Recap | Final Stats | Notes

UTA (24-6, 14-3) 72 at ULM (8-22, 2-15) 57
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Fant-Ewing Coliseum • Monroe, La.

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Scott Cross
"I think the first half was slow. We didn't play together offensively, as a team. We didn't have a ton of energy. Defensively, once we went back to our 2-2-1 zone - that really gave us a lift. We were able to get a couple of steals and get some easy buckets. That changed the game. This was a bit of a trap game. Monroe is better than their conference record. If you look, every game they've lost have been very close. They are right there. There is not a whole lot of difference. Some teams may have more depth. But, they have a really good starting five.

"I'm proud of our guys. We haven't had a whole lot of success in this building. For them to come in here and get a win is definitely a credit to our guys. I think they wanted to make a statement that they didn't want to share the title. They accomplished that and I'm proud of them for it.

"Jalen was on fire tonight. He was the guy that really carried us, offensively. He was locked-in. I have the ultimate confidence in him. He is the guy that is in the gym all the time and I want nothing but success for him. He is such a good person, in addition to being a great basketball player. He it all. He rebounds. He defends. He can shoot. He can drive it. He can even post up. We are going to miss him dearly when the season is over with.

"(Saturday at Louisiana) is going to be a tough one. At the beginning of the season, Louisiana was a team that everybody feared. They have a ton of talent. They one of the best post players in Bryce Washington. He can absolutely destroy teams with his rebounding ability and his post moves. He is also good off the bounce. They have a ton of guys who can shoot, drive and score. If they get going, it is scary. They are playing for a higher seed. In non-conference, they were right up there with the best of the Sun Belt. They had a great record. They had a rough couple of games. But, they are playing better and we know it is going to be a fight. That is a hard place to play. If we are focused and locked-in defensively, we will have a chance.

"You can't read anything into the result the last time we played them. We played our best game and they probably didn't. They are going to be chompin' at the bit to get some redemption. I'm sure we are going to get their best effort. Outside of Saint Mary's, that game against Louisiana might have been our best game ths year."

Senior Guard Jalen Jones
"It feels great to get the win. We knew it was a trap game and that we were going to have to come ready to play. They (ULM) have a great team, much better than their record. All of the games they lost were close. Even though their record doesn't show it, they are a great team. We knew we had to refocus (after Monday's win over Troy). We have other goals in mind. We are chasing the most wins in school history so we knew we had to stay focused to get a win.

"They packed the paint (in the first half) so it was hard to drive and we had trouble finishing. We just regrouped in the second half. We found different options and it worked for us. We have great coaches. They put us in the position and we execute the gameplay. This win is a testament of what kind of team we are.

(Saturday at Louisiana)"Making program history is on our mind. All we've talked about lately is making history and we can do that with a win on Saturday. Louisiana is another very dangerous team with great players. We are going to have to come ready to play, especially after the way we were able to win earlier this year. They are going to be motivated, ready and come after us. We need to be ready for a tough game."