KENT, Ohio – Without leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker Majok Deng, the ULM men's basketball program led 35-33 over Kent State at the intermission, but the Golden Flashes used a big second half to take a 73-62 result on Thursday at Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
Deng, who was named National Mid-Major Player of the Week on Monday by College Sports Madness, sustained a lower leg injury earlier in the week and will be out indefinitely for precautionary reasons.
Senior Jamaal Samuel matched a career-high with 18 points for ULM (4-3, 1-0 SBC) and also pulled down seven rebounds and swatted a trio of blocks. He drained four three-pointers in the contest.
Junior Nick Coppola scored 15 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Senior DeMondre Harvey also aided the attack with 10 points.
Kellon Thomas and Xavier Pollard led Kent State (6-2) with 16 points apiece. Jaylin Walker pitched in with 11 points after going eight-for-eight from the free throw line. The Golden Flashes outscored the Warhawks, 40-27 in the second half.
ULM started the contest four-for-five from three-point range and the game was tied, 16-16 halfway through the first half. The Golden Flashes scored the next five points to take their biggest lead of the half, 21-16 at the 7:26 mark.
The Warhawks came back with a 7-2 run which included a strong drive to the basket by Harvey to take the lead, 25-23 with 4:29 left. ULM extended its edge to 28-24 after a three-pointer by Samuel from the top of the key.
Kent State scored the last two points of the half, but the Warhawks carried a 35-33 advantage into the intermission. ULM shot 14-26 (.538) from the field in the first half and 5-7 (.714) from long-range.
The Golden Flashes opened the second half on a 9-2 spurt to jump ahead, 42-37 with 14:15 remaining. A three-pointer by Pollard extended the lead to 45-39. ULM scored the next four points on a pair of free throws by Harvey and a put-back by senior Justin Roberson to cut the deficit to 45-43 at the 12:02 mark.
The Warhawks hung around for much of the second half and trailed 54-50 with 5:46 left. The Golden Flashes then pulled away with an 8-0 run to go up 62-50 with 3:39 remaining.
ULM will play its second of three weekend road games on Saturday when it travels to Penn State for a 1:00 p.m. (CT) tip at Rec Hall. The game will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network. Follow the ULM men's basketball program on twitter, @ULM_MBB, for live in-game updates.
NOTES
- The Warhawks have now held opponents to under 75 points in 50 of their last 51 games
- ULM entered the game outscoring opponents 166-102 in the paint. The Warhawks outscored the Golden Flashes 26-24 in the paint
- It marked the first time this year ULM fell when leading at half (4-1 on the season)
- Coppola etched his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game and the 32nd of his career. He finished the game with six assists and two turnovers for 3.0 assist:turnover ratio
- Harvey made his first start of the season and 10th of his career. He posted his seventh career double-figure scoring game and third this season
- Samuel posted his 12th career double-digit scoring game and fourth this year. It was also his second in a row. He became the first Warhawk to make four three-pointers in a game this season. Samuel matched his career-high of 18 points set last season against Champion Baptist on Nov. 17, 2014
- It marked the second-ever meeting between Kent State and ULM. The first came on Dec. 2, 2010 when the Golden Flashes came out with a 69-53 win at Kent State
- ULM is the first team receiving votes in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll
