NEW ORLEANS -- The Arkansas State and UALR men's basketball teams will play their first round games in the Sun Belt Tournament today.
The No. 12-seeded Trojans (7-24, 4-14 Sun Belt) will play No. 5 Appalachian State (14-17, 9-9) at 2:30 p.m. at Lakefront Arena, and the No. 11 Red Wolves (11-20, 6-12 Sun Belt) will play No. 6 Louisiana-Monroe (15-14, 9-9) at 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas State beat Louisiana-Monroe 83-79 in Jonesboro on Saturday, when the Red Wolves jumped to a 50-32 halftime lead while shooting 8 of 12 from three-point range.
Junior forward Tristin Walley scored a career-high 23 points against the Warhawks while shooting 4 of 7 from three-point range.
"It's hard to play a team back to back," ASU Coach Mike Balado said. "ULM is a really good team. They only really play seven guys, and they're going to get their numbers."
Warhawks junior forward Travis Munnings (13.2 points per game) was named to the All-Sun Belt second team; senior guard Sam McDaniel (11.2 ppg) was named to the third team; and freshman guard Michael Ertel (11.5 ppg) was named freshman of the year.
Louisiana-Monroe eliminated Arkansas State in the first round last season, 73-70 in overtime, which was the last game before former coach Grant McCasland left for North Texas after one season as head coach.
Balado, a four-year assistant at Louisville, was hired March 20 -- less than two weeks after the Red Wolves' loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
"For the returning guys it means a lot: This team ended their season last year," Balado said. "The difference going into the game last year, we had lost six of the last eight games. We have a little bit more momentum. February was better for us. ... And for the new guys, I just sent a message to them: March is such a great month for basketball. So many things can happen."
UALR lost both of its matchups with Appalachian State. The first game was a 72-67 overtime loss at Appalachian State on Jan. 25, and the second was a 69-67 home loss Feb. 24.
In the most recent loss, there were four lead changes in the game's final four minutes, and it marked UALR's fifth conference loss of five points or less this season.
The Trojans led 62-61 with 1:53 left in the game, but they fell behind as Appalachian State guards Ronshad Shabazz and Justin Forrest each scored 18 points and combined to go 6 of 15 from three-point range.
UALR second-year Coach Wes Flanigan started 6-11 senior Wadly Mompremier for the first time in that game to combat the Mountaineers' size advantage in the post. They rank fourth in the Sun Belt in rebounding margin (+3.3).
Flanigan said three-point defense and rebounding are key factors today.
"They're a big, physical team," Flanigan said. "But what they'll do is throw it inside, then kick out to the three-point line. They're one of the top three-point teams in our league, too. It's kind of one of those things where you'll have to do both."
Appalachian State finished the season with a 76-67 victory against Coastal Carolina, and Shabazz (18.9 points per game) was named to the All-Sun Belt second team Monday.
UALR lost 11 of 12 games before it finished the season with a 72-61 overtime victory at top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Ryan Pippins scored 19 points to help the Trojans overcome a 10-point second-half deficit, and junior forward Oliver Black scored a career-high 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
"I hope it gave us confidence," Flanigan said. "Now we know we can pull out a close win. We're closing out some games. We know going into the tournament, we feel like we can beat just about anybody. We've packed our bags for the whole week, and we plan on winning four games."
UALR last won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament when the Trojans went 30-5 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Iowa State in 2016. Flanigan was an assistant coach on then-head coach Chris Beard's staff.
The Trojans already have their most conference losses since the 2009-2010 season (8-22, 4-14), and they will need one more victory to avoid their lowest victory total since 1999-2000 (4-24, 1-15).
"It's very important for us to finish out the season well," Flanigan said. "We've been in a lot of close games. No one in our locker room wants to come home on Wednesday. We've got to compete and give ourselves a chance to win."
At a glance
SUN BELT MEN'S TOURNAMENT
At Lakefront Arena, New Orleans
All times Central
TODAY'S GAMES
Coastal Carolina vs. Texas State, 11:30 a.m.
UALR vs. Appalachian State, 2 p.m.
Troy vs. South Alabama, 5 p.m.
Arkansas State vs. La.-Monroe, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
La.-Lafayette vs. Coastal Carolina-Texas State winner, 11:30 a.m.
Texas-Arlington vs. UALR-Appalachian State winner, 2 p.m.
Georgia State vs. Troy-South Alabama winner, 5 p.m.
Georgia Southern vs. La.-Monroe-Arkansas State winner, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY'S GAMES
First semifinal, 11:30 a.m.
Second semifinal, 2 p.m.
SUNDAY'S GAME
Championship, 1 p.m.
Sports on 03/07/2018