One team saw it coming, for the other it came virtually out of nowhere.
No matter how it happened, the task for the Arkansas State and UALR men's basketball teams is the same -- win four games in four days to snag the Sun Belt Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Fifth-seeded ASU and 1oth-seeded University of Arkansas at Little Rock both play in the Sun Belt Tournament today at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
The Red Wolves (20-11) play No. 12 Louisiana-Monroe at 2 p.m., and the Trojans (15-16) will play No. 7 Louisiana-Lafayette at 5 p.m.
ASU went from being a No. 2 seed to No. 5 after losing to South Alabama on a last-second three-pointer last Saturday night in Mobile.
"I don't think anybody anticipated this being our scenario," ASU Coach Grant McCasland said.
UALR has had an inkling for weeks that it would be playing on the first day in the 12-team tournament.
But ASU, which started 9-2 in the Sun Belt before losing five of its last seven games, was among the league's contenders until the final week.
The Red Wolves entered the final day of the regular reason with a chance for the No. 2 seed, which would have earned them a first-round bye and extra day's rest.
Instead, ASU lost on a last-second three and found itself tangled in a three-way tie for third place with Texas State and Georgia Southern.
ASU lost to both of those teams in the regular season, meaning it fell to the No. 5 seed.
McCasland, ASU's first-year coach, said he has liked how his team has responded from stumbles this season en route to tying the program mark for most regular-season victories.
Three other times this season ASU has lost consecutive games, but each time has won to prevent the losing streak from getting to three games.
McCasland has lost three games in a row once in eight seasons as a head coach at the junior college, Division II and Division I levels.
"We've always responded all year long," he said. "Everybody got a chance to air out some things and maybe if you don't do it that way then you're not able to play well in the tournament."
The Trojans have been outside the top four -- and a first-round bye -- since losing three of their first four conference games.
But Coach Wes Flanigan said he thinks his Trojans, falling short of duplicating last season's program-best success, have finally started to playing quality basketball, winning back-to-back games against Georgia Southern and South Alabama before losing to Troy last Saturday.
The common thread in the final three games is a level of defense that Flanigan said hadn't occurred most of the season. None of UALR's final three opponents scored more than 57 points and all three shot under 42 percent from the floor, providing the Trojans' shaky offense an opportunity.
"It's a grind-it-out time of year, and that's what it's going to be every possession and that's what we're trying to get our guys to understand," Flanigan said.
Louisiana-Lafayette, UALR's first-round opponent, will challenge the Trojans' improved defense more than almost anyone else could.
The Ragin' Cajuns averaged 79.1 points and shot 46.1 percent against Sun Belt opponents. They were seemingly at their best against the Trojans, shooting 56.6 percent in a 69-52 victory Jan. 2 in Little Rock and 61.7 percent in an 88-82 victory on Jan. 28 in Lafayette, La.
But Flanigan noted that the second of those losses came without forward Lis Shoshi, who was suffering with a toe injury. Shoshi's is "nearing 100 percent," Flanigan said, a progress that coincides wit the Trojans' improved defense.
"We've got to be physical," Flanigan said. "That's part of it with these guys."
Physicality, McCasland said, is also a desire for his ASU team that faces the same reality.
"It's win or go home for a lot of teams, especially at our level," Flanigan said. "We're not a team that's going to get an at-large bid. I don't know if anybody in our league will. So we've got to execute better than we have in the regular season and play our best basketball."
