Josh Nicholas contested-layup vs UT Arlington 2021
Victoria Pederson
77
Winner UT Arlington UTA 5-6,1-2 Sun Belt
64
La.-Monroe ULM 4-6,2-1 Sun Belt
Winner
UT Arlington UTA
5-6,1-2 Sun Belt
77
Final
64
La.-Monroe ULM
4-6,2-1 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UT Arlington UTA 42 35 77
La.-Monroe ULM 26 38 64

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM Can’t Overcome Slow Start Against UTA; Drops Series Opener, 77-64

MONROE, La. – Shahada Wells and Sam Griffin combined for 43 points to lead UT Arlington to a 77-64 win over ULM Friday night in the opening game of a Sun Belt Conference weekend series.
 
UTA (5-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) seized control of the game with an early 16-0 run. Griffin, who hit three consecutive 3s, and Wells combined to score 15 of those 16 points. A steal and layup by Wells gave the Mavericks an 18-5 lead with 13:25 left in the first half. UTA made 6-of-8 field-goal attempts during that decisive stretch while ULM went 0-for-7 from the floor and committed three turnovers. The Warhawks went 5:45 between made field goals.
 
Trailing 21-7, Russell Harrison sparked a 6-0 spurt with a hard drive to the basket for a layup and Josh Nicholas and Elijah Gonzales followed with layups as ULM (4-6, 2-1) cut its deficit to eight at 21-13 with 9:27 remaining in the first half. The Warhawks again managed to pull to within eight at 27-19 on a layup by Luke Phillips with 4:21 to go in the opening half, but that was the closest ULM would get the rest of the night.
 
McKade Marquis hit a pull-up jumper from outside the lane with :02 left to send UTA to the locker room with a 16-point halftime lead, 42-26.
 
The Mavs, who shot 57 percent (16-of-28) from the field including 50 percent (5-of-10) from behind the 3-point arc, got 15 first-half points from Griffin. UTA also converted ULM's seven first-half turnovers into 13 points. The Warhawks made 10-of-29 shots (34 percent) from the floor, including just 2-of-12 3-pointers (17 percent), in the first 20 minutes.
 
"The first half killed us," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "Give UTA a lot of credit. They played well offensively and defensively. They got a bunch of steals that led to layups on the other end. We were on our heels on the offensive end and not as aggressive as we needed to be on the defensive end of the floor. And when you don't execute against a good team, then you're going to get down quickly (on the scoreboard). Our guys were ready to play, but we certainly didn't play well in the first half."
 
UTA led by as many as 20 points on three occasions in the second half. ULM scored six-straight points to pull within 69-57 on Koreem Ozier's 15-foot jumper from the right baseline with 3:48 left, but the Warhawks failed to get the margin into single digits despite shooting 55 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the second half.
 
For the game, the Mavs shot 49 percent (28-of-57) from the floor, including 10-of-21 3-pointers (48 percent, while outrebounding ULM, 37-26. The Warhawks struggled shooting the 3 all night and finished 5-of-23 from 3-point range (22 percent).
 
"3-point shooting made a big difference in the game," Richard said. "We didn't shoot the ball well from 3 the entire game, but UTA did. UTA has some bigger, athletic guards. So, at times, they shot over us from the 3-point line as well as inside (the lane). Shahada Wells had 25 points tonight and Sam Griffin had 18. When you get guard play like that in a game, you're probably going to win."
 
Wells, who hit 10-of-16 field-goal attempts, finished with a season-high 25 points, with 17 of those coming in the second half. Griffin added 18 points, hitting 4-of-10 3-pointers, and eight assists.
 
UTA also got 12 points and eight rebounds from Patrick Mwamba.
 
Nicholas scored a career-high 23 points to pace the Warhawks, hitting 11-of-16 shots from the floor. He poured in 15 second-half points.
 
"Josh Nicholas has been playing well for the past month," Richard said. "He's moving well (without the basketball), and he's scoring in a variety of ways. His confidence is high, and we've got to find ways to keep him going (offensively)."
 
Ozier, who reached double figures for his fourth-straight game, netted 16 points to go along with a career-high eight assists.
 
ULM will attempt to earn a split in the Sun Belt weekend series against UTA on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m. General admission tickets are priced at $10.
 
"In the locker room, I delivered the same message as I did a week ago," Richard said. "After the opening game of the weekend series, we're not going to get too low after a loss or too high after a win. We're going to watch the film tomorrow and have a walk-thru, so we can make the adjustments. We'll stay even-keeled and do our best to get a split on Saturday.
 
"Last weekend, there were several home teams that lost the first game but came back and won the second game of the series. That needs to be us tomorrow afternoon."
 
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