Men's Basketball | 3/9/2017 6:20:00 PM

NEW ORLEANS – For the second time in a week, the Texas State men's basketball team will face ULM on the hardwood. This time the game takes place at Lakefront Arena in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with tip set for 2 p.m.
 
The Bobcats enter the game as the fourth seed after finishing the regular season 18-12 overall and 11-7 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Warhawks are 9-23 following a 73-70 overtime victory over Arkansas State in the first round on Wednesday.
 
Live stats, audio and video will be available for the game with Bill Culhane and Brant Freeman calling the game on 1300 AM The Zone out of Austin and on KTSW 89.9 FM out of San Marcos. The game will also be streamed on ESPN3 with David Stewart providing the play-by-play and Bob Donewald as the analyst.
 
Last Time Out
Texas State finished the regular season with a 70-65 victory at ULM last Saturday. Nijal Pearson led all players with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and was 3-for-5 from long distance on his way to earning SBC Player of the Week honors. For the season, the freshman is averaging 13.2 points and team-high 5.7 rebounds per game.
 
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury netted 16 points to push him over 500 points this season, just the 17th such season in Bobcat history. The All-SBC First Team selection leads the team in scoring (16.8), field goal percentage (50.0), three-point shooting percentage (39.5), steals (40) and blocks (30).
 
Ending the season scoring double-digits in five straight games was Ojai Black following a 15-point contest against the Warhawks. In that span, he is putting up 13.6 ppg with a 69.4 shooting percentage and 4.6 assists per game. The senior is dishing out 4.0 apg with a 2.26 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks 66th in the nation.
 
Scouting ULM
ULM is led by Travis Munnings at 13.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg. He is shooting 45.4 percent from the field, 35.0 percent on three-pointers but just 63.2 percent at the free throw line. His 65 assists, 48 made three-pointers and 25 steals are all the second most on the squad.
 
Sam McDaniel is the only other player averaging double-digits at 11.6 ppg while and is also second in rebounding (6.4). He has connected on 35 treys but converting only 28.9 percent of his long distance attempts.
 
Nick Coppola leads the team and is third in the conference at 4.4 assists per game. The senior is also first in the SBC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9) and minutes played (37.3). He has made a team-best 51 three-pointers on his way to averaging 9.8 ppg.
 
Shooting a team-high 48.4 percent from the field is Marvin Jean-Pierre and is averaging 8.3 ppg. Contributing 8.3 ppg with a 43.7 field goal percentage and team-high 75.4 percent at the charity stripe is Marcus Washington. He leads the team with 26 steals and 13 blocks as well.
 
Sam Alabakis has started 21 games this season but is playing just 17.2 minutes per game. The big man is making 51.8 percent of his shot attempts but scoring only 3.4 ppg. His 13 blocks are tied for the most on the ULM squad.
 
All-Time Series
The Warhawks leads the all-time series over Texas State 29-21 after the Bobcats swept the regular season series with a six-point and five-point victories. Friday will be the fourth neutral site meeting ever between the programs. Texas State has won the first three contests with the last taking place on Mar. 10, 2003 and ending 94-85 in the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
For the latest on Texas State men's basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Twitter at @TxStateMBB, Instagram at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.