ULM starts championship push against Georgia State
ULM men’s basketball coach Keith Richard found the perfect place for the film of the Warhawks’ disappointing road loss at Appalachian State.
The trash.
Richard’s been coaching basketball long enough to know there’s no reason to overreact to one bad offensive performance. That’s how a letdown turns into a full-fledged rut.
So Richard isn’t going to throw everything out that’s been successful for ULM over the past month. Not when the Warhawks have eclipsed their season averages in scoring (65.3 to 70 points per game), field goal percentage (43% to 47%) and 3-point percentage (30% to 41%) over the five games prior to the Appalachian State trip.
And especially not with ULM’s first ever Sun Belt regular season championship sitting there as a realistic possibility.
“Our offensive stats the previous five games have been off the charts so it caught us by surprise that we struggled to score as much as we did against Appalachian State,” Richard said. “If you take that game out we’ve played really well offensively and we want to keep that up going into this week.”
ULM, Georgia Southern and Georgia State all sit tied atop the Sun Belt with two regular season games to go.
If the Warhawks (19-10, 13-5) are going to be cutting down any nets, it starts against Georgia State on Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The Panthers (20-9, 13-5) are the defending Sun Belt regular season champion and have torn through the conference since joining its ranks in 2013, winning 30 of their first 36 league games.
Richard called Georgia State point guard Ryan Harrow and wing R.J. Hunter — the son of GSU head coach Ron Hunter — two of the best passers he’s seen in a long time.
“It’s incredible,” Richard said. “Their 49 percent field goal percentage, which is eighth in the country, is in large part due to their ability to find the open man.
“Now they can score too. They’re capable of getting 20 on you in a heartbeat but their ability to pass the ball has really made their team offensively this year.”
It’s not just Georgia State’s scoring that’s presented the Sun Belt problems. The Panthers play a unique matchup zone defense that’s been a frequent topic among the league’s head coaches — including Richard.
Georgia State forced 11 turnovers and seven steals in its previous meeting with ULM in Atlanta, a 65-45 Panther win.
“We’ve worked a lot in practice on just moving the ball more and not playing so cautious against the zone,” ULM point guard Nick Coppola said. “We want to be the aggressor and not be out there just passing the ball from side to side.”
Georgia State has been susceptible to the 3-ball this year, and while ULM isn’t going to shoot many from 3-point line, Richard wants to see the Warhawks make just enough to compliment their base offense.
ULM produced one of its more balanced scoring efforts in last Thursday’s 75-57 win at South Alabama. Justin Roberson (18 points), Majok Deng (14 points) and leading scorer Tylor Ongwae (14 points) all finished in double figures while Coppola and DeMondre Harvey each had nine.
One year removed from trying to play its way into the Sun Belt tournament, ULM not only has secured a top-four seed, but has the chance to capture its first regular season conference championship since the 1997 Southland Conference title.
“What a great week for these players,” Richard said. “Now the other teams aren’t going to hand it to us. We’re going to have to play hard and play well, but we’re capable of doing this.
“It’s great for our program to have this chance and this opportunity.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. following the women’s game and can be heard on KLIP 105.3 FM.
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Georgia State (20-9, 13-5) at ULM (19-10, 13-5)
Tipoff: 7 p.m., Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Who/What to watch: Georgia State’s Ryan Harrow and R.J. Hunter rank No. 1 and 2 in the Sun Belt in scoring at 20 and 19 points per game.
Get in the game: ULM is in the hunt for its first regular season conference championship since the 1997 Southland Conference title and first ever in the Sun Belt.