of seven father/son combinations in Division I men's basketball
- The Warhawks enter the 2014-15 season without any APR penalties for the first time in five years. ULM head coach Keith Richard has turned the program around academically since inheriting APR sanctions when he took over at the helm, and the Warhawks have won back-to-back Sun Belt Conference academic awards
- For the first time since the NCAA instituted academic progress rate (APR) scores in 2003-04, the ULM men's basketball program tallied a perfect 1,000 score in the 2013-14 season. Over the summer, ULM was the only Division I institution in the state of Louisiana to earn the Team Academic Excellence award from the NABC
- ULM's 2014-15 schedule consists of 15 home contests, the most since 1985-86. The home opener is slated for Monday at 7:00 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum against Champion Baptist
