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ULM Closes Out Regular Season at Georgia Southern Friday

ULM Closes Out Regular Season at Georgia Southern Friday

Men's Basketball Feb 25
Game 30: ULM (13-16, 5-12 SBC) vs. Georgia Southern (11-15, 4-11 SBC)
Friday, Feb. 25 | 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) | Statesboro, Ga.
ESPN+ | KLIP 105.3 FM


2021-22 ULM Basketball Notes: Game 30 vs. Georgia Southern
 
THE STORYLINE –
ULM finishes its regular season with Friday's 6 p.m. CT contest at Georgia Southern. The Warhawks and Eagles meet in Hanner Fieldhouse for the first time in more than two years after ULM's 2020-21 COVID-adjusted schedule did not include the matchup.
 
In Sun Belt Conference games, ULM is the only program with three players among the league's Top 15 in scoring: graduate guard Andre Jones (5th/17.2 ppg.), senior forward Russell Harrison (11th/13.4 ppg.) and sophomore forward Nika Metkshvarishvili (14th/12.4 ppg.). ULM is one of four programs with multiple players in the SBC's Top 15 in scoring in all games: Jones (6th/15.6 ppg.) and Harrison (14th/12.9 ppg).
 
Georgia Southern broke the tie in the series in the first meeting this season to take a 13-12 lead. The Eagles have a four-game win streak in the series and have claimed victories in eight of the last 10 meetings. The 25 games in the series are the most for ULM against a team in a non-contiguous state.
 
THE STARTING FIVE –
• ULM plays its final regular-season road game in Statesboro, Georgia, where they have not visited in more than two years. The Eagles won the season's first meeting, 50-45, in Monroe. The two teams last met in Hanner Fieldhouse on Jan. 9, 2020, and the Warhawks' last win on the road against the Eagles was during the 2018-19 season, 66-64, when ULM won both games of its Georgia swing in overtime.
 
• Of the 17 Sun Belt Conference games to date, 12 ULM contests have been decided by nine points or less. The total point differential in the Warhawks' seven February games (3-4) was 20 points.
 
• In the Warhawks' seven February games, graduate guard Andre Jones averaged 22.0 points per game with six-straight 20-point scoring games from Feb. 3 through Feb. 19. From Little Rock, Ark., he tallied his career-best with 30 points in front of his hometown crowd in the second game of the six-game streak.
 
• Junior guard Elijah Gonzales, who averages 4.4 assists per game for fourth in the Sun Belt Conference, is just four assists shy of reaching the 300-assist career milestone. He has 110 assists this season and 209 assists in his two-year career as a Warhawk.
 
• ULM currently stands in 10th place in the 2021-22 Sun Belt Conference standings with its 5-12 mark in league games. ULM and App State are the only two teams to have played a full 17-game schedule to date. The tournament begins March 3 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS –
2 — Only two Sun Belt Conference teams have played all 17 games of the 2021-22 league schedule to date: ULM and App State. ULM is the only team that has played all of its conference contests in the last two seasons.
 
3 — The Warhawks have scored at least 70 points in their third-straight Sun Belt Conference game and have reached that offensive goal five times in the last six games. ULM, averaging 73.6 points per game over the last three games – the last time the Warhawks had three-straight games with 70 or more points two times during the 2020-21, when the season featured an altered schedule with the same opponent in back-to-back games.
 
9 — Senior Russell Harrison recorded his ninth career double-double and his fifth of the 2021-22 season with 13 points and 12 rebounds at Georgia State Wednesday night. Harrison had a team-best three offensive rebounds, sharing the lead in that stat category with two Panthers. He was one rebound shy of tying his career-best 13 total, last achieved vs. Georgia Southern on Jan. 27.
 
14 — Even though graduate guard Andre Jones' streak of 20-point-plus games has ended, he maintains his double-figure scoring streak, currently at 14 games. Jones, from Little Rock, Ark., has scored at least 10 points in 23 games this season and 75 times in his career.
 
