The UALR and Arkansas State men’s basketball teams are used to being closely connected in the Sun Belt Conference standings.
The teams have split the season series each of the past two seasons and entered the Sun Belt Tournament separated by one game both years.
UALR men vs. Arkansas State
WHEN 7:30 p.m. today
WHERE Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock
RECORDS UALR 10-15, 5-10 Sun Belt; Arkansas State 9-14, 4-10
SERIES ASU leads 49-31
TICKETS $7 for end-of-court bleacher seating, $11 for children on 200 level, $13 for 200 level, $115 for coaches’ row seating.
RADIO KHLR-FM, 106.7, in Little Rock; KFINFM, 107.9, in Jonesboro
INTERNET ualrtrojans.com
TEAM COMPARISON
UALR ASU 69.0 Points for 63.8 70.7 Points against 68.2 -1.9 Rebound margin -2.1 +2.7 Turnover margin -1.3 41.4 FG pct. 40.6 33.3 3-pt. pct.FT. 32.9 70.1 pct.FT pct. 70.0
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
UALR
POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G J.T. Thomas, 6-1, Jr. 5.8 1.9 G James Reid, 6-3, Jr. 7.7 2.3 G Jerron Washington, 6-4, Jr. 0.6 1.0 F Maurius Hill, 6-5, So. 5.4 4.1 F Andre Brown, 6-6, Jr. 0.4 1.2 COACH Steve Shields (189-175 in 12th season at UALR and overall)
AKRANSAS STATE
POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Cameron Golden, 6-0, Jr. 14.2 3.0 G Sean Gardner, 6-5, Jr. 13.0 3.7 G C.J. Foster, 6-3, So. 2.6 1.2 F Anthony Livingston, 6-8, So. 14.6 9.4 F Nouhoum Bocoum, 6-10, Jr. 6.5 4.6 COACH John Brady (108-105 in seventh season at ASU, 389-321 in 23rd season overall)
CHALK TALK ASU is 4-1 when holding Sun Belt teams to less than 40 percent shooting from the field. … UALR’s James Reid scored a season-high 23 points in Saturday’s loss and is averaging 15.7 points in his past three games. … ASU’s Anthony Livingston had 16 points and 16 rebounds in a Feb. 12 loss at Georgia Southern. … UALR has won six of the series’ past seven games played in Little Rock, including the past three.
loss at then-No. 2 Connecticut. … The Gamecocks have nine SEC victories by 18 or more points.
They’re just as close this year with only a half-game separating the teams heading into tonight’s 7:30 p.m. rematch at the Jack Stephens Center with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season.
“We’ve got something to play for,” ASU Coach John Brady said.
While that’s true, the prize in the latest installment of the in-state rivalry isn’t what either coach had in mind.
ASU (9-14, 4-10) enters tonight’s game trying to snap a four-game losing streak, while UALR (10-15, 5-10) is coming off an overtime loss to Georgia Southern in which it led by nine points with less than five minutes remaining.
In a season that has featured more disappointments than triumphs for both teams, tonight’s game marks the start of one last push toward avoiding what neither program has done — fail to reach the conference tournament.
UALR and ASU join Troy and Texas State in a group separated by one game fighting for the final two spots in the conference tournament. No bid to the Sun Belt Tournament will be handed out tonight, but the winner will make a bit more progress toward emerging from the pack.
“There’s a sense of urgency for both teams,” Shields said. “It’s time. This is a big week for us.”
That is similar to what both coaches said prior to their Jan. 29 meeting in Jonesboro.
At that point ASU and UALR were ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Sun Belt standings. UALR jumped ASU when guard Josh Hagins scored a career-high 28 points in a 75-65 victory, but UALR is 2-3 since and its spot in the standings hasn’t improved much.
If the tournament started today, UALR would get the eighth and final seed to the conference tournament and ASU wouldn’t reach the postseason. ASU needs to win four more games, whether in the regular season or in the league tournament, to avoid its worst season under Brady.
“I’m not pleased at all about where our team is and what it’s done,” Brady said. “Not in any way shape or form. Of all the teams I’ve coached, it’s been as difficult a season as I’ve had.”
ASU’s issues have mostly been with generating points. The Red Wolves are ninth in the Sun Belt in scoring (63.8 points per game) and fieldgoal percentage (40.6). They have three players averaging 13.0 points or more per game, but no other player averages more than 6.5 per game.
“I think we have good players,” Brady said. “We just haven’t been able to put it together.”
UALR received a bit of good news Monday when point guard J.T. Thomas was cleared for practice after hitting his head on the floor during Saturday’s loss to Georgia Southern. Thomas started 19 games this year, and his return will help balance out a season-ending injury to forward James White and the departure of guard DeVonte Smith.
A full cast of players will be essential for UALR to finish a season sweep of ASU for just the third time since Shields became head coach in 2003. UALR also will need to play a cleaner game than it did in Jonesboro, even if it uses a press to create a barrage of second-half turnovers to win.
Shields said he’s hesitant to use the 1-3-1 press UALR used in its victory over ASU because of ASU’s possible familiarity. So, Shields said, tonight’s key will be to play tougher man-to-man defense early in the game and avoid falling into an early hole like the team did in its first meeting with ASU.
Consistent defense has been the Trojans’ biggest issue this year. They are ninth in the Sun Belt in scoring defense (70.7 points allowed per game) and 10th in fieldgoal percentage defense (44.5 percent).
“We have to be more sound,” Shields said. “I thought they were very comfortable early in the game. We have to come with a better mind-set than we had to start the game up there.”