BTH Up Next: UALR (11-10, 6-3) vs. South Alabama (7-13, 1-6)

TROJANS VS. JAGUARS

WHEN 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1
WHERE Mitchell Center, Mobile, Ala.
LAST MEETING UALR 65, South Alabama 60 (Jan. 9, 2014, in Little Rock)
ALL-TIME SERIES South Alabama leads 25-15
SERIES NOTES UALR hasn't won in Mobile since 2009. The Trojans lost there by 13 in 2011 and 15 in 2012.
RADIO 106.7 in Little Rock
TV None
TWEETCAST www.burnthehorse.blogspot.com

Great student section at last night's UALR game


BTH Analysis: UALR goes small to beat Long-less ULL

UALR made its run to secure victory against Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday night by switching to a four-guard lineup late in the game.

The move, which likely wouldn't have been possible if ULL's Shawn Long had played, and probably wouldn't have been necessary if UALR's James White had played, helped turn a three-point deficit into an 80-69 victory.

"Long is a guy you have to double as your digging down or trap with your other post. We weren't in a situation where we had to do that," UALR Coach Steve Shields said.

UALR struggled to keep a second forward on the court much of the night, with Gus Leeper, Mareik Isom and Maurius Hill all struggling with foul trouble. Trailing 56-53 at the 11:59 media timeout, UALR made a change. Guard Kemy Osse checked in for Isom, effectively moving guard Leroy Isler to a forward spot.

At that point, UALR's lineup was DeVonte Smith, Ben Dillard, Isler, Osse and Will Neighbour. Later, guard Stetson Billings took over that forward spot from Isler. And Josh Hagins replaced Smith, but the Trojans stayed with four guards.

UALR won three of the four factors to winning, taking effective field goal percentage, offensive rebound percentage and free throw rate. UALR lost turnover percentage but only by one turnover.

The night's best plus/minus went to Osse at +16 with UALR outscoring ULL 30-14 during his minutes. Hagins (+14), Billings (+11) and Neighbour (+10) also finished in double digits.

A couple of other notes.

Neighbour has been on the court for 82 percent of the points scored by UALR this season. He was on the court for 75 of the 80 last night for 94 percent.

Billings has the best total plus/minus rating for UALR in Sun Belt Conference games at +14. He's way ahead of everyone else in plus/minus per minutes played. Others on the plus side for conference games include Hagins, Isom and Osse. No surprise that all four of those guys had big games last night.

BTH Morning After: More mysterious Sun Belt Conference gameday suspensions

Something strange is quietly happening in the Sun Belt Conference this year. About two hours before gametime, players are getting mysteriously suspended for one game.

It’s happened twice to UALR with Josh Hagins missing the game against South Alabama and Leroy Isler missing the game against Texas State. It’s also happened twice to UALR opponents. WKU played UALR without T.J. Price and ULL played last night without Shawn Long.

No idea if it’s happened to anyone else. But its happened four times in UALR’s nine Sun Belt games this season.

But why? Conduct detrimental to the team. Violation of team rules. All the regular stuff.

Perhaps it’s just a strange coincidence. But if it happens again, I’m calling it a trend.

BURN NOTICE

No way to know how Louisiana-Lafayette’s Shawn Long would have impacted Thursday’s game. Of course, there’s no way to know how UALR’s James White could have impacted the game if he had played. It’s pretty likely that UALR’s rebound advantage wouldn’t have existed with Long on the court.

PLEA FOR SANITY

Since the NCAA wants to adjust the rules, how about eliminating the continuation three-point plays in college basketball. There were at least four in Thursday’s game – going both ways – that should have just been fouls on the floor.

INJURY REPORT

I asked James White after the game what his status was. He said he expects to be back on Monday. That goes along with the original timeline we were given when he was shut down last week.

STAT OF THE GAME

UALR made 15 of 27 second-half field goals for 55.6 percent. The Trojans made only 14 all game last Saturday at Arkansas State.

TROJAN MAN

UALR senior Will Neighbour had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Trojans. He made 7 of 9 field goals and 9 of 11 free throws. And he joined the 1,000-point, 500-rebound club.

GLASS HALF FULL

We thought freshman Mareik Isom gave some of the best minutes of his career on Thursday. Isom finished with 7 points and 2 steals. He made a first-half three-pointer, his first trey in 12 games. And he made a key second-half layup.

GLASS HALF EMPTY

Foul trouble continues to plague UALR forward Gus Leeper. He picked up two quick fouls on Thursday and had to sit much of the first half. When in there, he was productive with 4 points and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes.

