UALR went inside to build a lead. Arkansas State chipped back by shooting from the outside, and the game was evened on the free-throw line.
But it wasn't until Deven Simms shot-faked and found an inch of room underneath for a basket off an inbound play that ASU was able to close out a 77-72 come-from-behind victory in front of a season-high crowd of 5,191 on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
The easy basket past UALR forward Oliver Black finished ASU's comeback from a 14-point first-half deficit, and also snapped a two game losing skid and a string of five consecutive losses at the Stephens Center.
"I couldn't be more proud of how they responded in the second half," ASU Coach Grant McCasland said. "It says a lot about the toughness of this group, and how hard they've worked. And I thought we got this win based off what we did on the defensive end."
Defense kept ASU (12-6, 3-2 Sun Belt) in it, when it held UALR (11-7, 2-3) to 38.1 percent shooting in the second half after it shot 63.0 percent in the first half in which the Trojans led 43-31. But Devin Carter's two three pointers and another from Donte Thomas provided the Red Wolves with a spark in the first three minutes of the second half before free throws from Thomas, Carter and Simms in the final five minutes kept them hanging around.
Simms' basket underneath with 1:08 left was the back-breaker. Black's block of Rashad Lindsey's shot went over ASU's bench and out of bounds, leaving just two seconds on the shot clock. But Simms, standing near the free-throw line, took a pass from Thomas, made shot-faked, dribbled once toward the basket and converted the layup.
"Did exactly what we drew up," McCasland said.
"Huge play," UALR Coach Wes Flanigan said. "With the clock winding down, it took an unbelievable amount of composure."
Simms said coaches in the huddle during the timeout were ensuring him he'd have enough time to make a play.
"That's enough time to take one dribble and try to get to the rim," Simms said.
It was enough to cap a second half in which ASU shot 52.0 percent and outscored UALR 46-29. Carter had 28 points for the game, and Simms added 22. Thomas scored all 12 of his points in the second half, starting with a three-pointer two minutes in that made it 46-39. Carter followed with another three-pointer to get ASU within 46-42 three minutes into the half, prompting a UALR timeout.
"It gave us the extra push," Carter said. "Instead of guys feeling like we should give up and the game is over, it got guys right back in the game and ready to win."
After a Ben Marcus basket with 7:06 left gave UALR a 65-60 lead, the Trojans made just one other basket, a Black layup that made it 74-72 with 44 seconds left. The Trojans were "complacent with the ball," Johnson said, as they committed five turnovers in the last 6:28 as the Red Wolves closed the final gap.
"We've got to execute a little bit down the stretch," Flanigan said. "That's on both ends of the floor. We couldn't get a stop when we needed one. It's been kind of a deal we've had all year."
UALR played without senior forward Lis Shoshi for the first time this season because of a toe injury. Black made his first start in his place and scored 4 points and had 3 rebounds. Ben Marcus scored 12 points in 17 minutes while filling in inside.
"We missed him tonight," Flanigan said. "We know that."
UALR built its lead by playing one of its cleanest halves of the season. The Trojans made 17 of 27 shots as Johnson scored 12 points and Maurius Hill had 10 in the first half. They led 18-9 after a Johnson three-point play eight minutes into the game and 43-29 in the final minute after Hill's basket inside.
Carter and Thomas shot ASU back into the game, and 16 of 19 free-throw shooting in the second half helped close the gap as ASU left the Stephens Center with a victory for the first time in six years, a fact McCasland reminded his team about leading up to Saturday night.
"I like doing things that we haven't done before," McCasland said. "That's part of the fun, too. So, to tell them 'Hey you guys haven't won here in awhile,' that's part of the formula for getting them to understand that winning is important."
Sports on 01/15/2017