State Division I report

Kilbert's focus on coaching

Arkansas State Coach John Brady said his team’s limited bench leaves him wondering if he should rest his players or work them harder.
Arkansas State Coach John Brady said his team’s limited bench leaves him wondering if he should rest his players or work them harder.

Blurry vision led Arkansas-Pine Bluff women's basketball Coach Nate Kilbert to an optometrist appointment last month. What the doctor said cost him two games on the bench with his Lady Lions, but likely saved the sight in his right eye.

"He told me if I didn't have emergency surgery that day I'd lose my eye," Kilbert said. "It would just shrivel up like a grape and I wouldn't be able to see out of it."

Kilbert had eye surgery in Little Rock on Dec. 31 to repair a detached retina. He spent the next 10 days not coaching UAPB (4-10, 2-1) through practices or its first two Southwestern Athletic Conference games.

The decision to stay away from the team for a 65-47 home victory over Mississippi Valley State on Jan. 3 was on doctor's orders, but he was cleared to return for a Jan. 10 loss to Alabama State. Because he said he still didn't feel right, he sat out one more game.

Assistant coach Danny Evans, who was UAPB's head coach in 2005-2009, led the team through the first two SWAC games. Evans still controlled the bulk of the duties when Kilbert returned to the bench for Monday's overtime victory over Alabama A&M.

Kilbert said he'll be back to his full duties when UAPB plays at Southern on Saturday, as the Lady Lions try to continue their best start in SWAC play since 2007.

"When I'm not there, the flow is going to keep going," Kilbert said. "[Evans] has a great knowledge of what he's doing. It's a blessing to have him."

ARKANSAS STATE MEN

Rest on the way

Arkansas State Coach John Brady understands a limited bench might wear on his thin roster at some point this season, but he won't voluntarily pass that along to his players.

"I can't go down that road," Brady said. "What we are is what we are and what we have is what we have."

ASU (6-8, 1-4) has lost four consecutive games while falling to a tie with UALR for last place in the Sun Belt standings. One reason for the skid could be the heavy load Brady has placed on his four best players: Cameron Golden, Anthony Livingston, Sean Gardner and P.J. Hardwick, all of whom average at least 33.8 minutes per game to rank among the top eight in the Sun Belt.

Golden (36.7), Livingston (35.0), Gardner (34.9) and Hardwick (33.8) have been asked to carry a heavy load for the Red Wolves. Brady wouldn't use that as an excuse for his team's field-goal percentage dropping from 44.5 percent during nonconference games to 38.0 in five Sun Belt games.

Brady did say he'll make an effort to use his bench more, which he did in Saturday's loss at Texas-Arlington in which minutes for Golden (31), Livingston (30), Hardwick (29) and Gardner (27) were all lower than their season averages.

"I tried to play more guys Saturday," Brady said. "The last couple of games, they just looked dead to me, didn't have that energy level. As a coach, do you need to work them harder, or rest them?"

UALR MEN

Hill nearing return -- again

UALR Coach Steve Shields said forward Maurius Hill should return for Saturday's game at Louisiana-Monroe, a positive sign for the sophomore during a season in which he's struggled to shake a knee bruise/injury.

Hill hasn't played since a Jan. 3 loss at Georgia State, but Shields said he returned to practice Monday and should be in line to play Saturday. Hill, who is averaging 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, missed the season opener, then games against Kent State and Wisconsin-Green Bay, before the most recent three for the same reason.

Shield said an MRI has shown no structural damage, so Hill's return is based on his tolerance to pain.

"My take on it was, and I'm not an expert, let's hold him out until he feels right to go," Shields said. "There was a time he was in and out. Let's see if we can get him back completely."

Sports on 01/15/2015

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