KING PRIAM’S KEYS

Bounce Back: Will Neighbour needed a bounceback game and got it with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Grade: A.
Paint Patrol: UALR held a 38-31 rebound advantage and 36-26 advantage in points in the paint. Grade: A.
Win Field Goal Percentage: UALR shot 47.2 percent for the game to Louisiana-Lafayette’s 37.7 percent. The teams both shot 38.5 percent in the first half. Grade: A.
Threes Below 35:  ULL was hot early from the three-point line. But the Cajuns went 0 for 8 from three-point range in the second half to shoot 20 percent for the game. Grade: A.
Free Josh:  UALR’s Josh Hagins had 14 points and 6 rebounds but went 0 for 5 from three-point range. Still a good effort on a night when his shot wasn’t really on. Grade: B+.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS?

Louisiana-Lafayette was a 2.5-point favorite. That makes a bet on UALR a winner.

UP NEXT


UALR gets on the bus tomorrow morning for the eight-hour drive to Mobile, Ala. The Trojans will take on South Alabama on Saturday.

Neighbour joins 1,000, 500 club as UALR rallies to beat ULL

With neither team at full strength, UALR used a late run to beat Louisiana-Lafayette 80-69 on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

UALR senior Will Neighbour led the Trojans with 24 points and 12 rebounds. A second-half three-pointer put him over 1,000 points for his UALR career. He’s now the sixth player in UALR history to top 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

But it was who wasn’t there that will likely steal the headlines. UALR once again played without sophomore forward James White and junior point guard J.T. Thomas. Louisiana-Lafayette was missing likely first-team all-Sun Belt Conference forward Shawn Long, who was apparently suspended pregame, and Kasey Shepherd, who was injured last Saturday.

Early on, it was the Ragin’ Cajuns, led by point guard Elfrid Payton, taking it to UALR. The Cajuns led by as many as 11 points early in the game.

Both team’s lack of depth on the front line was tested throughout. UALR managed to get some big minutes from freshman Mareik Isom, who finished with 7 points and hit his first three-pointer in 12 games. Louisiana-Lafayette got a mammoth, pun intended, game from J.J. Davenport, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds while facing tremendous abuse from the UALR student section.

But it was UALR shooting 56 percent from the field in the second half and a poorly-timed technical foul on Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Bob Marlin that made the difference.

With Louisiana-Lafayette leading 55-49, UALR’s Leroy Isler seemed to gain brief control of the ball in a scramble. Just as he did, UALR Coach Steve Shields hopped out onto the court and screamed for a timeout. It was granted. Then Marlin protested a bit too much and was given a pretty quick technical foul.

Neighbour made two free throws and the UALR rally was on. Isom and DeVonte Smith made tough layups and then Ben Dillard made two free throws to give UALR a 57-56 lead with 10:55 left.

The lead went back and forth over the next couple of minutes before UALR seized control. Neighbour scored on a putback and, after a turnover by Payton, Kemy Osse converted a three-point play for a 69-63 lead. A putback by Leroy Isler and layups by Smith and Dillard made it 76-66 with 3:16 left.

UALR then put the game to sleep from there.

The Trojans outscored the Cajuns 31-14 after the Marlin technical foul.

Hagins added 14 points for UALR while Dillard had 11.

Payton led Louisiana-Lafayette with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

BTH Vote: Who was tonight's UALR player of the game vs. Louisiana-Lafayette? Vote here

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BTH Live Tweetcast: UALR vs. ULL updates

7 P.M. TONIGHT
JACK STEPHENS CENTER
LITTLE ROCK
UALR hosts Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans are currently in third place in the Sun Belt Conference.

Tonight's game is a Need to Win if you want to Contend game -- really for both teams. Louisiana-Lafayette has already lost a couple of home games and needs to make those up with road victories. UALR is in third place, but there's a pack of teams right behind them. And UALR's schedule is tough the next three weeks.

Listen live tonight on KABZ-FM 103.7 and Tweet along with our BTH Live Tweetcast right here.

BTH Predictions: ULL big favorite over UALR tonight

Las Vegas Line: ULL by 2.5
Omni Rankings: ULL by 8
-----------------
The Sports Network: ULL 76, UALR 69
Real Time RPI: UALR 82, ULL 77
CBS Sports: ULL 77, UALR 74
Jeff Sagarin Ratings: ULL 75, UALR 70
-----------------
Average Margin: ULL by 3.3
Average Score: ULL 76.3, UALR 73.4

BTH Gameday: Great job by #UALR in #6thFan contest; Now get these people to show up

UALR Athletics, UALR and the UALR Alumni Association have done a tremendous job supporting UALR in the NCAA’s Sixth Fan Contest. As of this morning, UALR ranks seventh nationally in votes. Imagine if everyone put this type of effort into promoting the actual product.

