NEW ORLEANS – Tulane weathered ULM's early storm, with the Warhawks knocking down five 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes, using a 24-4 run to surge ahead and then held off ULM's rally in the second half for a 75-60 win Monday night at Fogelman Arena inside Devlin Fieldhouse.
 
The game capped a stretch where ULM (2-6 overall) played three games in four days away from Monroe.
 
"We played a quality team, obviously," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "They got their point guard (Jalen Cook) back. He was All-Conference last year and is a really good player. It was his second game of the season, and he really makes them go.
 
"What I'm getting out of these last three games is we didn't have Nika (Metskhvarishvili)," Richard said. "It's a different team. The fact that we've been able to get the ball inside some and score or get fouled has been a real positive for us. This is a team that, as it looks to me right now, we need to be a three-levels type team, meaning we need to throw it inside a third of the time, driving by the guards a third of the time and we need to knock down some open threes when they're there."
 
Jaylen Forbes scored a game-high 26 points (6-of-12 3-point shooting) to lead four Tulane (5-2 overall) scorers in double figures. Tyreke Locure, a New Orleans native, had 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to pace the Warhawks, while Victor Bafutto had his second-consecutive double-figure game with 13 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists. Thomas Howell had 11 rebounds to lead ULM while adding six points. Jamari Blackmon had nine points and eight assists.
 
Richard said a recent adjustment with Bafutto has allowed the graduate post to find an expanded role.
 
"We made a change with him, particularly for this weekend," Richard said. "We just moved him down more and stopped having him coming out on the floor so much and getting catches and handoffs. We just moved him down more. He's tall and he's got long arms. That's really helped him and and it's helped us. We weren't doing very well inside the 3-point line at all. We found over these last three games that Victor is a guy that, if we put him in the right spots, he can get some buckets for us down there, which helps the whole thing."
 
The two sides traded 3-pointers early, with ULM taking a 9-6 lead on Savion Gallion's second trey with 15:28 left in the first half. It sparked an 11-2 run for the Warhawks, which included a foul-line jumper by Howell and a pair of triples from Blackmon to take a 17-8 lead with 10:53 left in the half.
 
Tulane roared back. Forbes hit his second 3-pointer of the day and was followed by a trey from R.J. McGee and a step-back triple from Cook to tie the game at 17 at the 8-minute mark. The quick 9-0 burst was the start of a 24-4 run that was capped by a layup by Forbes for a 32-21 lead with 1:34 remaining before halftime.
 
A 3-pointer by Tyreke Locure ended the run and brought ULM back within eight, but a traditional three-point play by Cook closed the half with Tulane up by 11, 35-24.
 
Tulane stretched the lead to as much as 16 early in the second half, at 51-35, off a layup by Cook. ULM started a 13-2 run on a turnaround jumper by Howell, which was followed by 3-pointer by Blackmon and a layup by Locure. Forbes pushed the lead back to 11 at 53-42 on a pair of free throws, but ULM rattled off the next six points. Langston Powell hit a jumper in the lane in between buckets by Bafutto to cut the gap to five at 53-48 with 9:43 left.
 
The two sides battled back-and-forth, with ULM getting within five again at 57-52 on another basket by Bafutto. However, a 9-0 run by Tulane put the game out of reach, with seven of the points coming from Kevin Cross, as the Green Wave took a 66-52 lead with 4:01 remaining.
 
ULM got no closer than 11 down the stretch as Tulane picked up the 75-60 win.
 
The Warhawks shot 38.6% from the field (22-of-57) and 34.8% from 3-point range (8-of-23). Tulane hit 48.2% from the floor (27-of-56) and 33.3% from deep (10-of-30). ULM outrebounded Tulane, 36-31.
 
ULM plays in Fant-Ewing Coliseum for the first time since Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Champion Christian.