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ULM Concludes SEC Road Swing Friday at No. 22 Auburn

ULM Concludes SEC Road Swing Friday at No. 22 Auburn

Men's Basketball Nov 12
Game 2: ULM (0-1, 0-0 SBC) at No. 22/22 Auburn (1-0, 0-0 SEC)
Friday, Nov. 12 | 7 p.m. CT
Auburn Arena (9,121) | Auburn Ala.
    SEC Network+ | 100.1 FM
 

2021-22 ULM Basketball Notes: Game 2 at Auburn
 
STORYLINE –
ULM takes on its next challenge, its second SEC opponent during the season's opening week, with a visit to No. 22 Auburn, Friday, Nov. 12.
 
The Warhawks face back-to-back SEC opponents for the second time in three seasons with previous trips to Texas A&M (L, 57-63) and at Mississippi State (L, 45-62) in November 2019.
 
Tuesday night's starting lineup featured three returnees from a year ago and a team-best 29 minutes from graduate transfer guard Reginald Gee. ULM head coach Keith Richard will tinker with the lineup to determine his best five. 

ULM and Auburn have played only three times previously with no meetings in the Bruce Pearl era. The Tigers holds the 3-0 advantage in the series with all three games played in Auburn.
 
THE STARTING FIVE –
•  Friday's game at No. 22 Auburn is the only trip to Alabama for the Warhawks this season. ULM plays both Troy and South Alabama in Fant-Ewing Coliseum Jan. 20 and 22, respectively.
 
•  The Warhawks face their first ranked opponent in No. 22 Auburn since a Dec. 28, 2019, contest at No. 12 Butler. 
 
•  Following Friday's game, ULM has only one game away from the Bayou State until a Dec. 14 game at Stephen F. Austin. The Warhawks play at SMU Nov. 28 prior to three-straight home games in Fant-Ewing to start the month of December.
 
•  Junior guard Elijah Gonzales and graduate transfer guard Reginald Gee both hit the century mark for career assists in the season opener at LSU. Gonzales now has 102 career assists with a team-best three in the opener at LSU and Gee is at 100 even with an assist vs. the Tigers.
 
 • Senior forward Russell Harrison has connected on at least one 3-pointer in 24 of the 25 games he has played at ULM, including the last three-straight games. Harrison led the Warhawks with 42 triples as a newcomer in 2020-21.
 
HOME SWEET HOME –
ULM has 14 games on its home docket for Fant-Ewing Coliseum in 2021-22. The home opener is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, vs. Champion Christian. The game versus Champion Christian is the first meeting with the Tigers since the 2014-15 season, a 106-39 Warhawk victory.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS –
5 — All five ULM starters played at least 21 minutes in the season opener at LSU with 11 of the 12 active players recording valuable minutes of experience. Graduate transfer guard Reginald Gee had the top total with 29 minutes.
 
9 — The Warhawks had nine steals in the season opener vs. LSU, one shy of their total of 10 in the 2020-21 season opener. ULM had 10 games with nine or more steals last season, including a season-high 12 vs Little Rock.
 
12 — Twelve Warhawks had at least one rebound in Tuesday night's opener at LSU. D'Marcus Hall and Reginald Gee shared honors as the team's top rebounders with four each. Hall had two offensive and two defensive rebounds while all of Gee's were on the defensive end.
 
100% — Junior guard Elijah Gonzales had the Warhawks' top free-throw percentage at 85.1 (40-47) in 2020-21 and started the new season with a perfect 3-of-3 mark from the line at LSU.
 
1,000 — Graduate transfer guard Andre Jones tallied his 1,000th career point in the opener at LSU. Jones came to ULM with 995 points and scored five points vs. the Tigers. Graduate transfer guard Reginald Gee sits at 1,397 and needs just three more points to reach 1,400 for his career.
 
AUBURN SCOUTING REPORT –
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl (Boston College, 1982)
Record at Auburn: 139-92 (eighth year)
Career Record: 601-237 (27th year)
Pearl's Record vs. ULM: First meeting
Tigers' top scorer: Sophomore G Wendell Green (19.0 ppg)
Tigers' top rebounders: Freshman F Jabari Smith (6.0 rpg), Sophomore F/C Walker Kessler (6.0 rpg)
 
No. 22 Auburn dominated on both ends of the court in its 77-54 season-opening win over Morehead State Tuesday night inside Auburn Arena. Four Tigers scored in double figures with newcomers Wendell Green Jr. scoring a game-high 19 points and Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler sharing team-high honors with six rebounds each. Auburn took an early 11-0 lead and used a 15-0 run to coast to a 20-point halftime lead at 44-24.
 
The Tigers forced 10 turnovers in the first half and blocked six shots, four by Kessler in his Auburn debut as he finished with five of Auburn's eight blocks and tied Smith for the team lead with six rebounds. Auburn committed only six turnovers while forcing 17, leading to a 19-6 advantage in points off turnovers against Morehead State.
 
ULM/AUBURN SERIES NOTES –
Friday's game marks the fourth meeting between ULM and Auburn. The Tigers lead the all-time series 3-0, with all of the games played at Auburn.
 
A 14-2 Auburn run midway through the first half of the 2008 game's 19-19 deadlock and gave the Tigers a double-digit lead at the break.
 
Friday night's contest is the earliest in the season the two teams will meet. The first meeting in the series, in the 1995-96 season, was the latest the two teams have played in non-conference play.
 
THE LAST MEETING –
AUBURN 78, ULM 55 (Dec. 6, 2008, in Auburn, Ala.): Auburn harassed ULM on defense all game long, forcing 29 turnovers in a 78-55 victory at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Ala.
 