The contest works like this. You can vote for your school at http://6thfan.ncaa.com or by using Twitter and including #6thFan and #UALR in your Tweet. And UALR has loads of votes due to the constant promoting every day by Athletics, Alumni and school officials. That's been really great to see.

However, chances are that the majority of those people won’t be in attendance tonight as UALR hosts Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center. Why? Because all the majority of this promotion failed to mention the actual product, which is the basketball game. Until the last 24 hours, it also failed to mention that tonight is a #WhiteOut game for fans.

Marketing and promotion continues to be an area where UALR needs to improve. Having a White Out was a great idea. Making shirts only available to students wasn’t. Not making a huge traditional media push to promote the White Out to the community wasn’t.  The problem is that when it’s not successful, it won’t get attempted again. That would be a mistake.

This is why I hate to criticize when UALR finally attempts to do something fun. UALR needs more fun. More fun equals more fans. And there isn’t enough off-the-court fun at UALR basketball games.

Congratulations to #UALR for the success early in the NCAA’s #6thFan contest. It’s quite an accomplishment. Now get all of these people to start showing up for games and we’ll really have something to be proud of.

BURN UNIT

Louisiana-Lafayette has a couple players to keep an eye on. Point guard Elfrid Payton averages 19.6 points and 5.8 rebounds and made noise this summer playing on the USA National Under 20 team. And 6-9 big man Shawn Long is averaging 20.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.

“They are very talented with two of the premiere players in our league,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said. “Both are in the top five of the conference in scoring. Long leads the league in rebounding and blocks, and Payton leads the conference in assists and steals. Bryant Mbamalu is another outstanding player, and someone who has hurt us in the past.”

Mbamalu averages just 8.4 points per game this season but averaged 19.5 points in two games vs. UALR last season.

DAY TO PLAY

Louisiana-Lafayette is 0-3 in Thursday games this season. UALR is 4-0 in Thursday games.

INJURY REPORT

We don’t officially know the status of UALR sophomore James White for tonight’s game. He’s missed the past two games with a high ankle sprain. We were told there was no structural damage and that he just had to rest. Louisiana-Lafayette will be without sophomore guard Kasey Shepherd, who is out for the season after tearing his meniscus on Saturday. Shepherd only played 16.9 minutes per game. But he was really good in those minutes, averaging 8.2 points and shooting a Sun Belt Conference best 55.3 percent from three-point range.

KING PRIAM’S KEYS

Bounce back: Will Neighbour hasn’t had many bad games in his career. But after one point last Saturday at Arkansas State, UALR needs him to bounce back in a big way tonight.

Paint patrol: Long is a beast inside. Expect Elridge Moore and J.J. Davenport to throw their weight around as well. UALR’s bigs have to fight them to a stalemate. This includes rebounds and points in the paint.

Win field goal percentage: Louisiana-Lafayette is 11-0 this season when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent. The Ragin Cajuns are 1-4 when shooting a worse percentage.

Threes below 35: It didn’t work out on Saturday, but UALR has been succeptable to the three-point shot. Louisiana-Lafayette shoots 40.7 percent from three-point range in its victories and 30.6 percent from three-point range in its losses. UALR needs to keep ULL in the low 30s at best.

Free Josh: UALR sophomore guard Josh Hagins is due for a breakout game at home.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS?


It opened as a pick’em but now Louisiana-Lafayette has moved to a 2.5-point favorite in Las Vegas.

Top ULL 3 point shooter out for season

ULL radio broadcaster Jay Walker reports that sophomore guard Kasey Shepherd is out for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus. He leads the Sun Belt in three point shooting

Read More: Cajuns Lose Kasey Shepherd For Rest Of Season | http://espn1420.com/cajuns-lose-kasey-shepherd-to-torn-meniscus-out-for-season/?trackback=tsmclip

Ga. St.-South Al cancellation means UALR's Saturday opponent gets Thursday off

Understandably, the Georgia State-South Alabama game has been postponed tomorrow night. But this means, for the second consecutive week, UALR will play a Saturday game against an opponent that didn't have to play on Thursday.

