THE MATCHUP
Teams: ULM (6-14, 0-7 SBC)
Arkansas State (14-6, 5-2 SBC)
Location: Fant-Ewing Coliseum/Monroe, La.
Time: 4:00 p.m.
LIVE AUDIO (Warhawk Radio Network)
LIVE STATS (Statbroadcast)
Live Video (Warhawk All Access)
MONROE, La. – The ULM men's basketball team comes home to Fant-Ewing Coliseum for a pair of home contests this weekend, starting on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. against Arkansas State. Saturday afternoon's game will be available on the Warhawk Radio Network and on Warhawks All-Access.
The Warhawks enter the tilt with a 6-14 mark, coming off of a loss by six points at Texas State on Monday, while Texas State is 14-6, coming off a victory on Monday night against South Alabama.
NOTABLES
Last Time Out: ULM could not overcome a hot shooting Texas State performance in route to a 63-57 loss on Monday night in Strahan Coliseum.
Suits & Sneakers Week: Coach Richard and his staff are joining fellow coaching staffs throughout the country in trading their dress shoes for basketball sneakers as part of Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week during this week's games. Also this season, the coaching staffs will lace up their sneakers with a special pair of Princess Lacey's Laces, in memory of 8-year-old Lacey Holsworth, who was an avid basketball fan. She formed a close bond with former Michigan State basketball star Adreian Payne, and he became a close friend, visiting her at the hospital and inviting her to games.
Home Cooking: The Warhawks return to Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Saturday, a place they have only been in seven times this season and only twice since the start of the new year. ULM is currently one of three teams in the Sun Belt that has played just two home games in seven league games (Appalachian State and Troy are the other two). The Warhawks are now 32-6 over their last two and half seasons inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Head-to-Head: The Warhawks and Red Wolves meet on Saturday for the 61st time in program history. Earlier this season, the Warhawks and Red Wolves met in Jonesboro and Arkansas State used a red hot second half performance to race past ULM, 76-45. Devin Carter paced the Red Wolves with 20 points while Tamas Bruce added 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Scouting the Red Wolves: Arkansas State enters Monday's contest coming off of a 12 point win at home to South Alabama. In the game Deven Simms came off the bench and scored 23 points while going nine-of-13 from the floor while also grabbing a team high 10 rebounds. For the season the Red Wolves are paced by Devin Carter as he is averaging 16.8 points per game.
Assist Mark: Senior Nick Coppola currently sits with 495 assists over his three-plus seasons with the Warhawks. He is just five assists away from becoming the eighth active NCAA Division I player to have 1,000 points and 500 assists in his career. He eclipsed the 1,000-point mark earlier this season when he scored a season-high 23 points against Jacksonville State on December 10.
Sun Belt Leaders: Following the January 23 slate of SBC games, Travis Munnings is currently second in the SBC with 8.8 rebounds per game and he also ranks 6th in minutes per game with 32.3 mpg. Munnings also ranks third in the conference this season with 6.2 defensive rebounds per game. Nick Coppola leads the Sun Belt with 36.7 minutes per game while also leading the conference in assist to turnover ratio with a 2.6 mark. Coppola ranks third on the season with 4.3 assists per game. In conference-only games, Munnings ranks second in rebounding averaging 8.9 rebounds a game in conference while also ranking second in offensive rebounding with a 3.6 average. Coppola leads the Sun Belt in league games with a 39.0 minutes per game average while Munnings ranks fourth with 35.4 minutes per game average.
UP NEXT
-Following Saturday afternoon's contest, the Warhawks stay at home for a Monday night matchup with the Little Rock Trojans. The game with Little Rock will tip at 7:00 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. In the Warhawks first meeting with the Trojans, they were clipped 79-75 in overtime in Little Rock on Dec. 31, 2016.
