MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Trailing by 13 at the intermission, the ULM men's basketball program came all the way back to take the lead with 6:44 remaining, but Minnesota made a final push to earn a 67-56 result on Sunday at Williams Arena.
The Warhawks (1-1) led 51-50 after freshman Travis Munnings converted a pair of free throws. However, the Gophers responded with an 11-0 run, and shot 90.9 percent (20-22) from the free throw line in the game to prevail.
Senior Majok Deng notched a team-high 16 points and pulled down six rebounds. Munnings neared a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and senior Jamaal Samuel aided the attack with 11 points.
ULM was held to a .258 (8-31) clip from the field in the first half but bounced back with a .419 (13-31) mark in the second. Conversely, Minnesota (2-0) shot at a .448 (13-29) clip in the first half but was limited to a .310 (9-29) percentage in the second.
Samuel got the ULM offense going early after knocking down a couple shots, but the Gophers led 15-10 at the 11:39 mark of the first half. A 6-0 run pushed Minnesota's lead up to 26-15 with 7:35 to go.
The Gophers led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but strong drive down the baseline by junior Marcus Washington drew a foul and he knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 38-25 game at the half.
Deng started the second half with a pair of lay-ins, and a runner by Samuel made it a 40-31 game with 15:30 to go. ULM trailed 46-37 when it used a 6-0 run, capped by a steal and dunk on the fast break by Roberson, to cut the deficit to 46-41 at the 11:06 mark.
Still down 50-45, Deng nailed a long jumper and Harvey made a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game with 7:21 to go. After ULM got a stop defensively, Munnings drew the foul and made both free throws to put the Warhawks ahead, 51-50.
The Gophers answered with a 10-0 run which included a three-pointer, a lay-in and four free throws to go back on top, 61-51 before a lay-in by Samuel ended the drought with 2:00 to go. A three-pointer by junior Nick Coppola made it 63-56 with 1:41 remaining but ULM couldn't get any closer.
The Warhawks will return to the court Thursday at 6:30 p.m. when they travel to Natchitoches, La., to play Northwestern State. Follow the ULM men's basketball program on Twitter, @ULM_MBB, for live in-game updates.
NOTES
- ULM is now just one of two teams in the nation to not allow 75 points in a single game over the last two seasons (along with Baylor); St. Peter's fell to Lafayette, 87-86 in overtime today
- The Warhawks held their ground inside as they outrebounded the Gophers, 43-41 and held a 28-20 edge in the paint. ULM also outscored Minnesota 12-9 in second chance points
- Deng registered his 10th consecutive double-figure scoring game dating back to last season. He shot 50 percent (6-12) from the field. It marked his 27th career double-digit scoring outing
- Munnings etched new career-bests of 12 points and nine rebounds. It was his first career double-figure scoring game
- Samuel tallied his 17th career double-figure scoring game and his first this season
- Senior Justin Roberson pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, topping his previous best of seven set twice last year. He also tied his career-high with four steals. Roberson played a game-high 33 minutes in the contest
- ULM ranked top-10 in the country in three-point field goal percentage defense last season and held the Gophers to a .136 (3-22) clip
- It marked the first-ever meeting between ULM and Minnesota
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
On the end of the second half
"Scoring is a problem for us at times, and it showed itself at the wrong moment, when we took the lead. We needed to score just one or two times to keep up down the stretch and we didn't. That was the game right there."
On the team's scoring in the past
"Our team last year was much like this. We defend. We defend our tails off and we have problems scoring. We go into scoring droughts. We missed a layup and a lot of open threes, two possessions in a row and just couldn't keep up."
On positive takeaways from this game
"In the second half we played the way we need to play in terms of the offensive end, which is kind of scrappy, and, even though we don't have a low post player, we got to get some buckets inside, which we did, then a mixture of some outside shots. First half it was all outside, all perimeter and very, very soft, and we can't play like that. We just played more the way we play in the second half, which made the game closer and gave us a chance."
On what's next
"We're at Northwestern State, which lead the country in scoring last year, so we're going to have to come up with a good defensive game plan."
Quoting freshman Travis Munnings
On what it was like being down big early in the second half
“I just wanted the team to be aggressive. We had to stay together and not put our heads down. Anything can happen in basketball and we just never gave up. I wanted to try my best to lead them because I knew we could come back. We can play against anyone, we just have to have confidence in ourselves and listen to our coaches. We came back and stepped up at the right moments.”
On ULM's scoring drought after taking the lead
“Maybe fatigue kicked in, but we just had to stay aggressive. I tried to put my head down and get to the free throw line to stop it. We will look at this, learn from it and be ready to go for our next game. We can't take anything for granted. This game is a blessing and if we stay together and give 100 percent then we can beat anyone.”