UALR played last Thursday night against Texas State while Saturday opponent Arkansas State was idle. South Alabama, this week's Saturday opponent, now has off this Thursday.

Watching road conditions in the Atlanta area, I'm not sure there's anything else that could have been done. But it means UALR, which has struggled on Saturdays, has another tough turnaround.

Georgia State and South Alabama will makeup their game on Monday, Feb. 3.

UALR White Out on Thursday? Maybe. If you want


Photo: Remember to wear white to tomorrow's game at the JSC vs. Louisiana! Starts at 7 PM, students get in free! #UALR #Whiteout

Are we wearing white for Thursday's UALR game against Louisiana-Lafayette?

Maybe. If you want. No one is stopping you.

I follow UALR about as much as anybody. And I'm only aware of this event because I am on Twitter and Facebook.

You see, UALR has been promoting some sort of fan white out through some of its social media channels. But if you don't happen to get your news there, you probably don't know anything about it. On UALR Coach Steve Shields' Web site, he wrote: "We are having a "Whiteout" for this Thursday's game against Louisiana. The UALR student section will be dressed in white, and we encourage anyone that comes out to participate."

I read that to mean UALR is giving t-shirts to the student section. Typically when schools do this, they get a sponsor and give out white t-shirts. Since that isn't mentioned, we're guessing everyone else has to bring their own.

Unfortunately, the only White out I'm expecting to see in force will be the UALR injury report. Something tells me there will be plenty of other colors visible. And not just the empty black seats.

Hopefully road conditions will allow Ragin Cajuns to make it to LR

UALR is scheduled to play Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. But that's only if the Ragin' Cajuns make it to Little Rock.

http://espn1420.com/cajuns-try-to-head-north-to-face-arkansas-little-rock/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The ULL women play at UALR tonight. They left on Monday to make sure they were here. Monday was probably a bit early for the men to leave. And they got stuck behind the storm. As of this afternoon, it was still a bit colder in Louisiana than in Arkansas. Hopefully they'll have a safe trip.

BTH Up Next: UALR (10-10, 5-3) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (12-8, 3-4)

TROJANS VS. RAGIN' CAJUNS

WHEN 7 p.m. Thursday, January 30
WHERE Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock
ALL-TIME SERIES ULL leads 22-17
LAST MEETING UALR 77, ULL 68 (Feb. 28, 2013 at Little Rock)
SERIES HISTORY The teams have split the past six meetings but UALR has won 9 of the past 13 meetings. At one time, ULL led the all-time series 18-7.
RADIO KABZ-FM 103.7 in Little Rock
TV None
TWEETCAST www.burnthehorse.blogspot.com
CLICK TO ENLARGE



No White, no answer as ASU routs UALR

No James White meant no answer for UALR against Arkansas State on Saturday.

Playing without the injured White, UALR was never in it and was dominated by Arkansas State 77-49 at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.

Much like last Saturday’s blowout loss to Georgia State, the ultimate result didn’t come unexpected. The margin and ease with which Arkansas State won likely did.
 
"You can't get beat 13 on the glass and have only 2 assists. ," UALR Coach Steve Shields said. before apologizing to the UALR fans who made the trip to Jonesboro. "It's one game. Unfortunately it's a big game. I'm very sorry to our fans who drove up here."

Arkansas State jumped out to a big lead early in the first half and UALR never threatened. A big reason was the disappearance of UALR senior Will Neighbour.

Without White to take some of the pressure off, Arkansas State went all in on stopping Neighbour. Outside of foul-prone Gus Leeper, none of White’s other replacements – Mareik Isom, or Marius Hill  – provided much in the way of an offensive threat.

Neighbour, averaging more than 18 points per game, finished with the worst game of his UALR career. Facing a double team every time he touched it, Neighbour went 0 for 12 from the field.

"They doubled him in the post and crowded him all over the floor," Shields said.

But he was hardly alone. UALR made only 14 field goals the entire game.

Leeper’s 10 points led UALR. He was effective when in but had to sit much of the first half after picking up three fouls. His replacement, Mareik Isom, picked up a couple of quick fouls and wasn’t a factor.

UALR returns to action at home on Thursday against Louisiana-Lafayette.

BTH Gameday: Neighbour, Van Slyke matchup features two of Belt's best

Rivals Arkansas State and UALR match up for the first time this season today, matching up two of the premiere big men in the Sun Belt Conference.

So far this season, UALR’s Will Neighbour and Arkansas State’s Kirk Van Slyke have put up almost identical statistics. Tonight, they’ll likely see a bunch of each other as UALR travels to the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark., to face Arkansas State.

