How a lineup change solved ULM's road woes

Adam Hunsucker
The News Star

The irony was too thick for Keith Richard to ignore after Louisiana-Monroe left Strahan Coliseum with its first road win in Sun Belt Conference play.

“We’ve been so worried about our defense, especially on the road, and it was a blocked shot on the last play of the game that got us over the hump,” Richard said.

Guard Daishon Smith made the play, swatting away Tre Nottingham’s 3-point attempt in a 63-60 win for the worst shot-blocking team in the Sun Belt over first-place Texas State on Thursday night. Ranked in the bottom half of the conference in most defensive categories, ULM (14-11, 7-6 Sun Belt) held the Bobcats (21-6, 10-4 Sun Belt) to 21-of-64 (.328) shooting and 6-of-28 (.214) from the 3-point line.

Texas State held guard Daishon Smith (5) to nine points, but ULM had four players in double figures in Thursday night's 63-60 win. Forward Travis Munnings and guard Michael Ertel each scored a team-high 13 points, while guard J.D. Williams had 11 points and forward Andre Washington 10 points.

“I’m really proud of our team because this became a tough man game and we haven’t won a lot of those,” Richard said. “Texas State a physical team and the exact opposite of us in a lot of ways. We really won this game for 38 minutes, and almost gave it away in the last two minutes with a missed layup and free throw, and it took a courageous effort by our team to play that brand of basketball on both ends of the floor.”

Hoping to add some extra length to the lineup, Richard inserted 6-8 forward Youry White into the starting lineup at Texas State. White, who was cleared in January after meniscus surgery, played 15 minutes at the five-spot, which allowed ULM to rotate 6-6 Travis Munnings and 6-7 Tyree White at the four, play Munnings at the three to spell 6-4 J.D. Williams and bring 6-8 Andre Washington in off the bench for White.

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“I started Youry because I get lost in the game and have a hard time getting him in,” Richard said. “He helped us get those 5-to-10 more stops we needed, and we had just enough offense to pull it out.

“It helped us slow Texas State down off the dribble and have our best defensive effort of the year.”

With Texas State focusing its attention on Smith, the Warhawks had four players in double figures. Munnings and guard Michael Ertel each scored a team-high 13 points, while Williams had 11 points and Washington had 10 points.

The Bobcats held Smith to nine points, but he got his teammates involved with seven assists and pulled down five rebounds.

“Daishon just took what the defense gave him when we needed it and that’s what good players do,” Richard said.

“Our road woes are over in conference play with a total team effort and now we’re going to go try and get another one.

ULM visits Texas-Arlington on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip off, led by first-year coach and Rich Barnes disciple Chris Ogden. Prior to UTA, Odgen was with Barnes for eight seasons at Texas (2008-2015) and Tennessee (2015-16) and spent two seasons at Texas Tech (2016-18) under former Little Rock head coach Chris Beard. 

The Mavericks (12-15, 8-6 Sun Belt) are coming off a 76-64 home loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.

ULM (14-11, 7-6 Sun Belt) at Texas-Arlington (12-15, 8-6 Sun Belt)

Tipoff: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Venue: College Park Center

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Coaches

ULM: Keith Richard (107-168, 9th season, 257-285 overall, 18th season)

UTA: Chris Ogden (12-15, 1st season)

Last Game: ULM 63, Texas State 60; Louisiana-Lafayette 76, UTA 64

Starting-5

ULM: G Daishon Smith (6-1, 175, Sr.; 21.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists) … G Michael Ertel (6-2, 175, So.; 15.2 points, 2.8 rebounds 2.4 assists) … G JD Williams (6-4, 175, Jr.; 12.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists) … F Travis Munnings (6-6, 200, Sr.; 13.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists) … F Youry White (6-8, 210, Jr., 0.3 point, 1.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist)

UTA: G Brian Warren (5-9, 160, Jr., 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists) … G Edric Dennis (6-0, 190, Jr., 14.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists) … G Tiandre Jackson-Young (6-3, 195, Fr., 6.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.7 assist) … F Ayoub Nouhi (6-5, 196, Fr., 2.1 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.3 assist) … F Andres Ibarguen (6-5, 230, Jr., 6.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.7 assist)

Sun Belt Standings

  • Georgia State (19-8, 10-4)
  • Texas State (21-6, 10-4)
  • Georgia Southern (17-10, 9-5)
  • Texas-Arlington (12-15, 8-6)
  • Louisiana-Lafayette (16-10, 7-6)
  • Louisiana-Monroe (14-11, 7-6)
  • Coastal Carolina (12-13, 6-7)
  • Arkansas State (11-15, 5-8)
  • Little Rock (10-16, 5-8)
  • South Alabama (12-14, 5-8)
  • Appalachian State (9-17, 4-9)
  • Troy (11-14, 4-9)


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