Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Related News

ULM Opens 2021-22 Season at LSU Tuesday

ULM Opens 2021-22 Season at LSU Tuesday

Men's Basketball Nov 08
Game 1: ULM (0-0, 0-0 SBC) at LSU (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Tuesday, Nov. 9 | 7 p.m. CT
Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215) | Baton Rouge, La.
SEC Network+ | KLIP 105.3 FM
 
 
2021-22 ULM Basketball Notes: Game 1 at LSU
 
STORYLINE –
For the second-straight year, ULM opens a new season with its first two games on the road, opening 2021-22 at LSU Tuesday, Nov. 9, and then traveling to Auburn, Friday, Nov. 12.
 
Warhawk head coach Keith Richard, a product of Baton Rouge, faces back-to-back SEC opponents for the second time in three seasons. ULM played at Texas A&M (L, 57-63) and at Mississippi State (L, 45-62) after opening the 2019-20 campaign with two home wins.
 
The 2021-22 ULM roster boasts eight returnees and welcomes four newcomers, including veteran guards Reginald Gee and Andre Jones.
  
The last meeting between the two teams, on Dec. 28, 2018, accounted for ULM's second-highest offensive output in the series with 69 points. The Warhawks had 76 points in a 77-76 loss in the teams' first meeting in 1991.
 
THE STARTING FIVE –
•  ULM played Tulane in a charity exhibition game on Oct. 29 in Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, with all proceeds from ticket sales benefitting the Tulane University Hurricane Relief Fund. Fans can make additional donations to the hurricane relief fund at https://tinyurl.com/hurricanereliefgame.
 
•  For the third-straight year, the Warhawks open their season with a team from Louisiana. Coach Keith Richard is 2-1 in season openers vs. opponents from the Bayou State.
 
•  The Warhawks begin the non-conference portion of their schedule with back-to-back road games at SEC opponents LSU (Nov. 9), with the Tigers receiving votes in both preseason polls, and at Auburn (Nov. 12), which checked in at No. 22 in both polls.
 
•  Coach Richard utilized eight different lineups in 2020-21. Twenty-two of the 26 games featured a starting lineup that included senior G/F Russell Harrison and junior G Koreem Ozier, the Warhawks' No. 1 and No. 2 returning scorers and rebounders, respectively,
 
 • Even though they are new to the ULM roster, veteran guards Reginald Gee and Andre Jones have plenty of experience, each playing in more than 100 NCAA games over their undergraduate careers. Gee has 120 games under his belt and Jones 105.
 
SEASON OPENERS –
In its 70-year basketball history, ULM is 33-37 (.471) in season openers, including five wins in the last seven games. The Warhawks are 5-6 season openers under head coach Keith Richard.
 
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 –
4 — Russell Harrison ranked among the Sun Belt Conference's Top 20 in four different statistical categories last season: seventh in free-throw percentage (.786), 11th in rebounding, 15th in 3-point field goals made (1.8 pg.) and 20th in scoring.
 
6 — ULM's lowest single-game turnover total (6) in 2020-21 came vs. South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference Championship first round, with only two miscues in the first half. In the last five seasons, the Warhawks have had two other games that match that TO total, vs. Grambling (2018-19), and vs. Seattle U. (2016-17).
 
7 — Number of consecutive double-figure scoring games for both Koreem Ozier and Russell Harrison in 2020-21. Ozier averaged 16.0 points per game during his stretch (Dec. 22 thru Jan. 16) while Harrison tallied 14.1 ppg. (Jan. 23 thru Feb. 22).
 
8 — Coach Keith Richard had eight newcomers prior to the start of the 2020-21 season, none of whom had played an NCAA game prior to the start the season. Eight lettermen returned for 2021-22.
 
31 — The Warhawks' nucleus of returnees and three of the top five scorers from a year ago, Russell Harrison (12.5 ppg.), Koreem Ozier (11.4 ppg.) and Elijah Gonzales (7.0 ppg.), combined for an average of nearly 31 points per game in 2020-21.
 
LSU SCOUTING REPORT –
Head Coach: Will Wade (Clemson, 2005)
Record at LSU: 83-40 (four years)
Career Record: 174-85 (eight years)
Record vs. ULM: 2-0 (1-0 with LSU, 1-0 with VCU - 2016-17 season)
Tigers' top returning scorer: Senior F Darius Days (11.6 ppg.)
Tigers' top returning rebounder: Senior F Darius Days (7.8 rpg.)
 
LSU's top three scorers from last season, guard Cameron Thomas (23.0 ppg.), forward Trendon Watford (16.3 ppg.) and guard Javonte Smart (16.0 ppg.), have departed, leaving senior forward Darius Days, a first-team All-SEC preseason pick, as the Tigers' top returning scorer. Days also carries the mantle as the program's top board-getter in 2020-21. Senior guard Xavier Pinson, who started all 26 games for Missouri in 2020-21 before transferring to LSU, was selected to the All-SEC preseason second team. Pinson averaged 13.6 points and 2.9 assists per game last season for Mizzou.
 
The Tigers, who earned votes in both the preseason coaches and media polls, have only five upperclassmen, two seniors and three juniors, on their 17-man roster.
 
ULM/LSU SERIES NOTES –
Tuesday's game marks the eighth meeting between ULM and LSU. The Tigers lead the all-time series 7-0, with all of the games played in Baton Rouge.
 
The last meeting between ULM and LSU came three seasons ago on Dec. 28, 2018. Naz Reid recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead LSU to an 81-69 victory in the Maravich Center.
 
