TIP-OFF
The ULM men's basketball team (4-7) is set to complete its home-and-home series at UT Arlington (4-6) and play the return road game on Saturday (Dec. 14) afternoon at 2 p.m. inside the College Park Center.
ULM snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night with an 89-73 home victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Warhawks raced ahead late with a 14-2 scoring run in the final 3:36 to secure its first win in December and improve to 3-3 inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum in the 2024-25 season.
SERIES HISTORY –
Saturday's game will be the 81st matchup between the former Sun Belt Conference opponents. The Warhawks hold a 53-27 series advantage, but UTA has won three of the previous five meetings.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS –
On Thursday night, UTA came up just short at Arkansas State after holding a four-point lead at halftime. Graduate student guard Jaden Wells led the Mavs with 19 points.
In the Mavs' last meeting versus the Warhawks, Villanova transfer Lance Ware finished with a game-high 17 points and was one rebound shy from notching a double-double. UTA drained 15 3-point buckets in its win over ULM and rank 13th in the country in 3-point percentage this season, entering Saturday's game shooting 40.2% from beyond the arc.
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 and AD Diedhiou 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. Additionaly, Phil Cunningham was introduced as an assistant head coach during the offseason. Cunningham brings over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience at the Division I level.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S STANDOUT PERFORMANCES –
Two Warhawks notched career-highs in Wednesday night's win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Leading the Way for ULM was Jackson State transfer Coltie Young, who finished with 28 points and AD Diedhiou, who registered a career-high 16 points. Tyreese Watson passed a career-high 11 assists and recorded a double-double with 16 points.
BOLDEN'S CAREER NIGHT AT LSU –
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.
LOOKING AHEAD –
The Warhawks will finish non-conference action at home on Tuesday (Dec. 17) night versus Houston Christian at 7:30 p.m.
