LITTLE ROCK — Steve Shields has said more than once that his UALR men’s basketball team won’t have a dominant offensive player.
The Trojans didn’t need one Saturday.
Five UALR players scored at least 10 points each and every player who played scored in its 88-76 victory over Florida International in front of an announced crowd of 3,318 at the Jack Stephens Center.
“That’s massive,” junior Will Neighbour said. “If everyone is scoring, they’re not going to key on one guy.”
Neighbour and sophomore forward Michael Javes each had a team-high 15 points, three others scored at least 10, and the Trojans (11-8, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) shot a season-high 59.2 percent from the floor while improving to 10-1 at home.
James White scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, Ben Dillard added 11 and Josh Hagins had 10 points and seven assists. Five players scored during a game-changing 23-3 run over 5:47 in the first half that turned UALR’s 13-8 deficit into a 31-16 lead with 8:00 left.
At one point in the first half, UALR had made 12 of 15 shots from the floor and was 12 of 12 from the free throw line and led 51-36 going into halftime.
“There have been some games where we struggled to score 51 points in a game, much less a half,” Shields said. “I think it goes back to our guys sharing the basketball and not caring who gets the credit.”
For much of the first half, almost everything went to Javes, who entered Saturday averaging 5.1 points before scoring a career-high 15. He scored the first nine points of UALR’s lengthy run that began with 13:47 left in the first half and had 13 points by halftime.
“I brought my offense for this game,” Javes said. “We played really hard on offense, and I tried to do my best. ... Everything I do in practice, I’ve got to do in the game and show what I can do.”
The run also included a layup by Josh Hagins off a steal, a three-pointer by Kemy Osse and a technical foul called on FIU Coach Richard Pitino for arguing a foul drawn by UALR’s Taggart Lockhart.
“They just punched us in the mouth and we didn’t really react the way we should have,” Pitino said.
UALR committed 15 turnovers in the first half against FIU’s pressure defense, something that has given the Trojans fits this season. But when they got the ball across the half court line, it was UALR’s best offensive half of the season. And that was done while still missing a guard.Freshman guard John Gillon missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
But the Trojans, who finished with 21 turnovers, also had season highs in assists (21) and made free throws (24 of 28).
They extended the lead to as much as 61-41 on Neighbour’s put back off a missed dunk by White in the second half, but FIU (8-8, 3-4) - which had won four consecutive games before Saturday - rallied to pull within 82-72 with 3:58 left.
UALR didn’t let FIU get any closer while grabbing sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt West Division after Arkansas State’s loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.
Now the Trojans’ focus is on how to transfer their past three halves - UALR outscored North Texas 40-21 in the second half of Thursday’s victory - to a pair of road games next week at Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.
UALR has one victory away from the Jack Stephens Center this season and has yet to win on an opponent’s home floor.
“We’ve got to start thinking about getting a road win,” Neighbour said. “Just keep playing how we’re playing, and if we keep fighting we’ll be fine.”
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 61, ARKANSAS STATE 56
LAFAYETTE, La. - Arkansas State got within five points after trailing by 12 in the second half, but couldn’t get any closer in losing its second consecutive game.
The Red Wolves (10-7, 4-4 Sun Belt Conference), who had won four consecutive before losing to Florida International on Thursday, trailed 42-30 with 13:36 left in the game, but got within 60-56 in the final minute.
ASU then missed its final three shots as Louisiana-Lafayette (7-12, 3-5) finished the victory, knocking the Red Wolves out of a tie atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division.
Trey Finn had 15 points for ASU, while Cameron Golden had 13 and Raeford Worsham had 12.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
UALR 88, Fla. International 76 Middle Tennessee 66, La.-Monroe 57 North Texas 66, South Alabama 56 Florida Atlantic 65, W. Kentucky 62 La.-Lafayette 61, Arkansas State 56
Sports, Pages 21 on 01/13/2013