Check out how close the numbers are for the two 6-10 post players.

Neighbour is averaging 18.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and has 17 blocks and 26 steals. He’s shooting 52 percent from the field, 39 percent from the three-point line and 76 percent from the free throw line.

Van Slyke, a transfer from Houston, is averaging 17.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and has 24 blocks and 13 steals. He shoots 57 percent from the field, 43 percent from the three-point line and 81 percent from the free throw line.

The difference? Neighbour has been to the free throw line 132 times this season to Van Slyke’s 77.
Expect to see a lot of both players. Neighbour averages 31.9 minutes while Van Slyke averages 31.8.

Statistics say these two probably cancel each other out.


BURN UNIT

The last time UALR faced Arkansas State guard Brandon Reed was the 2010 Sun Belt Tournament in Hot Springs. In what turned into an epic game, Arkansas State won 89-82 in overtime. Reed finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds that night. Reed averaged 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in his three meetings with UALR. He then bolted for Georgia Tech before returning this seson.

INJURY REPORT

We don’t know any more about the status of UALR forward James White. He was injured on Jan. 2 at Texas State but was able to play in games against Texas-Arlington, South Alabama, Troy, Western Kentucky and Georgia State. Then he didn’t play Thursday against Texas State.

KING PRIAM’S KEYS

THREES IN THE THIRTIES: Arkansas State is a very good three-point shooting team. UALR struggles to defend the three-pointer.  UALR needs to keep ASU’s trey percentage out of the 40s to have a shot.

ANSWER FOR WASHINGTON: If James White doesn’t play for UALR, who’s going to check Arkansas State’s Kendrick Washington? UALR has to have an answer for him on both ends of the court.

Js FOR JOSH: When Josh Hagins plays well, UALR plays well.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS?


Haven’t seen an updated line yet. But we expect Arkansas State will be a big favorite.

BTH Up Next: UALR (10-9, 5-2) vs. Arkansas State (10-7, 3-3)

TROJANS VS. RED WOLVES

WHEN 7 p.m., Saturday, January 25
WHERE Convocation Center, Jonesboro, Ark.
LAST MEETING UALR 78, ASU 71 (March 2, 2013 at Little Rock)
ALL-TIME SERIES Arkansas State leads 47-29
SERIES STREAK Teams split two meetings last season, but that was unusual. The teams have split the regular season series only six times in the past 13 years.
CLICK TO ENLARGE

BTH Analysis: UALR wins three of four factors; does enough for victory

Playing without Leroy Isler and James White presented some problems UALR had to overcome on Thursday, especially on the offensive end of the court.

Isler ranks fourth in team offensive points scored per minute while White ranks sixth. They were replaced in the lineup by Josh Hagins and Stetson Billings. Hagins ranks third in team offensive points scored per minute while Billings is way down at ninth.

It seemingly should have been a better defensive showing with that lineup in play. Still it was kind of a back and forth offensive shootout for much of the night with UALR coming out on top 69-64.

There were some interesting plus/minus occurrences. Mareik Isom posted a +11 with UALR outscoring Texas State 24-13. UALR beat Texas State in each of the three segments Isom played. That included entering with UALR trailing 17-14 in the first half and exiting with UALR leading 22-19. UALR's 24 points in Isom's 15 minutes translates to 1.6 points per minute, just about at Isom's average. But the 13 points allowed works out to 0.87. That is much better than Isom's1.77 season average.

Will Neighbour's +9 and Kemy Osse's +8 were next best.

UALR also won three of the Four Factors to Winning. The Trojans were better in effective field-goal percentage, turnover percentage and free throw rate. Texas State was better in offensive rebound percentage.


BTH Morning After: Isler misses game after flagrant foul

UALR senior guard Leroy Isler was suspended for Thursday night’s UALR victory over Texas State. UALR Coach Steve Shields said in the postgame that he suspended Isler because he was ejected on Saturday against Georgia State.

UALR’s pregame press release stated: “Head men’s basketball coach Steve Shields has announced senior Leroy Isler will serve a one-game suspension against Texas State tonight at the Jack Stephens Center for the play that resulted in his ejected at Georgia State on Saturday, Jan. 18.”

This was news to us. We weren’t even aware Isler had been officially ejected. Saturday’s official statistics provided by Georgia State don’t indicate an ejection or a flagrant foul. We did a quick Internet search and turned up a couple of references to it. The first was from GSU Web site www.gstvonline.org.

