TROY, Ala. – Troy quickly built an 11-2 lead on the strength of three 3-pointers, two by Christyon Eugene, in the first three minutes and the Trojans never looked back, as Troy rolled to an 85-57 win over ULM Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.
 
"They played great," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "It was going to take a special effort to beat them in here, like we had Thursday, and we didn't have it. They beat us from the get go in every phase of the game. We felt a step slow out there. They were the quicker, more aggressive, more physical team."
 
Makai Willis led ULM with 10 points off the bench. Jalen Bolden led the team on the glass with six rebounds. Tyreke Locure had nine points and five assists.
 
"It was a good chance for Makai to get some minutes because he didn't play the other night," Richard said. "We're going to need Makai. It was good for him to get out there and feel the action again and get in the mix of it."
 
Troy was paced by Eugene's 21 points (5-of-9 3-point field goal attempts), while Myles Rigsby and Jackson Fields had 10 points each.
 
ULM won the rebounding battle, 45-35, with 19 offensive rebounds. But not much else went right for the Warhawks.
 
"We had to turnovers in the first three possessions," Richard said. "It wasn't a good sign. We had a hard time defending them as well. It wasn't a good day. It wasn't our day. They played great."
 
The Warhawks got as close as four, 11-7, on a jumper by Makai Willis with 14:55 left in the first half. Troy steadily built the lead out to double figures, leading by 11, 20-9, on a layup by Fields with 8:52 to go before halftime. ULM never pulled within single digits again.
 
Troy led by as much as 22 in the first half, 39-17, on Tayton Conerway's fastbreak layup off a steal with 1:47 remaining before the break. ULM made its final three shots of the half, with two from Jacob Wilson, to trail by 16 at halftime, 39-23.
 
The Warhawks got as close as 13 in the second half at 39-26 on Locure's 3-pointer to open the half. However, Troy reestablished a 22-point lead, 50-28, on Aamer Muhammad's jumper at the 16:40 mark.
 
A layup by Jerry Ngopot cut the gap to 14 again, 52-38, with 13:19 left. However, a 7-0 Troy run pushed the lead past 20 again, 59-38, on Randarius Jones' layup with 11:34 to go.
 
Troy's largest lead was the final margin of 28, 85-57.
 
ULM shot 32% (20-of-62) from the field and 2-of-7 from 3-point range. Troy shot 52% (32-of-62) and 41% (13-of-32) from 3-point range.
 
"We're turning the page and we're moving on," Richard said. "We're not going to talk about it again. We have an important game Thursday against Lafayette at home."
 
The Warhawks open the final homestand of the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday vs. the Ragin' Cajuns at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.