TROY, Ala. – Clinching a double-bye to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships, the ULM men's basketball program won its seventh consecutive game, 66-51 over Troy on Saturday at Trojan Arena.
It's the longest winning streak for the Warhawks (17-12, 13-5 SBC) since 1998-99. Also, with 17 wins ULM secured back-to-back winning seasons overall for the first time since 1992-93, 93-94.
ULM held Troy (9-20, 4-14 SBC) to a .291 shooting percentage in the game and .233 in the second half. The Warhawks shot exactly 13-29 (.448) in both halves.
Senior Majok Deng scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Reigning Co-Louisiana Player of the Week winner, junior Nick Coppola, finished with 14 points and five assists, and senior DeMondre Harvey tallied 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Trojans were led by John Walton III who scored a game-high 18 points. Jordon Varnado pitched in with 16, and Wesley Person had 10. Person entered the game as the team's leading scorer and the reigning SBC Freshman of the Year winner.
ULM held a slight 13-12 edge early when Deng had a dunk and a tip-in to go up 17-12 at the 10:30 mark. The Trojans responded with a 5-0 run to tie it at 17 with 7:58 left.
Still even at 22, Deng nailed a fade-away jumper and a three-pointer to put the Warhawks back in front, 27-22 with 4:01 to go. Coppola converted an old-fashion three-point play with three seconds left in the half to give ULM a 32-24 advantage at the break.
Deng drilled a three-pointer and Harvey made a pair of free throws on ULM's first two possessions of the second half to go up 37-24 with 18:52 remaining. The Warhawks used a 7-0 run to push the lead up to 52-32 with 10:02 left after a lay-up by Coppola.
The Trojans went on an 8-0 run to get the deficit to 54-42 at the 6:45 mark. ULM answered with a 6-0 spurt, sparked by back-to-back lay-ins by senior Mack Foster, to go back up 60-42 with 5:11 remaining.
The Warhawks will return home on Thursday when they host Georgia Southern at 7:00 p.m. during a “Maroon Out” at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
ULM will open Sun Belt Conference Tournament play on Saturday, March 12 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans against an opponent to be determined.
NOTES
- ULM won its fourth consecutive meeting over Troy. The 15-point margin of victory was the largest over the Trojans since Dec. 17, 1995 when ULM won 110-92 in the very first of 16 meetings. It was also the largest ever road win at Troy. The Warhawks won the first game this season, 85-74 in Monroe on Jan. 21
- The Warhawks completed their fifth season sweep of the year after already taking both meetings against Appalachian State, Texas State, UT Arlington and South Alabama
- ULM's seven-game winning streak is the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. The Warhawks also have the fifth-longest road active winning streak in the country with five
- ULM holds a 27-11 SBC record over the last two seasons, best in the league
- The Warhawks have won seven games in a row and 11 of their last 12 since switching their starting lineup to Coppola, senior Justin Roberson, Deng, senior Jamaal Samuel and Harvey. Freshman Travis Munnings had started all 17 games previously and is now the “sixth man”
- Deng has scored at least 13 points in 20 of his last 22 outings. He notched his 48th career double-figure scoring game and 23rd this season. Deng went 7-10 from the field
- With five assists in the game, Coppola needs 21 more to catch Larry Saulters and become the all-time assist leader at ULM. Coppola netted his 46th career double-digit scoring game and 18th this year
- Harvey entered the game shooting 62-115 (.539) from the field on the year and went 4-6 in the contest. He etched his 11th career double-figure scoring game and seventh this year
- In addition to securing back-to-back winning seasons overall for the first time in 22 years, ULM has also solidified back-to-back winning seasons in league play for the first time since 1998-99 & 1999-00 when it was a member of the Southland Conference
- ULM will place ahead of where it was predicted in the SBC Preseason Poll for the third year in a row. The Warhawks were picked to finish third this season
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“Great defense today was the name of the game. We needed it because it took us a little while to get our offense going. We didn't shoot the ball great from the three-point line, but we talked about it at halftime and said we didn't need to shoot a lot of threes in the second half. We needed to get the ball toward the rim, either off the pass or off the dribble. I thought we did that and it enabled us to get some easy buckets. But we really defended them. A tremendous job by Justin Roberson and Mack Foster who took turns on Wesley Person and chased him around. When you play great defense on the road you'll always have a chance to win.”
On Majok Deng
“In the first half we needed every one of his points to get our lead. In the second half, he didn't score as much but he didn't have as many opportunities. We were trying to spread the floor and cut, and we somewhat used him as a decoy. Troy was out on him and it opened up the floor for cuts. That's what you need to do when you have a double-figure lead in the second half, shoot lay-ups.”
On Nick Coppola's three-point play at the end of the first half
“It was a tremendous job by Nick, controlling the last minute of play. On the defensive end, he got a loose-ball rebound. We called timeout, I put it in his hands, he took a bigger guy off the dribble at the right moment and got the and-one. It was a huge momentum swing at the end of the half.”
On Mack Foster
“As he's playing more, he's getting more confident. He did a good job defensively and was exhausted at the end. He had to chase Person all night long, around many screens and was sprinting. We really worked hard on the defensive end.”
On returning home on Thursday
“I think we will have a good crowd. I hope we do. The team deserves it. The athletic department is really pushing hard to promote it. I said before the season ever started that we'd have a good team this year. I didn't know how good or how many wins, but we do have a good team – we proved it. We've won 11 of the last 12 and seven in a row. We've won five in a row on the road – our road woes are over. We've secured back-to-back conference winning seasons for the first time in 16 years. With our 17th win today, we're guaranteed back-to-back overall winning seasons for the first time since 1992-93, 93-94. I am so proud of these seniors. The crowd should just come for them, these five seniors and what they've done the last two years. It has elevated our program into the top half of the Sun Belt Conference which is where we want to be. I couldn't be happier with what's going on and I'm glad we're ending the season at home before the conference tournament.”
