MONROE, La. – Riding a four-game winning streak, the ULM men's basketball program will look to win its 400th game in Fant-Ewing Coliseum history on Thursday when it hosts in-state rival UL-Lafayette at 7:00 p.m.
ULM (16-8, 10-3 SBC) is looking to sweep the season series over the Ragin' Cajuns (13-11, 7-6 SBC) for the first time since 1971-72. ULM won the first meeting this season, 57-55 as senior Tylor Ongwae led a well-balanced scoring attack with 13 points.
Ongwae is coming off a monster week which saw him win awards both on and off the court. He is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, College Sports Madness SBC Player of the Week, Louisiana Player of the Week and Warhawk of the Week winner.
The Eldoret, Kenya native was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District First-Team this week. He is one of 40 finalists for Academic All-America and the only from the SBC.
In ULM's last outing, it posted a big overtime victory over Georgia Southern, 71-68 last Saturday. Ongwae netted a game-high 19 points, junior Jamaal Samuel recorded 17 points, one shy of his career-high, and junior Mack Foster pitched in with 12 points.
UL-Lafayette split a pair of home games last weekend, defeating Appalachian State, 81-66 before falling to UT Arlington, 84-69.
Shawn Long averages a double-double for the Cajuns with team-highs of 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. In conference games only, his numbers are even higher at 19.3 and 11.5, respectively. He's first in the league in rebounding, first in blocks and fourth in scoring. Long is one of three Cajuns to average double-figures in scoring as Brian Williams puts in 10.6 points per game and Devonta Walker 10.1.
As a team, the Cajuns rank first in the league in scoring with 79.7 points per game. However, in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 18, ULM was able to slow down the UL-Lafayette offense in a 57-55 win. The Warhawks used a well-balanced offensive attack, led by Ongwae's 13 points. ULM held UL-L to .327 (18-55) from the field and .111 (2-18) from long-range.
The Warhawks will close out the weekend at home with a 2:00 p.m. contest against Appalachian State at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. It's the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Live radio coverage of both games can be heard on KLIP 105.3 FM (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
- ULM goes for win No. 400 in Fant-Ewing Coliseum history on Thursday against the Cajuns. ULM is 9-2 at home on the season and 399-171 all-time in Fant-Ewing Coliseum
- ULM enters play with a 0.5 game lead on Georgia Southern and a 1.0 game lead on Georgia State in the SBC standings. The Warhawks are three games ahead of the Cajuns who are in fifth-place behind UT Arlington
- With a win Thursday, ULM would post two win streaks of five-games or more in the same season for the first time since 1999-2000
- ULM is ranked No. 23 in the latest CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top-25 Poll
- On the year, the Warhawks enter the game ranking first in the league in field goal percentage defense (.377), three-point percentage defense (.285) and blocks (4.5 bpg). The 3FG% defense is top-10 in the nation, while the FG% defense is 13th
- The Warhawks won their last home game, 67-61 over South Alabama on Jan. 31. They've also won six in a row on the road, the longest streak since 1993-94
- Ongwae won four weekly awards after averaging 20 points per game and led the Warhawks to a pair of victories to catapult them into first-place. On the year, Ongwae leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with 14.1 and 7.0 per outing, respectively. He leads the league in free throw percentage at .875 (84-96)
- It marked the second SBC, CSM and LSWA weekly awards for Ongwae this season and the third for ULM - the only team in the SBC to win three weekly awards this year
- Junior Majok Deng puts in 11.6 points per game in league action and is shooting .417 (20-48) from three-point range, second-best in the conference. He averages 1.6 blocks per game on the year, also second-best in the SBC
- Junior Jamaal Samuel started both games last weekend and stepped up big for the Warhawks. He posted 16 points at UALR and 17 points at Georgia Southern. Samuel made at least seven field goals in both contests
- Sophomore Nick Coppola ranks third in the league in assist:turnover ratio (2.2) and assists (3.9 apg). He has played at least 40 minutes eight times this year and 17 times in his career. Coppola played 45 minutes on Saturday at Georgia Southern and hit a trio of three-pointers
- In his last three games, junior Justin Roberson dished out six assists vs. South Alabama, seven (career-high) at UALR and six assists at Georgia Southern. He scores 8.5 points per game on the year
- The Warhawks wrapped up the month of January with an 8-2 record, their best January record since 2001-02. ULM is 2-0 in February
- ULM is the only team in the SBC that has not allowed 75 points in a single game this season. It is also one of nine teams left in the nation to accomplish that. The list also includes Cincinnati, New Mexico, George Washington, Oregon State, Saint Peters, Utah, Baylor and New Hampshire
- The Warhawks are 14-0 on the season when they have at least three double-figure scorers and 8-0 when they shoot over 50 percent from the field
- ULM has already surpassed its conference win total from last season by three games and has also surpassed its overall win total by six games when they finished 10-17 (7-11 SBC)