447 — The Warhawks' 447 assists continue to set the pace as the top total in the Sun Belt Conference this season. The total is the fourth-highest in the Keith Richard era at ULM behind the 2018-19 season (498), 497 of the 2014-15 season and 481 recorded in 2015-16.
 
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE –
According to kenpom.com (as of Feb. 24, 2022), ULM's strength of schedule in 2021-22 is 183rd with a rating of -1.36. ESPN.com ranks the Warhawks' SOS at No. 206. ULM had a non-conference strength of schedule rating of +2.40 (No. 106), according to kenpom.com.
 
GEORGIA SOUTHERN SCOUTING REPORT –
Head Coach: Brian Burg (Mount Mercy, 2003)
Record at Georgia Southern/Career Record: 24-28 (second season)/same
Burg's Record vs. ULM: 1-0
Eagles' Top Scorer: Senior G Elijah McCadden (11.5 ppg.)
Eagles' Top Rebounder: Red-shirt junior F Andrei Savrasov (5.6 rpg.)
 
Three Eagles, all off the bench, scored in double figures, but Georgia Southern couldn't respond to a big second-half run in an 82-69 loss to the Ragin' Cajuns Thursday night. Leading scorer Elijah McCadden had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Cam Bryant collected 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Gedi Juozapaitis scored 14. The Ragin' Cajuns used an 18-4 run midway through the second half to take extend a four-point lead to double digits and take control of the contest.
 
Georgia Southern has the fourth-most Sun Belt Conference wins (81) since joining the league prior to the 2014-15 season. The Eagles are 81-64 in Sun Belt games in their eight seasons in the league (.558). Georgia Southern has lost its last six games and the Eagles are 11th in the Sun Belt standings and can finish no higher than 10th.
 
Nine Georgia Southern games have been decided by six points or less this season, and the Eagles are 5-4 in those contests. GS has three one-point wins this season – all in Sun Belt games – and the Eagles have won four games with a defensive stop that essentially ended the contest.
 
The Eagles have held their opponent under 60 points in 14 contests under Brian Burg and are 12-2 (5-2 this season). They have held their opponent to under 40-percent shooting in 20 games under Burg and are 15-5 (7-3 this season). GS has won its last 24 games when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor and is 12-0 in 2021-22 when accomplishing that goal.
 
GS has used 12 different starting lineups, tied for the eighth-most in the country. The Eagles have been able to dress their full 10-man rotation nine times this season and are 6-3 in those games.
 
ULM/GEORGIA SOUTHERN SERIES NOTES –
Georgia Southern grabbed the 13-12 edge in the series with the 26th all-time meeting on tap for Friday night. The Eagles have won four in a row in the series and six of the last seven contests. Two of those last seven meetings have occurred in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals with the Eagles winning both contests. The last time ULM won at Georgia Southern was on Feb. 8, 2018, when the Warhawks topped the Eagles, 66-64, and won both games of their Georgia road trip in overtime.
 
The Warhawks are 5-6 in games played in Statesboro, Ga., and 2-4 in Sun Belt Conference games played in Hanner Fieldhouse. Eight of the last 11 games in the series have been decided by single digits.
 
THE LAST MEETING –
Georgia Southern 50, ULM 45 (Jan. 27, 2022, in Monroe, La.): ULM delivered a consistent offensive performance Thursday night but that wasn't a good thing.
 
Shooting woes plagued the Warhawks from start to finish at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in a 50-45 loss to Georgia Southern. ULM shot just 29.5 percent (18-of-61) in the contest while losing a third straight home game. The visiting Eagles shot 36 percent but pulled away in the closing minutes as ULM failed to make a field goal over the final 4:50.
Russell Harrison scored 17 points with 13 rebounds for his eighth career double-double. Andre Jones added 11 points. ULM made just 3-of-26 3-point shots.
 