“A scuffle broke-out halfway through the second half that resulted in ULAR’s [SIC] Leroy Isler being rejected [SIC] from the game for spitting gum at one of the Panthers. By the time of publication, officials had not issued a suspension for Isler extending beyond Saturday’s game. Georgia State Athletic Director Cheryl Levick said that a call would be placed to the Sun Belt Conference regarding the incident and possibly seeking a suspension for Isler.”

And on Twitter, @Panther_Report reported that Isler was “ejected from game for elbowing [GSU’s Ryan] Harrow.”

This morning,  BTH confirmed Isler was ejected for a Flagrant 1 foul. This does not require an automatic suspension from the Sun Belt Conference and it doesn’t appear the conference took any official action. The suspension came from UALR.

It’s the second time this year a UALR player has been suspended just before a game. Earlier this year, Josh Hagins suspended for a game after he apparently used profanity in a postgame celebration against Texas-Arlington He ended up missing a Jan. 9 game against South Alabama. That suspension was announced near gametime by UALR Athletic Director Chris Peterson and included quotes from Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson.

Isler, who had started every game up until Thursday, is expected back in the lineup on Saturday against Arkansas State.

BURN UNIT

UALR’s victory allowed the Trojans to remain in second place overall in the Sun Belt Conference behind Georgia State, which improved to 6-0 with a victory at Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday. UALR is now 5-2 in Sun Belt play. Everyone except Georgia State, UALR and Western Kentucky (4-2) has at least two conference losses.

STAT OF THE GAME

UALR made an impressive 19 of 22 free throws on Thursday for 86.4 percent.

TROJAN MAN

Have a game DeVonte Smith. The junior point guard had 17 points, 4 rebounds 2 assists and 0 turnovers in 37 minutes. He made 6 of 6 field goals, including 2 of 2 three-pointers. He also made 3 of 3 free throws and added a key steal late in the game.

INJURY UPDATE

On the postgame show last night, Ray Tucker said J.T. Thomas would have surgery and is out for the season. This hasn’t been confirmed officially by UALR yet. If true, Thomas, a junior this year, could possibly still have two years of eligibility if the NCAA grants him a sixth year. UALR played without James White on Thursday with what was called an ankle injury. White’s status for Saturday’s game at Arkansas State is unknown.

GLASS HALF FULL

One thing is for sure: Gus Leeper can play as many minutes as his ability to stay out of foul trouble will allow. Leeper played 15 minutes before fouling out on Thursday. He finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds and a steal.

GLASS HALF EMPTY

Take away Will Neighbour’s 21 points, Smith’s 17 and Leeper’s 11 and the rest of the UALR roster combined to score just 20 points on 8 of 24 shooting.

KING PRIAM’S KEYS

Threes Below 35: Texas State made just 3 of 15 three-point attempts for 20 percent. Grade: A.

Js For Josh: Josh Hagins had just 6 points in 30 minutes. But he did add 3 assists and 3 blocked shots. Grade: C.

Smash the Glass: UALR has to be cut a little bit of slack with Leroy Isler and James White out of the lineup. Still, the Trojans got out rebounded 30-25, including 10-8 in offensive rebounds. That’s not good enough: Grade: C.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS?

UALR ended up a 4.5-point favorite in Las Vegas and won by 5. That’s a winner.

UP NEXT

UALR travels to Arkansas State on Saturday. ASU was off on Thursday.


Minus starters, UALR holds off Texas State at home

Hours before tipoff, UALR sophomore guard Josh Hagins Tweeted: “No Excuses.” No doubt that was the message delivered by UALR Coach Steve Shields in the pregame on Thursday.

There were none needed.

Playing without three starters, UALR held off Texas State 69-64 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. UALR improves to 10-9 overall and 5-2 in Sun Belt Conference play.

The Trojans played without Leroy Isler, who was suspended before the game after apparently getting ejected in Saturday’s game at Georgia State. UALR was also without James White, who was out with an ankle injury, and J.T.  Thomas, who has been out since the fifth game of the season. Isler, White and Thomas have started every game they’ve appeared in this season.

It forced UALR to play four guards much of the night, piecing together lineups to keep the Trojans in the game. Will Neighbour led UALR with 21 points, making 9 of 11 free throws.

But it was the supporting cast that made the biggest difference. DeVonte Smith scored a career-high 17 points, making 6 of 6 field goals, 2 of 2 three-pointers and 3 of 3 free throws. He also added 4 rebounds a steal and 2 assists without a turnover in his 37 minutes.

