THE MATCHUP
Teams: ULM (8-21, 2-14 SBC)
UT Arlington (23-6, 13-3 SBC)
Location: Fant-Ewing Coliseum/Monroe, La.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
LIVE AUDIO (Warhawk Radio Network)
LIVE STATS (ULMstats.com)
Live Video (Warhawks All-Access)
MONROE, La. – The ULM men's basketball team opens the final home weekend of the regular season on Thursday night by welcoming in SBC leader UT Arlington to Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. and is available to watch on Warhawks All-Access and you can also listen to the game with the Mavericks on the Warhawk Radio Network.
The Warhawks enter the tilt with a 8-21 mark, coming off an highly competitive five-point loss on Monday against Coastal Carolina, while the Mavericks enter 23-6, coming off of a 15-point win on Monday night against Troy which finished a perfect 7-0 February for UTA.
NOTABLES
Last Time Out: ULM could not overcome a 53 percent second half shooting performance by the host Chanticleers on Monday night as Coastal Carolina was able to pull out a 77-72 victory in ULM's final Sun Belt Conference road game this season.
Head-to-Head: The Warhawks and Mavericks meet on Thursday for the 68th time in school history. Despite the loss in Arlington on January 21 by a 71-55 score ULM still holds a commanding 50-17 record in the all-time series against the Mavericks.
Scouting the Mavericks: The Mavericks enter Thursday's contest winners of their last seven ball games, including defeating Troy on Monday to clinch a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season title. The Mavericks are led by preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year selection Kevin Hervey, who is averaging 17.0 points per game and 8.3 rebounds a game on the year. Hervey, along with fellow first team preseason all-conference selection Erick Neal, are two of three Mavericks who have buried at least 50 three's on the year. Drew Charles has made 59 on the season as well.
Sun Belt Leaders: Following the February 27 slate of SBC games, Nick Coppola sits in third in the Sun Belt with a 4.4 assists per game average with 129 total assists on the season. Coppola also has a 2.9 assist to turnover ratio which leads the Sun Belt on the season while he also leads the conference averaging 37.1 minutes per game, just short of three more minutes than second place on the list currently in minutes per game. Travis Munnings sits in fourth in the league with a 8.0 rebounds per game and also sits third in defensive rebounding with a 5.8 average.
Sharing the Basketball: The Warhawks have 389 assists on 722 made baskets so far this season. Nick Coppola leads the way with 129 assists, while Travis Munnings has 61 assists so far this season and Marcus Washington has 48 assists on the season. As a team, the Warhawks have assisted on 53.9 percent of their made baskets this season. The Warhawks have had four games with 20+ assists including a pair of games with 23 assists.
Controlling the Offensive Glass: As a team, the Warhawks grabbed 12 offensive rebounds against Coastal Carolina on Monday night - the 17th time in 29 games that they have grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds, with a season-high 17 boards coming at Texas. Travis Munnings leads the way with 63 rebounds.
UP NEXT
-Following Thursday's contest, the Warhawks close out the regular season home slate on Saturday afternoon when they welcome in Texas State for senior day. The matchup with the Bobcats is slated to tip off at 2:00 p.m. following the women's game against the Bobcats.