Junior Malcolm Thomas tied his career high with 18 points to lead three Warhawks in double figures, but a cold night from the field allowed the Tigers to put together a pair of strong runs. ULM combined to shoot 36.4 percent from the field, converting on 16 of its 44 shots.
 
ULM fought shot for shot with the Tigers through the first 11 minutes of the game. With the score tied at 19-19 with 9:03 remaining, Auburn put together a 14-2 run,  spanning a four-minute stretch to push the advantage to double figures.
 
Auburn would lead by as many as 16 in the first half before settling on a 40-26 advantage at the intermission.
 
Thomas kept the Warhawks in the game in the opening period by tying his career high in points with 18 off 7-of-10 shooting.
 
In the second half, junior Kenneth Averette sparked a Warhawk run that cut the deficit to 10 points at 58-48 with just under nine minutes remaining in the period. Auburn locked down on defense and pulled away for the final score.
 
Junior Jarvis Hill added 17 points in the contest and a season-high eight rebounds to tie with Thomas for the team lead in boards. Averette finished with a team-best five assists.
 
WARHAWKS vs. OPPONENTS RANKED IN AP TOP 25 – 
ULM is playing its first opponent ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 since Dec. 28, 2019, when the Warhawks lost at No. 12 Butler, 67-36. The Warhawks have an all-time record of 2-45 (.043) against AP Top 25 opponents. Eleven of those 47 games played against AP Top 25 opponents have been decided by 10 points or less, including two in overtime.
 
ULM has lost 29 consecutive games against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25, with the Warhawks'  last win coming against No. 9 Arkansas, 87-78, on Dec. 30, 1992, in Little Rock.
 
LAST TIME OUT –
LSU 101, ULM 39 (Nov. 9, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La.): ULM basketball players will be seeing rainbow shots by LSU's Darius Days – for days. The senior forward scored a career-high 30 points while draining 8-of-9 3-pointers in a decisive 101-39 win over ULM  in the season opener for both teams.
 
The box score was unkind all around. When the Warhawks (0-1) weren't watching Days blister the nets, they were having trouble with turnovers. ULM surrendered 38 points off 25 giveaways in the contest.
 
ULM shot 28 percent from the field  (13-of-47) and didn't have a player reach double figures. Thomas Howell led the Warhawks with eight points. LSU shot 52 percent, outrebounded ULM, 47-26, and outscored the Warhawks, 22-3, on second-chance points.
 
Efton Reid added 16 points for LSU, which shot 53 percent overall and made 12-of-29 3-pointers.
 
A first-team All-SEC pick, Days scored 23 points and made 7-of-8 3-pointers in a blistering first-half exhibition that sent ULM to the locker room trailing 52-20 at halftime.
 
ULM never led as Days led an early blitz with eight points and LSU opened the game on a 12-4 run. ULM made 5-of-6 field-goal attempts and Howell scored six points as the Warhawks hung close in the first 10 minutes.
 
But with his fifth and sixth 3-pointers, Days pushed LSU's lead to 28-17 with 6:55 left in the half. A 26-0 LSU run that featured seven ULM turnovers expanded the lead to 48-17 as the Warhawks suffered a scoring drought of more than eight minutes until Trey Boston's 3-pointer with 1:45 to go in the half.
 
The second half brought no relief for the Warhawks as LSU opened with a 14-5 run that extended the lead to 66-25.
 
2021-22 ULM STARTING LINEUPS –
Nov. 9 at LSU: Gonzales, Jones, Gee, Harrison, Howell
                                      
Different Starting Combinations (1):
Gonzales, Jones, Gee, Harrison, Howell: 1 (0-1)
 
2021-22 WARHAWK STATISTICAL TRENDS –
Games played in Fant-Ewing Coliseum: 0-0
Games played on the road: 0-1
Games played at a neutral site: 0-0                        
 
Games played in November: 0-1
Games played in December: 0-0
Games played in January: 0-0
Games played in February: 0-0
Games played in March: 0-0                                    
 
When leading at halftime: 0-0
When trailing at halftime: 0-1
When tied at halftime: 0-0
 
When shooting .500 or better from the field: 0-0
When shooting less than .500 from the field: 0-1
When opponent shoots .500 or better from the field: 0-1
When opponent shoots less than .500 from the floor: 0-0
 
When outrebounding opponent: 0-0
When outrebounded by opponent: 0-1
When rebounding totals are equal: 0-0
 
When hitting more free throws than opponent: 0-0
When hitting fewer free throws than opponent: 0-1
When hitting the same number of free throws as opponent: 0-0
 
When committing fewer turnovers than opponent: 0-0                         
When opponent commits fewer turnovers: 0-1
When turnover totals are equal: 0-0
 
When ULM scores less than 50 points: 0-1           
When ULM scores 50-59 points: 0-0
When ULM scores 60-69 points: 0-0
When ULM scores 70-79 points: 0-0
When ULM scores 80-89 points: 0-0
When ULM scores 90-99 points: 0-0
 
When opponent scores less than 50 points: 0-0  
When opponent scores 50-59 points: 0-0
When opponent scores 60-69 points: 0-0
When opponent scores 70-79 points: 0-0
When opponent scores 80-89 points: 0-0
When opponent scores 90+ points: 0-1
 
 
Games decided by five points or less: 0-0
Games decided by 6-10 points: 0-0
Games decided by 11-19 points: 0-0
Games decided by 20 points or more: 0-1
 
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