Tuesday night's contest is the earliest in the season the two teams will meet. The 2018-19 meeting, on Dec. 28, 2018, was the latest game the Warhawks and Tigers had played in the season series.
 
The 2018 meeting accounted for the ULM's second-highest offensive output with 69 points (L, 69-81).
 
ULM/LSU COACHING CONNECTION –
Prior to becoming head coach at ULM, Keith Richard spent two seasons (2008-10) as an assistant coach under Trent Johnson at LSU. In his first season on Johnson's coaching staff, the Tigers went 27-8, won the SEC regular-season championship (13-3) and advanced to the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, losing to eventual National Champion North Carolina.
 
A Baton Rouge native, Richard attended Redemptorist High School where he became a three-year starter and two-time all-state selection as a junior and senior. He helped lead Redemptorist to back-to-back Class 3A state championships in 1976-77 and 1977-78.
 
THE LAST TIME –
LSU 81, ULM 69 (Dec. 28, 2018, in Baton Rouge, La.): Naz Reid recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead LSU to an 81-69 victory over ULM Friday, Dec. 28 in the final non-conference game for both teams. Reid, who hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, set season highs for rebounds and blocked shots (4).
 
The first half featured four lead changes and two ties. LSU (10-3) scored the first five points of the game and took an 11-5 lead on Tremont Waters' 3-pointer out of the left corner. Daishon Smith sparked a 9-0 run by ULM, hitting a 3-pointer from the left baseline and converting two steals into layups, as the Warhawks moved out to a 14-11 lead with 14:30 left in the first half. The Tigers answered with a 7-0 spurt and took an 18-14 lead on a layup from Darius Days with 12:25 remaining in the opening half. ULM responded with a 7-2 run and regained the lead at 21-20 as Jontray Harris buried a trey from the right corner in transition with 9:42 on the clock. LSU outscored the Warhawks, 10-4, over the final 4:26 and took a 42-33 lead into the locker room as Skylar Mays rattled home a 3-pointer from the right wing with :05 left in the first half.
 
The Tigers converted ULM's 13 first-half turnovers into 15 points.
 
ULM (7-5) opened the second half with an 8-1 run and cut its deficit to 43-41 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Smith and Michael Ertel. LSU put together a 10-3 run and extended its lead to 55-46 on Marlon Taylor's alley-oop dunk, off an assist from Waters, with 14:07 remaining in the game. The Tigers used a 10-1 spurt to build a 15-point lead at 67-52 on a layup from Waters with 10:16 left. Tyree White connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner and Ertel and Harris followed with 3s from the right wing as the Warhawks managed to pull to within 67-61 with 8:58 to play. LSU took control of the game with a 10-0 run and built its largest lead at 77-61 as Emmitt Williams finished a fast break with a dunk. ULM went 8:46 without a field goal in the second half, missing 12-straight field-goal attempts during that stretch.
 
Reid led five Tigers in double figures, as Mays scored 14 points, Williams 12, Waters 11 and Ja'vonte Smart 10.
 
LSU shot 52 percent (32-of-61) from the floor, including 8-of-21 from 3-point range. The Tigers outrebounded, 35-34, including a 20-12 margin in the second half.
 
Smith and Ertel combined to account for 43 of ULM's 69 points. Smith, who made 7-of-12 field-goal attempts including 2-of-5 3s, finished with a game-high 22 points, while Ertel matched his season high with 21 points, hitting 6-of-12 shots from the floor including 4-of-6 3-pointers.
 
QUOTING COACH KEITH RICHARD –
benefits of an experienced team
"I really like this team. I really like them a lot. Eight returning players and it feels like it, that they've been here. The experience has shown and they've gotten better. And four new guys who all are going to contribute and help. Mix it all together and it looks good so far. We had such an inexperienced team last year. We said it all the time. Now, we've got an experienced team. All these returning players gained experience last year and in practice and through summer and it shows on the floor."
 
on expected increase in Warhawks' offensive output in 2021-22
"This could be a fast team, much like we had three years ago with Daishon Smith's senior year. That team was very fast, athletic. This team has a lot of those attributes, but they're a little bigger at the guard spots and a little stronger. I think we're going to be able to put some points on the board and that always makes the coach happy."
 
developing as a team in preseason
"The scrimmage and the exhibition were really good for us. I learned a lot about our team, and in those two games, I learned what we can do and what we can't do. We've got some good guards. I think we've got some athleticism at the guard spots. We've got a little skill within the team, but we've got some holes to fill. We are not very big as a team in general. We did some good things on offense in both those games, and we found out a lot about ourselves defensively."
 
finding team identity and starting five
"We're still working with combinations and 10 or 11 guys are playing right now and we'll keep that up and see what happens. I'm encouraged about the group, I really am. Like a lot of teams, we might go a little ways before we kind of figure out our identity. We haven't found, so far, the perfect five. Any way I've matched it up through practice and the two games, it was a different five that actually did the best than maybe what we had thought, so we've got some work to do there."
 
scouting LSU
"LSU is fast and athletic, really fast and athletic, as a team in general. All the players are long, athletic, whether they're guard or center or wing, whatever position they are. They are a long, athletic, fast type of team. Some teams have a mixture of that, of that kind of look, they have that across the board. They feed off that athleticism and speed and quickness and get easy buckets."
 
opening season with SEC opponents
"Kids want to play against good competition and, playing at LSU and at Auburn, they're going to get all they want there. They'll be playing against really good players and both those programs have good coaches. It'll be a great learning experience for us and hopefully we'll play well."

 
Print Friendly Version