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CIT Quarterfinals: Warhawks Counting On Big Home Crowd for Texas Southern

CIT Quarterfinals: Warhawks Counting On Big Home Crowd for Texas Southern

Men's Basketball Mar 28
Tickets remain on sale for tonight's CIT quarterfinal game against Texas Southern: $12 reserved seats, $10 faculty/staff reserved, $8 general admission and $5 youth ticket (18 and under). Order your tickets online here! 
 
By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
MONROE, La. – The buzz is building at Fant-Ewing Coliseum this week as ULM basketball continues postseason play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. 

The Warhawks (19-15) play host to road-tested Texas Southern (23-13) on Thursday (March 28) in the CIT quarterfinals. Tip-off is 7 p.m., with fans encouraged to wear white to "White Out" the coliseum.  

"It's making me really excited," ULM forward Tyree White said. "People are coming out and everybody is showing love around campus."

A season-high home gathering of 5,742 turned out to watch ULM's 87-77 first-round CIT win over Kent State on March 21. The Warhawks earned a second-round bye as a top-three seed and are anticipating an even larger crowd for the next round. 

"We are really enjoying these last two weeks," ULM coach Keith Richard said. "The team has been in great spirits and practices are flowing very well. We're not going long, but they're going good. I think a lot of that has to do with us playing at home. It brings us a lot of energy."

ULM supporters have rallied to the cause and purchased 1,200 tickets for students to attend the quarterfinal game. 

"It really is neat to see the enthusiasm and the interest between the community, the students and the players," Richard said. "One is fueling the other. That's what college sports is supposed to be about, touching those kind of emotions. We've seen it here before and it's good to see it again."

The players appreciate having their fellow students involved in the postseason games. 

"We'll go to class and people will stop us and tell us, 'Good game,'" ULM forward Andre Washington said. "There were a lot of people there, and there will be more people trying to attend the next game."
        
ULM improved to14-2 at home with the CIT win over Kent State. The 14 home wins are tied for the second most in Fant-Ewing Coliseum history (sixth time since the facility opened prior to the 1971-72 season). The Warhawks posted a single-season record 15 home-court victories in 1978-79 (15-1).

"We feel real confident," Washington said. "When we're at home, our fans help us play that much better. They do a good job." 

ULM will be counting on the home support against a formidable opponent that has CIT wins over New Orleans and Texas Rio Grande Valley. Texas Southern has 12 road wins, including victories at Baylor, Oregon and Texas A&M.  

Texas Southern's first-year head coach Johnny Jones is a familiar name to Louisiana basketball followers. The former LSU basketball player, assistant and head coach has assembled a roster filled with transfers, including former LSU players Jeremy Combs (17.3 ppg., 9.3 rpg.) and Jalyn Patterson (12.2 ppg., 3.9 apg.).

"He put a good crew together very, very quickly," Richard said. "He needs to be commended. He got the job last spring and came out with a team that's at 23 wins right now, that's a great job by him."

Combs, a 6-foot-7 forward, dazzled in his only season at TSU, earning Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors. He scored 27 points with 17 rebounds in the 94-85 road win over UTRG, recording his 13th double-double of the season.  

Combs started his career at North Texas under LSU interim coach Tony Benford and was a second-team All-Conference USA selection as a sophomore before leaving for LSU as a graduate transfer. Injuries limited Combs to six games in Baton Rouge before the chance to finish strong at TSU. 

"He'll be tough to deal with," Richard said.

Auburn transfer Trayvon Reed is a 7-2 center, who averages 12.8 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Tigers.  

"This is what I saw in general," Richard said. "I saw a team that looked experienced. They don't get rattled and they keep playing. Whether they're up or down, they keep playing. That's indicative of their 12 road wins. They've played all over this country." 

Students are invited to tailgate outside the arena starting at 5 p.m. with special guest hosts B.J. Bell, a local DJ and promoter who rallied up their section in the last home game, and DJ Star. 
        
"They're doing a good job promoting the game," White said. "I'm seeing a lot on social media that they're trying to bring everybody together with the tailgate. It should be fun."
 
 
 
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