Adding to ULM's woes, the Warhawks' starting point guard Elijah Gonzalez left the game at the 7:02 mark of the first half with an apparent injury to his left knee and did not return.
 
In a game with 10 lead changes and seven ties, the Warhawks never put together a decisive run in a game where the biggest edge was five points. Georgia Southern snapped a three-game losing streak with the road win.
 
ULM trailed 25-22 after an ugly first half that saw both teams struggle offensively.
 
The Warhawks opened the game 1-of-9 shooting from the floor and made just 10-of-33 shots overall in the half (30 percent). ULM finished the half on a 2-for-11 shooting skid and let the clock expire without getting off a final shot.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT –
Georgia State 82, ULM 70 (Feb. 25, 2022 in Atlanta): Justin Roberts and Corey Allen scored 15 points each to lead Georgia State to an 82-70 victory over ULM Wednesday night to complete a Sun Belt Conference regular-season sweep over the Warhawks while extending its current winning streak to six-straight games. The Panthers have won eight of their last nine games overall.
 
Georgia State buried 12 3-pointers – its highest single-game total in conference play this season. Six different players made at least one 3 for the Panthers.
 
There were six lead changes and eight ties in the first half as the teams were never separated by more than a six-point margin.
 
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but ULM answered with a 9-2 run to take an 11-8 advantage on back-to-back baskets by Thomas Howell. Georgia State countered with an 8-2 spurt and grabbed a 16-13 lead on Ja'Heim Hudson's layup with 13:52 on the clock. Russell Harrison connected on a step-back 3 from the right wing to spark an 8-3 run as the Warhawks moved out to a 21-19 lead on Koreem Ozier's layup, off a feed from Nika Metskhvarishvili, with 11:28 left. Georgia State put together a 9-3 spurt and opened up a six-point advantage at 34-28 on Roberts' 3-pointer from the left baseline with 3:23 remaining. ULM outscored the Panthers, 7-2, over the final 2:59 to cut its deficit to 36-35 at the intermission.
 
Georgia State scored seven of the first nine points in the second half and took a 43-37 lead on Allen's jumper in the lane off a ULM turnover. The Panthers reeled off seven-straight points to build a 10-point lead at 57-47 on Allen's fast-break layup off another Warhawk turnover with 12:10 remaining in the game. ULM pulled to within 57-50 on Ozier's trey with 12:02 to play, but the Warhawks failed to close the gap any further. Georgia State led by as many as 16 points over the final 8:33.
 
The Panthers made 18-of-35 field-goal attempts (51 percent) in the second half, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range. ULM shot 57 percent (13-of-23) from the floor over the final 20 minutes, including 2-of-4 3s. 
 
Georgia State outrebounded ULM, 43-29, including 14 offensive boards. The Warhawks struggled from the free-throw line, hitting just 10-of-18 attempts (56 percent).
 
Roberts, who connected on 5-of-7 shots from the field including 3-of-4 3s, scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half. Allen hit 6-of-12 field-goal attempts, including 3-of-7 treys, and added five assists.
 
Georgia State also got 14 points from Eliel Nsoseme and 11 from Collin Moore. 
 
Four ULM players scored in double figures, led by Andre Jones who finished with 14 points. It marked Jones' seventh consecutive game as the team's leading scorer.
 
Harrison recorded his fifth double-double of the season and ninth of his career, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Howell, who hit 6-of-10 shots from the floor, contributed 12 points while Ozier chipped in with 10.
 