And Gus Leeper added 11 points in his 15 minutes of play.

Three-point defense wasn’t an issue with Texas State making just 3 of 15 on the night. But with a lack of size and depth on the inside, the Trojans had issues stoping the Bobcats all night. That turned the game into a back-and-forth shootout.

UALR shot 46.8 percent while Texas State shot 48.9 percent. Texas State held a 30-25 rebound advantage.

The game was tight throughout the first 30 minutes of play before UALR made a run to gain the first breathing room of the night. UALR went with a bigger lineup in the second half, starting both Leeper and Neighbour together.

UALR opened up a 58-52 lead with 5:35 left when Smith hit a three-pointer. Mareik Isom pushed the lead back to 62-54 with a layup with 4:47 left. Neighbour then made two free throws for a 62-54 lead with 3:55 left. That was big because it fouled out Texas State’s Joel Wright.

Smith then put UALR up 65-54 when he stole the ball, scored on a layup and then converted a free throw for the three point play with 2:54 left.

It got a little bit interesting in the final seconds but the Trojans held on.

Who was tonight's UALR player of the game vs. Texas State? Vote here

Who was tonight's UALR player of the game vs. Texas State?












  
pollcode.com free polls 

BTH Live Tweetcast: UALR vs. Texas State updates

UALR hosts Texas State at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jack Stephens Center.

No TV coverage. Radio scheduled for 103.7 The Buzz.

Game Updates as available here.

BTH Predictions: Who will win tonight's UALR vs. Texas State game?

Las Vegas Line: UALR by 5
Omni Rankings: UALR by 3
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The Sports Network: UALR 68, Texas State 60
CBS Sports: UALR 72, Texas State 68
Real Time RPI: UALR 82, Texas State 67
Jeff Sagarin Ratings: UALR 71, Texas State 66

BTH Preview: Three-point defense has to improve for UALR

UALR Coach Steve Shields has had a lot of different types of teams in his time with the Trojans. Different years have featured different strengths and weaknesses. But typically they have a DNA that is easy to recognize.

This year is an exception. UALR’s inability to defend the three-point line is baffling and is one of the major factors still holding this team back. And the Trojans will look to improve in that area when they host Texas State at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

Nationally, teams are making 34.2 percent of their three-point shots. UALR has allowed opponents to shoot higher than 34 percent in 13 of its 18 games played this season.

That’s bad. But even worse is the fact that the problem appears to be getting worse. UALR has allowed opponents to shoot above 40 percent from three-point range in five of its six Sun Belt Conference games. The only exception was South Alabama’s 9 of 34 for 26 percent. It should be noted that USA actually made 5 of its first 6 three-point attempts. No idea what happened after that.

UALR gave up 46 percent to Texas State, 42 percent to Texas-Arlington, 43 percent to Troy, 45 percent to Western Kentucky and 44 percent to Georgia State.

That brings us to tonight. Texas State attempts about 15 three-pointers per game and shoots just under the national average at 33.9 percent. The Bobcats made 5 of 11 in the first meeting with UALR.

Texas State isn’t really that bad a three-point shooting team if you take away the 1 of 24 that Victor Bermudez has put up. Everyone else is shooting a combined 37 percent. Five players are shooting 39 percent or better.

Since basically the same defensive philosophy is being utilized by UALR, it comes down to talent and desire to contest these attempts. If this UALR team is as talented as we believe it can be, this is an area it will have to improve.

BURN UNIT

It doesn’t seem right to be playing Texas State a second time when UALR has yet to face Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe or Arkansas State. But here we are.

INJURY UPDATE

UALR appears to still be without J.T. Thomas. He has an injury that will ultimately require surgery. It’s not known whether or not he can return this season. Complicating matters is the possibility that Thomas could get a medical redshirt. He meets all the criteria except one. That is the fact that he has already used a redshirt year. But it’s not unheard of for a player to get a sixth year of eligibility.

KING PRIAM’S KEYS

Threes below 35: See above. Holding Texas State to no better than the low 30s in three-point shooting percentage is a need.

Js for Josh: This we know for sure: When Josh Hagins plays well, UALR plays well.

Smash the Glass: Texas State has given up 52 more offensive rebounds than it has secured this season. UALR has to hit the glass hard tonight.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS?

UALR is a five-point favorite tonight. The Trojans have only been favored in three previous games this season, beating Jacksonville State and South Alabama and losing to Troy.


