TIP-OFF

The ULM men's basketball team (1-2) wraps up a three-game road trip on Tuesday (Nov. 12) at Rice (1-1) in Houston. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. from Tudor Fieldhouse. The Warhawks are looking to snap a two-game losing streak after falling at LSU and Tulane .

SERIES HISTORY –

ULM and Rice will meet for the third time in history. ULM has won both meetings with an 80-67 win in Iowa City, Iowa in 2007 and an 86-71 win in 1974.

SCOUTING THE OWLS –

Rice has split its first two games of the 2024-25 season and defeated FIU 77-70 at home before falling to Florida State at the Toyota Center, 73-65 on Saturday.

USC Upstate graduate student transfer Trae Broadnax leads the Owls with 12.5 points per game and has reached double figures in his first two games as an Owl. 

Rob Lanier begins his first season at Rice as the head men's basketball coach after leading SMU's basketball program for two seasons. Lanier served as head coach at Georgia State from 2019-22 and led the Panthers to a Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in his last season at the helm of the program.

RICHARD IN CHARGE–

The 2024-25 season marks the 15th year of Keith Richard leading ULM men's basketball and his 24th season overall as a head coach. Richard inherited a program saddled with APR sanctions and guided the Warhawks to four postseason appearances in five years. Richard's historic turnaround of the ULM program began in 2014-15, which was his first season without APR sanctions. Richard previously served as the head coach of Louisiana Tech from 1998-2007 and was an assistant at LSU from 2008-10 before being named ULM's head coach.

FAMILIAR FACES –

The Warhawks welcome back 10 players from the 2023-24 roster including starters Tyreese Watson, Jalen Bolden and Jerry Ngopot. Key role players including Jacob Wilson, Makai Willis, AD Diedhiou and P.D. McCraney are also back after playing in more than 10 games last season.

KEY ADDITIONS –

The 2024 ULM men's basketball signing class featured four new Warhawks to the 2024-25 roster. ULM signed two high school prospects (Micah Caster & Renars Sondors), one four-year transfer  (Coltie Young) and one junior college transfer (Ta'Zir Smith) in the 2024 class. Sondors and Young both led the Warhawks with 17 points each in Friday's game at Tulane.

Additionaly, Phil Cunningham was introduced as an assistant head coach during the offseason. No stranger to the Sun Belt Conference, Cunningham was the head coach at Troy for six seasons and brings over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience at the Division I level.

BOLDEN'S CAREER NIGHT –

Junior guard Jalen Bolden shined for ULM on Wednesday night at LSU after dropping a career-high 25 points. Playing 30 minutes away from his hometown of Zachary, Louisiana, Bolden scored 14 points in the first half and 11 down the stretch in his career performance. Bolden's three-point shot at the buzzer in the first half was also featured on Sportscenter's Top 10 plays from Wednesday.


UP NEXT –

ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum Thursday to host Ecclesia at 6:30 p.m.