UALR started Saturday night with a full cast of players for the first time in two weeks - but it didn’t end that way.
UALR lost 75-71 to Texas-Arlington as Reger Dowell and Jamel Outler combined to make eight three-pointers in front of 3,861 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
The Trojans (12-15, 7-8 Sun Belt) lost for the fifth consecutive time, limiting their chances of earning a first-round bye into next month’s Sun Belt Tournament.
Making matters even worse for UALR was the way leading scorer Will Neigbhour left the game just more than four minutes into the second half.
Neighbour, a senior forward who was averaging a team-high 16.7 points, was playing for the first time since a Feb. 8 loss to Western Kentucky because of a sprained right ankle. But Neighbour crashed to the floor, clutching his left shoulder, after following Leroy Isler’s miss with a left-handed dunk to cut Texas Arlington’s lead to 53-38 with 15:55 to play.
Neighbour, who played half of his sophomore season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder before having surgery, was helped off the court and didn’t return after scoring eight points and grabbing two rebounds. Neighbour was taken to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences during the game, but Coach Steve Shields said afterward he had not received an update about the severity of the injury.
The Trojans came back after Neighbour went down. DeVonte Smith, who had 12 points, made a three-pointer from the wing and then Josh Hagins’ jumper got UALR within 55-45 with 14:03 left.
Two baskets by Hagins helped UALR outscore Texas-Arlington 8-0, and after Ben Dillard’s steal at half court and easy layup, UALR was within 60-55 with 8:21 left.
The Trojans made it 61-58 on a Gus Leeper basket inside with 6:40 left, then 63-60 on two Mareik Isom free throws with 3:01 left.
UALR left Jamel Outler alone in the corner for an open three-pointer that made it 66-60.
The Trojans’ five-game losing streak to Sun Belt foes is their longest since the 2009-2010 season, and UALR dropped from fifth to sixth in the conference standings, swapping spots with Texas Arlington (12-4, 7-7). The Trojans trail third-place team Arkansas State by 2 1/2 games with three conference games to play. ASU and Louisiana-Lafayette each have four conference games remaining.
“Nobody is going to give you anything,” Shields said. “You’ve got to take stuff and that’s got to be our mentality. I feel certain that we will [bounce back]. There’s no quit in that locker room.”
Shields said he encouraged by the way the Trojans rallied to within three points four times in the final seven minutes after trailing by 15 and losing Neighbour.
“I thought you saw a very resilient group tonight, a very together group,” Shields said.
Texas-Arlington played most of the first half without its leading scorer, Dowell, who was in foul trouble, but Outler made 3 of 8 three-pointers while scoring 14 points in his place.
Outler finished 5 of 10 from three-point range and 21 points, while Brandon Edwards scored 17 and Dowell had 15 on 3 of 5 three-point shooting.
Outler and Dowell were held to 21 combined points when the teams met Jan. 4 in Arlington, Texas, a 72-70 UALR victory.
The Mavericks made 5 of 12 threes in that game but made 10 of 24 on Saturday.
“Sometimes we hit shots, sometimes we don’t,” Texas-Arlington Coach Scott Cross said, doling out praise to Outler. “He played with a lot of confidence.”
Edwards, Dowell and Outler each made three-pointers as the Mavericks outscored the Trojans 11-0 to start the second half to open a 50-36 advantage with 17:31 left.
Hagins, who had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, said it was especially difficult to see Neighbour go down the way he did.
“He was playing good, and, ironically, he gets hurt on a championship play,” Hagins said. “We’ll see what happens, we’ll see where he’s at and if he’s good to play, we’ll bring him back. If he’s not, we’re just going to have to find a way.”
ARKANSAS STATE 73, TEXAS STATE 68
Ed Townsel scored 20 points and Cameron Golden made the go-ahead jumper to lead Arkansas State (16-9, 9-5 Sun Belt Conference) to a victory over Texas State (8-19, 4-10) at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
Melvin Johnson III scored 17 points. Kirk Van Slyke finished with 14, while Golden and Kendrick Washington had 10 apiece for the Red Wolves, who shot 52 percent from the field and have won five of their past six games.
SATURDAY’S GAMES Arkansas State 73, Texas State 68 Texas-Arlington 75, UALR 71 W. Kentucky 72, La.-Monroe 63 South Alabama 86, Troy 78 Georgia State 80, La.-Lafayette 77
Sports, Pages 32 on 02/23/2014