BTH Up Next: UALR (9-9, 4-2) vs. Texas State (5-13, 1-4)

TROJANS VS. BOBCATS

WHEN 7 p.m. Thursday, January 23
WHERE Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock
LAST MEETING UALR 63, TSU 59 (Jan. 2 at San Marcos, Texas)
ALL-TIME SERIES UALR leads 4-1
SERIES STREAK UALR has won four straight
RADIO KABZ-FM 103.7
TV None
TWEETCAST www.burnthehorse.blogspot.com
CLICK TO ENLARGE


Sun Belt standings, tournament bracket as of today

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BTH Analysis: Bad start leaves difficult hole for UALR

When you get off to as bad a start as UALR did in Saturday's 99-73 loss at Georgia State, it's difficult for starters' plus/minus numbers to recover.

UALR started with:
  • Turnover by James White
  • Turnover by Will Neighbour
  • Technical Foul on Coach Steve Shields
  • Turnover by Leroy Isler.
It was 9-0 before UALR even attempted a field goal.

And plus/minus season numbers plummeted as a result. Actually, those who finished the game playing garbage time, after Georgia State called off the dogs, won't look so bad. But for a player like Will Neighbour, who started and played most of the meat of the game, it doesn't look pretty.

The Four Factors were interesting because UALR was actually better in free throw rate and offensive rebound percentage. But it didn't matter because Georgia State hammered UALR in the other two. UALR turned the ball over on 27 percent of its possessions. And even though the Trojans shot a nice 48.1 percent in effective field goal percentage, Georgia State shot 64.8 percent.

BTH Morning After: Turnovers, three-point defense doom UALR

Think about this. UALR shot 46.3 percent from the field. UALR made 21 of 23 free throws (91.3 percent). UALR held a 34-26 advantage in rebounds. UALR’s leading scorers James White (23 points, 11 of 13 free throws) AND Will Neighbour (18 points, 7 of 10 field goals) each had really solid games.

And UALR lost. They didn’t just lose. They got their doors blown off from the opening tip.

It came down to two factors – one of which has been a problem, one which hasn’t.

First the one that hasn’t been a major issue: turnovers. UALR had 20 turnovers. UALR was making shots. But there were 20 possessions in which UALR didn’t even get a shot.

The second has been an issue from the start of the season: three-point defense. Opponents have shot 36.8 percent from the three-point line against the Trojans this season. Georgia State shot an amazing 15 of 34 (44.1 percent) on Saturday. Georgia State attempted 34 of its 64 field goal attempts from three-point range. And why not?  When you’re making them at that clip you might has well bomb away.

The bottom line is this. UALR’s offense works. But the Trojans are still struggling on the defensive end.

BURN UNIT

Maybe not the margin or the 30-point halftime deficit, but the margin was predictable.

UALR dropped to 9-9 on the season but is still 4-2 in Sun Belt Conference play and has already played four of its nine conference road games.  With the exception of 5-0 Georgia State, everyone else in the Sun Belt has at least two losses already. And everyone except UALR (4-2), Louisiana-Lafayette (3-2), Western Kentucky (3-2) and Louisiana-Monroe (3-2) has at least three.

Perhaps Georgia State will run away from the rest of the field. But the Panthers still have some significant road tests ahead of them. Regardless, there's no reason to panic yet.

STAT OF THE GAME

20 Turnovers by UALR. No possible way to win with that many give-aways.

TROJAN MAN

Playing before some hometown folks, James White had 23 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. The best part of his night was free throws. After struggling a bit early in the year, White is now making them. He made 11 of 13 free throws on Saturday.

GLASS HALF FULL

Will Neighbour continues to churn out solid offensive nights. And his shot is definitely coming back.

GLASS HALF EMPTY

Even knowing what Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter was going to do, UALR could do nothing with him. Hunter finished with 25 points and made 6 of 10 three-pointers.

KING PRIAM’S KEYS

Rebound, Rebound, Rebound: UALR outrebounded Georgia State 34-26. This wasn’t the problem. Grade: A-.

Defend the three: Georgia State made 15 of 34 three-pointers. Grade: F.

Hagins vs. Harrow: Ryan Harrow had 12 points, 7 assists and only 1 turnover. Josh Hagins had 5 points, 6 assists and 4 turnovers. Grade: D+.

Big Men Big:  Will Neighbour and James White were more than solid. Grade: A-.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS?

Georgia State was a double-digit favorite and had that covered before the first media timeout.

UP NEXT


UALR is back at home Thursday against Texas State.