Nebraska-Omaha had an answer for anything Central Arkansas tried Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center in Conway.
Center John Karhoff scored 28 points and the Mavericks made 11 of 22 shots from behind the three-point line in a 104-88 victory over UCA.
Karhoff, a 6-8, 235-pound senior, made 10 of 13 shots from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line as the Mavericks shot 52.9 percent (36 of 68) from the field, including 50 percent (11 of 22) from behind the three-point line, and 87.5 percent (21 of 24) from the free-throw line. Senior Justin Simmons made of 4 of 7 three-point attempts and finished with 18 points for Omaha.
“We knew they were a pretty good team coming in,” UCA Coach Clarence Finley. “They played Minnesota well. They played UNLV well. Just a very solid basketball team. The little point guard was very quick. The big man did his post work early. We tried to match him, but we couldn’t get around to front him. We didn’t take him off his sweet spot. We tried to double him, but other people were making shots.
“It was just a tough day for us defensively.’’
Senior LaQuentin Miles scored 28 points and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, nearly half of UCA’s team total of 34. Senior DeShone McClure added 21 points, including 3 of 6 from behind the three-point line.
The Bears (2-8) shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and for the game but made only 18 of 29 (62.1percent) from the free-throw line, their second consecutive game where free-throw shooting cost them.
“Free throws got us again,” Finley said. “We made some early in the game, but then down the stretch when we had to have them, we made one or two here or there.”
The Bears trailed by nine points at halftime before cutting the deficit to 63-61 on Jalen Jackson’s steal and layup with 12:23 to play. Omaha pushed its lead back to 13 points, and UCA made one last run with Miles getting consecutive fast-break dunks and Jackson making 1 of 2 at the line to pull UCA within 91-84 with 3:20 to play.
But the Mavericks went back to Karhoff, who scored seven consecutive points over the final two minutes to put the game out of reach.
Jackson added 15 points for the Bears, who dropped their fifth consecutive game.
Sports, Pages 29 on 12/29/2013