ULM falls on the road
OXFORD, Miss. - An early second half run by Ole Miss was
the decisive stretch as the ULM men's basketball program dropped a 75-62
Advertisement
decision on Wednesday evening at C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum.
ULM (3-3) trailed 37-33 at halftime when Ole Miss (8-3) used a 14-1 run in
the first three minutes of the second half to pull away.
Senior Amos Olatayo led the Warhawks with 17 points while junior Tylor
Ongwae put in 12. Senior Jayon James grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and
also notched nine points, five assists and three steals.
Marshall Henderson recorded a game-high 26 points for Ole Miss, including a
6-for-13 mark from three-point range. LaDarius White had 13 points, seven
rebounds and seven assists.
The contest featured six lead changes and five ties in the first half.
ULM's first three field goals of the game were all from long-range. Ongwae
got it started to put the Warhawks up 3-2, and Olatayo followed to even the
score, 6-6. ULM trailed 11-6, and after a quick timeout, it went on a 7-0
spurt to take the lead 13-11 after another Ongwae three-pointer and
consecutive baskets by Olatayo with 12:49 left in the first half.
The Warhawks were still on top 15-14 after a floater by Ongwae at the 12:17
mark. The Rebels tied it with a free throw, and ULM answered with a
long-range shot by sophomore Daniel Grieves to go up 18-15. Henderson
responded with an Ole Miss three, and ULM called timeout tied 18-18 with
9:51 remaining.
Still tied 25-25, the Rebels scored back-to-back baskets but a huge dunk by
Olatayo put the Warhawks down just 29-27 before the 3:34 media timeout. Ole
Miss took a 37-33 lead into the intermission.
Hot shooting got the Rebels out to a 51-34 lead early in the second half and
they extended it to 59-39 with 12:08 remaining. A pair of threes by
sophomore Kyle Koszuta kept the Warhawks in it, and after a 7-0 run they
forced Ole Miss into a timeout with 7:57 left, 62-49 the score.
The Warhawks fought to the end, but didn't get any closer until James dunked
the final basket of the game to keep it at a 13-point spread.
ULM returns home on Sunday when it takes on La. Tech at 5:00 p.m. in a
marquee match-up. The Warhawks are 2-0 at home this season.
NOTES
- ULM out-rebounded the Rebels 45-33. The Warhawks entered the game leading
the Sun Belt Conference in rebounding margin at +3.8
- The Warhawks outscored Ole Miss 36-20 in the paint, 10-4 on fast break
points, 13-7 on second chance points and 17-15 in points off turnovers
- Senior Amos Olatayo registered double-figures in scoring for the 13th time
in his last 14 outings dating back to last season. It was his 22nd career
10-plus scoring game with 17 points
- Junior Tylor Ongwae tallied his fifth consecutive double-figure scoring
game with 12 points
- Senior Jayon James pulled down 11 rebounds for his seventh career 10-plus
rebounding performance
- Sophomore DeMondre Harvey grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in 14
minutes off the bench
- ULM entered the game leading the league in assists and steals and matched
its season averages with 15 assists and eight steals
- Sophomore Daniel Grieves remains at a .500 clip from three-point range on
the season after going one-for-two on the game. Grieves has hit 9-of-18
attempts on the season from beyond-the-arc
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
On the first five minutes of the second half
"In four out of our six game, the first five minutes of the second half have
been very poor. Two of our starters didn't start in the beginning of the
second half to try to address this problem that we've been having and it
didn't work. Maybe I should have took out all five starters. I don't know
what the answer is, but we certainly have a problem coming out of halftime.
That's what I just told the team: there's something wrong. Whether we don't
have the right personnel in there, or it's toughness and getting at it right
away, or maybe both. We thought we addressed it this week but it didn't do
any good. Just a poor first five minutes of the second half and it cost us
the game. We're not going to beat good teams until we get this straightened
out. You can't constantly get down by double-figures and expect to make a
roaring comeback, especially on the road."
On the rebounding
"I'm very proud of our offensive rebounds, but the flip side of that is our
post players were 5-for-19 from the field. Though, offensive rebounding is
an effort stat and I'm happy about that."
On the first half
"We played extremely hard in the first half. We didn't play perfect, but we
played really hard. I was hoping that there would be some carry-over into
the second half, in terms of the good things that happened. It just shows
you that the basketball Gods aren't going to give you anything. Against good
teams we're going to have to go out and earn it, and we just got down by too
many points."
On the La. Tech game Sunday
"I'm very proud of Brian Wickstrom and his staff for what they've done for
this game Sunday. We really, really appreciate it. Louisiana Tech is a
really good team and is on a journey to figure out how good it can be. We
are an improved team and on a journey to see how much we can improve. It's
kind of neat that we meet in a non-conference game before Christmas and it's
going to be a fun game for everyone involved."
Click Click Here to view this Link.Here to view this Link.