BASKETBALL
UALR men picked second, ASU 10th
Fresh off a 30-victory season that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the UALR men's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference in a poll of league coaches released Wednesday.
The Trojans, who return three of their top five scorers and four players who averaged 15 minutes per game or more, earned one first-place vote and 124 points in Wednesday's poll. The Trojans were picked well behind preseason league favorite Texas-Arlington, which earned 10 of the 12 first place votes and 140 points.
Georgia State earned the other first-place vote and was selected to finish third followed by Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina, South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, Arkansas State, Appalachian State and Texas State.
ASU, with new Coach Grant McCasland and nine new players, was picked where it finished last season.
UALR guard Marcus Johnson Jr., who averaged 12.5 points per game and made 46.6 percent of his three-pointers, was named first-team All-Sun Belt. So was ASU's Devin Carter, who averaged 17.3 points per game last season.
Texas-Arlington forward Kevin Hervey was named Sun Belt preseason player of the year. Hervey was averaging 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds through 16 games before he suffered a season-ending knee injury. He is among the Mavericks' top six returning scorers from last year's team that went 24-11
East Central (Okla.) tabbed GAC favorite
The East Central (Okla.) men's basketball team earned seven of the 12 first-place votes and was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Great American Conference by a poll of league coaches released Wednesday.
The Tigers went 22-8 overall and 17-5 in the GAC last season, tying Harding for the conference championship.
Ouachita Baptist earned two first-place votes and was picked second, while Harding earned one first-place vote and finished third in polling. Southern Nazarene earned the final two first-place votes and was picked fourth, followed by Southern Arkansas, Arkansas Tech, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Henderson State, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Baptist and Arkansas-Monticello.
Harding selected to win women's title
The Harding women's basketball team earned six first-place vote to edge Arkansas Tech as the preseason favorite to win the Great American Conference in a poll of league coaches released Wednesday.
Harding went 17-10 overall and 15-7 in the GAC last season, finishing second behind Arkansas Tech. But Harding earned 116 points in the preseason poll, while Arkansas Tech earned four first-place votes and 112 points. Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central (Okla.) each earned a first-place vote and were chosen fifth and sixth, respectively. Southwestern Oklahoma State was picked third and Oklahoma Baptist fourth.
Southern Arkansas was the seventh pick, followed by Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist, Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma State.
Sports on 10/20/2016