Darrell Walker asked for fewer turnovers.
On Tuesday night, his team obliged.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock men's basketball coach also wanted a 40-minute defensive performance from the Trojans against Miles College, a Division II school located near Birmingham, Ala., from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
He got that, too.
The Trojans defeated the Golden Bears 67-47 in their final home game of 2018 at the Jack Stephens Center. UALR's 20-point victory ended a two-game losing streak inside its home arena.
"Yeah, for sure, this was a big push for us," said UALR freshman center Nikola Maric, who finished with 16 points, his most since a season-high 20 on Nov. 24. "We had two losses straight. This is going to help us."
The Trojans committed 11 turnovers, more than five fewer than their average of 16.1 per game. Miles College's 47 points were the fewest UALR has allowed in a game this season.
"It's good to get a win. There's no secret about that," Walker said. "You feel good. You feel better about yourself. But I told my team with about a minute left, 'Hey, man. We're going to have some gut-check practices coming up. We need to get better. We need to improve.' They understand we've got a lot of work to do."
UALR guard Rayjon Tucker, the team's leading scorer at 20.8 points entering Tuesday, finished with 18 points, his 10th consecutive game in double-figure scoring. Tucker also snagged a season-high 12 rebounds.
The Trojans (5-6) held the Golden Bears (4-4) to 20.6 percent shooting (7 of 34) in the second half. They allowed Miles College to score 20 points in the final 20 minutes. Twenty points were the fewest UALR has given up in a second half in 11 games.
UALR collected four blocks and three turnovers from the Golden Bears in the opening 4:30 of the final half. The Trojans, which outscored Miles College 34-20 in the second half, opened the half on a 15-2 burst and never let their guard down.
The Trojans finished with a season-high eight blocks -- all of which they swatted in the second half.
"They came out in the second half and they got after it," Walker said. "I challenged my guys to have another good defensive effort in the second half, and they did. They came out. We were aggressive. We attacked those guys."
UALR pummelled the Golden Bears' interior defense for 38 points near the rim. The Trojans shot 43.1 percent from the field (25 of 58) and went 13 for 16 from the free-throw line.
UALR starting point guard Jaizec Lottie left the game in the second half with cramps, Walker said. Lottie, who contributed 8 points and 5 assists in 23 minutes, did not leave UALR's bench minutes after the game ended and was seen writhing in pain well after the final buzzer.
"I don't know. I don't think it's anything major," Walker said. "Hopefully, it's just cramps. But we'll see."
Up next
UALR MEN AT MEMPHIS
WHEN 7 p.m. Dec. 19
WHERE FedEx Forum, Memphis
RECORDS UALR 5-6, Memphis 5-4
UALR men (5-6)
DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT
Nov. 8 SE Oklahoma St. W, 101-92 (OT)
Nov. 13 at Tennessee State W, 83-67
Nov. 16 at Nevada# L, 87-59
Nov. 19 at Tulsa# L, 88-78
Nov. 23 Howard# W, 97-76
Nov. 24 UAPB# L, 75-66
Nov. 28 at Central Arkansas L, 78-65
Dec. 1 Sam Houston State W, 79-52
Dec. 4 Bradley L, 68-62
Dec. 8 Central Arkansas L, 85-82
Dec. 11 Miles College W, 67-47
Dec. 19 at Memphis 7 p.m.
Dec. 22 at Georgetown 11 a.m.
Jan. 3 at La.-Monroe* 7 p.m.
Jan. 5 at La.-Lafayette* 7 p.m.
Jan. 10 Troy* 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 12 South Alabama* 3 p.m.
Jan. 17 at Texas State* 7 p.m.
Jan. 19 at Texas-Arlington* 2 p.m.
Jan. 24 Coastal Carolina* 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 26 Appalachian State* 3 p.m.
Feb. 2 Arkansas State* 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 7 at Troy* 6 p.m.
Feb. 9 at South Alabama* 3:05 p.m.
Feb. 14 Texas-Arlington* 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 16 Texas State* 3 p.m.
Feb. 23 at Arkansas State* 7 p.m.
Feb. 28 at Georgia Southern* 6 p.m.
Mar. 2 at Georgia State* noon
Mar. 7 La.-Lafayette* 6:30 p.m.
Mar. 9 La.-Monroe* 3 p.m.
Mar. 11-16 at SBC Tournament, New Orleans
*Sun Belt game
#Las Vegas Holiday Classic game
Sports on 12/12/2018