ASU men vs. Louisiana-Monroe
WHAT Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tournament WHEN 2 p.m. Central today WHERE Lakefront Arena, New Orleans RECORDS Arkansas State 20-11; Louisiana-Monroe 8-23 RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
ARKANSAS STATE POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Donte Thomas, 6-4, Sr. 8.2 4.5 G Rashad Lindsey, 5-11, Jr. 10.6 2.9 G Devin Carter, 6-4, Sr. 16.7 3.6 G C.J. Foster, 6-2, Jr. 4.8 2.3 F Jamiah Simmons, 6-4, Fr. 6.6 5.0 COACH Grant McCasland (20-11 in fi rst season at ASU, 218-54 in eighth season overall) LOUISIANA-MONROE POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Prince Cooper, 6-4, Sr. 3.9 1.7 G Nick Coppola, 5-11, Sr. 9.7 3.1 G Marcus Washington, 6-2, Sr. 8.2 3.8 F Travis Munnings, 6-6, So. 13.1 8.0 C Sam Alabakis, 6-11, Fr. 3.0 2.5 COACH Keith Richard (76-141 in seventh season at Louisiana-Monroe, 226-258 overall in 16th season)
TEAM COMPARISON
ASU ULM 73.4 Points for 66.9 69.0 Points against 69.9 +2.8 Rebound margin +0.9 +0.1 Turnover margin -1.9 46.0 FG pct. 42.6 38.2 3-pt. pct. 33.8 64.4 FT pct. 66.6 CHALK TALK Arkansas State finished the season by dropping three of four games, including a 73-70 loss on the road to South Alabama on Saturday. A victory would have allowed the Red Wolves to capture the No. 2 seed and a bye. Instead, they settled for the No. 5 seed without a bye. … The Red Wolves beat Louisiana-Monroe 76-45 on Jan. 2 and 73-63 on Jan. 28. … ASU senior guard Devin Carter was named second team All-Sun Belt Conference on Monday. He led the conference in three-pointers made (101) and three-point field goal percentage (40.7) while ranking fifth in scoring at 16.6 ppg.
— Jason Yates
UALR men vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
WHAT Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tournament WHEN 5 p.m. Central today WHERE Lakefront Arena, New Orleans RECORDS UALR 15-16; Louisiana-Lafayette 20-11 RADIO KKPT-FM, 94.1, in Little Rock INTERNET ESPN3
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
UALR POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Deondre Burns, 6-2, So. 7.0 1.5 G Kemy Osse, 6-1, Sr. 9.0 3.2 F Stetson Billings, 6-5, Sr. 4.2 2.3 F Maurius Hill, 6-5, Sr. 8.9 5.3 F Lis Shoshi, 6-11, Sr. 8.9 6.5 COACH Wes Flanigan (15-16 in fi rst season at UALR and overall) LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Frank Bartley, 6-3, Jr. 15.9 4.4 G Johnathan Stove, 6-4, Jr. 8.8 4.0 G Jay Wright, 6-1, Sr. 15.6 2.5 F Justin Miller, 6-7, Fr. 11.1 5.3 F Bryce Washington, 6-6, Jr. 13.5 11.5 COACH Bob Marlin (127-103 in seventh season at Louisiana-Lafayette, 475-269 in 24th season overall)
TEAM COMPARISON
UALR ULL 68.3 Points for 82.3 68.0 Points against 76.2 +0.7 Rebound margin +6.7 +0.5 Turnover margin +1.6 44.2 FG pct. 47.0 34.8 3-pt. pct. 35.2 74.0 FT pct. 68.6 CHALK TALK UALR dropped its regular-season fi nale at Troy on Saturday. The loss dropped the Trojans to the No. 10 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. … Senior guard Kemy Osse matched a season-high 20 points Saturday for UALR. He made 6 of 12 shots, including 4 of 10 from three-point range. … The Trojans were swept by the Ragin’ Cajuns this season. Louisiana-Lafayette won 69-52 on Jan. 2 at the Jack Stephens Center, then won 88-82 at home Jan. 28. … After starting the conference season 4-8, the Ragin’ Cajuns have won six in a row. They defeated regular-season champion Texas-Arlington 83-81 on Saturday.
— Jason Yates
Sun Belt Conference
Men’s Tournament
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans
FIRST ROUND
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Coastal Carolina vs. South Alabama, 11:30 a.m.
Arkansas State vs. Louisiana-Monroe, 2 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette vs. UALR, 5 p.m.
Troy vs. Appalachian State, 7:30 p.m.
QUARTERFINALS
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Texas-Arlington vs. Coastal Carolina-South Alabama winner, 11:30 a.m.
Texas State vs. Arkansas State-Louisiana-Monroe winner, 2 p.m. Georgia State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette-UALR winner, 5 p.m.
Georgia Southern vs. Troy-Appalachian State winner, 7:30 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Texas-Arlington-Coastal Carolina-South Alabama winner vs. Texas State-Arkansas State-Louisiana-Monroe winner, 11:30 a.m. Georgia State-Louisiana-Lafayette-UALR winner vs. Georgia Southern-Troy-Appalachian State winner, 2 p.m
FINAL
SUNDAY’S GAME
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.
Sports on 03/08/2017