COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M had five players score in double figures while ULM was limited to 27% shooting from the field as the Aggies rolled to an 87-54 win in the season opener for both teams Monday night at Reed Arena.
 
ULM struggled all night from the field, and especially 3-point range. The Warhawks hit 16-of-59 shots (27.1%) and just 2-of-20 from beyond the arc. ULM took advantage of its free-throw opportunities, knocking down 20-of-28 attempts (71.4%). Texas A&M shot 50.8% from the field (32-of-63) and 12-of-26 (46.2%) from 3-point range while hitting 11-of-18 free throws (61.1%) in the win.
 
A&M's Wade Taylor led all scorers with 18 points. ULM's Nika Metskhvarishvili and Jamari Blackmon had 10 points apiece. Metskhvarishvili narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
 
"There's a lot we can pull from this game for us," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "I thought that we did well in the first half, for who we're playing. They're a Top 30 team in the country right now. They've got a really good team. But we really did some good things even though we were down at half."
 
The Aggies slowly pulled away early. A 3-pointer by Hayden Hefner gave Texas A&M a nine-point lead, 13-4, at the 15:21 mark of the first half.
 
ULM worked back within four moments later as Blackmon hit a layup and, after a steal by Langston Powell, hit a jumper in the paint for four points in 12 seconds, bringing ULM within 16-12 with 11:58 to go before halftime.
 
However, Texas A&M answered. A dunk by Julius Marble and a 3-pointer by Andre Gordon sparked a 13-2 Aggie run, which was capped with treys by Taylor and Dexter Dennis, giving Texas A&M a 29-14 lead with 8:50 to go before halftime.
 
A traditional three-point play and three free throws by Savion Gallion pulled ULM back within 11, 31-20, at the 6:57 mark. A&M answered back with a quick 8-0 run, with triples by K.K. Robinson and Dennis, to push the lead to 19, 39-20, with 4:38 remaining until halftime.
 
ULM used a 7-0 burst, including a 3-pointer by Tyreke Locure, to get back within 12 at 40-28 with 2:59 left in the half. The two sides played even the rest of the half before Hefner hit a step-back jumper at the foul line to send the teams into the locker room with Texas A&M up, 45-31.
 
Both teams struggled to score to start the second half, but the Aggies picked up the first 11 points, going up 56-31 with 14:38 left on a free throw by Henry Coleman. ULM would not get closer than 24 points the rest of the way, as the Aggies pulled away to lead by as much as 38 on the way to an 87-54 win.
 
"It got away from us a little bit in the second half," Richard said. "They wear on you. They play a lot of guys. They got a lot of good players. It's many guys and they just keep coming at you in waves and they bothered us on some defensive things in the second half.
 
"I'm not disappointed. I think there's a good team in there with us, at our level in particular. Obviously, we're going to have to get better and work on some of the things that they did against us that bothered us. Somebody will see the score and say, 'Oh, they got killed.' But we didn't do bad really, if you really looked at it through a coach's lens for a first game playing on an opponent's home court like this."
 
ULM opens the home schedule at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Dallas Christian.