2021-22 ULM STARTING LINEUPS –
Nov. 9 at LSU: Gonzales, Jones, Gee, Harrison, Howell
Nov. 12 at Auburn: Gonzales, Boston, Gee, Harrison, Howell
Nov. 16 vs. Champion Christian: Gonzales, Jones, Gee, Harrison, Howell
Nov. 22 vs. Northwestern State: Gonzales, Jones, Ozier         , Harrison, Howell
Nov. 24 vs. Louisiana Tech: Gonzales, Jones, Ozier, Harrison, Howell
Nov. 28 at SMU: Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 1 vs. Centenary: Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 4 vs. Northwestern State: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 8 vs. Louisiana Christian: Gonzales, Powell, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 14 at SFA: Gonzales, Powell, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 18 vs. Southern Miss: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 20 at Lamar: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Dec. 30 at Coastal Carolina*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Jan. 1 at App State*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Jan. 6 vs. Little Rock*: Jones, Ozier, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell
Jan. 8 vs. Arkansas State*: Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell
Jan. 13 at Texas State*: Gonzales, Powell, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell
Jan. 15 at UT Arlington*: Gonzales, Williams, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell
Jan. 20 vs. Troy*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Jan. 22 vs. South Alabama*: Jones, Ozier, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell
Jan. 27 vs. Georgia Southern*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili
Jan. 29 vs. Georgia State*: Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 3 at Arkansas State*: Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 5 at Little Rock*: Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 10 vs. UT Arlington*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 12 vs. Texas State*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 17 vs. Ragin' Cajuns*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 19 at Ragin' Cajuns*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 24 at Georgia State*: Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Howell
Feb. 26 at Georgia Southern*
*Sun Belt Conference game
 
Different Starting Combinations (9):           
Gonzales, Jones, Ozier, Harrison, Howell: 13 (5-8)
Jones, Ozier, Powell, Harrison, Howell: 6 (3-3)
Gonzales, Powell, Jones, Harrison, Howell: 2 (2-0)            
Gonzales, Jones, Gee, Harrison, Howell: 2 (1-1)
Jones, Ozier, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell: 2 (1-1)
Gonzales, Williams, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell: 1 (1-0)
Gonzales, Ozier, Jones, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili: 1 (0-1)
Gonzales, Powell, Harrison, Metskhvarishvili, Howell: 1 (0-1)
Gonzales, Boston, Gee, Harrison, Howell: 1 (0-1)
 
2021-22 WARHAWK STATISTICAL TRENDS –
Games played in Fant-Ewing Coliseum: 7-7
Games played on the road: 5-9
Games played at a neutral site: 1-0                        
 
Games played in November: 2-4
Games played in December: 6-1
Games played in January: 2-7
Games played in February: 3-4
Games played in March: 0-0                                    
 
When leading at halftime: 9-6
When trailing at halftime: 3-10
When tied at halftime: 1-0
 
When shooting .500 or better from the field: 8-1
When shooting less than .500 from the field: 5-15
When opponent shoots .500 or better from the field: 1-6
When opponent shoots less than .500 from the floor: 12-10
 
When outrebounding opponent: 7-3
When outrebounded by opponent: 6-13
When rebounding totals are equal: 0-0
 
When hitting more free throws than opponent: 7-4
When hitting fewer free throws than opponent: 6-10
When hitting the same number of free throws as opponent: 0-2
 
When committing fewer turnovers than opponent: 10-5                                  
When opponent commits fewer turnovers: 2-10
When turnover totals are equal: 1-1
 
When ULM scores less than 50 points: 0-2           
When ULM scores 50-59 points: 0-3
When ULM scores 60-69 points: 2-6
When ULM scores 70-79 points: 3-4
When ULM scores 80-89 points: 5-1
When ULM scores 90+ points: 3-0
 
When opponent scores less than 50 points: 0-0  
When opponent scores 50-59 points: 3-1
When opponent scores 60-69 points: 5-2
When opponent scores 70-79 points: 5-6
When opponent scores 80-89 points: 0-2
When opponent scores 90+ points: 0-5
 
Games decided by five points or less: 4-3
Games decided by 6-10 points: 3-5
Games decided by 11-19 points: 2-4
Games decided by 20 points or more: 4-4
 
Largest deficit overcome to win: 14 (44-30, 46-32 and 48-34 at Arkansas State, Feb. 3)
Largest lead surrendered in a loss: 12 (39-27 at Ragin' Cajuns, Feb, 19)
 
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