SAN MARCOS, Texas – The ULM men's basketball program took control of the game in the first half and never looked back in a 76-57 victory over Texas State on Thursday at Strahan Coliseum.
ULM (14-12, 10-5 SBC) went up by 19 points at the intermission on the Bobcats (10-12, 4-9 SBC) and never saw the lead drop below 15 points in the second half. All 10 ULM student-athletes that played in the contest scored at least two points.
The Warhawks shot 31-60 (.517) from the field and held Texas State to an 18-49 (.367) clip. ULM also held a big 37-28 rebounding edge.
As a result, the Warhawks won their fourth consecutive game and eight of their last nine.
Senior Justin Roberson led the charge with a game-high 21 points. Senior Majok Deng aided the attack with 16 points and seven rebounds, while junior Nick Coppola finished with 15 points and six assists. Deng is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, Louisiana Player of the Week and College Sports Madness SBC Player of the Week winner.
Cameron Naylor propelled Texas State with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Emani Gant recorded 14 points, and Ethan Montalvo ended with 13.
ULM used an early 7-0 run which included a three-pointer by Coppola to start ahead, 11-4 at the 15:04 mark. The Warhawks then went on a big 13-0 spurt to jump on top, 24-6 after five points from ssenior Jamaal Samuel and a three-pointer by freshman Travis Munnings with 8:39 remaining.
The Bobcats responded with a 7-0 run to make it a 24-13 game with 6:47 to go. The Warhawks led 32-20 with 2:05 left when they ended the half on a 7-0 to go up 39-20 after Coppola swished a runner in the closing seconds.
A quick four points by Roberson early in the second half extended the advantage to 43-20. Texas State answered with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 43-28 with 17 minutes remaining. The Bobcats never got any closer.
The Warhawks took their biggest lead of the game, 69-43 after a jumper by Roberson with 7:01 left. A three-pointer by Deng kept them ahead, 72-48 at the 4:09 mark.
ULM will close out the weekend at UT Arlington at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday at the College Park Center. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN3 with Drew Fellios and Bob Donewald as television talent.
NOTES
- The Warhawks posted their fourth consecutive win over Texas State and improved to 29-18 in the all-time series. ULM is 18-5 against the Bobcats at home and 11-10 on the road
- ULM has won at least four straight SBC games for the fourth time in the last two seasons
- The Warhawks are now 8-1 with the starting lineup of Coppola, Roberson, Deng, Samuel and senior DeMondre Harvey
- ULM improved to 8-0 in conference play when it shoots over 50 percent from the field
- The 19-point halftime lead was its largest in conference play this season and the biggest since it was up by 31 at the intermission against McMurry in the season-opener on Nov. 13, 2015
- The Warhawks entered the game leading the SBC in field goal percentage (.456) and upped it with a .517 mark. They were also second in assists (13.8 apg) and were right on par with 14 in the contest
- Roberson has now posted the nine highest scoring games of his career in his last 10 appearances, all of at least 20 points. It marked his 18th double-digit scoring game of the year and 33rd of his career
- Deng has scored at least 13 points in 18 of his last 19 outings. He registered his 46th career double-figure scoring game and 21st this season. Deng entered the game leading the conference in scoring, top-30 in the nation and third among all internationally-born players
- Coppola netted his 43rd career double-figure scoring game and 15th this year. He ranks fourth all-time in career assists with 362 and needs three more to tie Bob Carson for third. Coppola also ranks first all-time in ULM history in minutes per game, third in total minutes, fifth in career starts, sixth in assists per game and ninth in three-pointers made. He tallied a 3.0 assist:turnover ratio in the game with just two turnovers
- Munnings has now made nine of his last 11 three-pointers over a six-game span as he drained his only attempt in the game
- The Warhawks hold a 24-11 SBC record over the last two seasons, the best in the conference
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“Our confidence is high right now. This win only helps it. We certainly played well in the first half and I think that was the story of the game. We really guarded them and shot the ball well. We did everything right and it was a tremendous performance in the first half. At halftime, I tried to tell them to keep playing offensively so that we wouldn't start stalling and playing that way. We weren't as good in the second half, but sometimes that happens when you have such a large lead. The first half was the story of the game.”
On Justin Roberson
“He was a little sick tonight. He's got a little bug or something so it was a good effort by him. We need his strike-ability. He's the one guy on our team, athletically, that can really strike off the dribble. A basketball team needs that. We need Justin to do his part and he's certainly done that in the last nine or 10 games.”
On DeMondre Harvey
“He had a couple of good plays in there. I think DeMondre is trying to handle this new role of 'hey, we're throwing it in there to you so go score.' It's not really his personality to go be a little aggressive and selfish in there and go get buckets. He's quick to pass it out and I have to tell him sometimes to go score. So anything we can get out of him in there has been great for us over the last month. We certainly need it to keep going.”
