To Darrell Walker, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men's basketball team is better now than Jan. 19.
When the Trojans lost 82-73 at the University of Texas-Arlington a month ago, UALR was in the middle of a five-game losing streak and sinking.
Texas-Arlington has since continued to rise. The Mavericks (12-12, 8-3), who will visit the Jack Stephens Center at 6:30 p.m. today, are sitting in a tie for first place with Texas State at 8-3.
The Mavericks have won three in a row over Texas State, Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.
"They're playing well," said Walker, UALR's coach. "Texas-Arlington just plays very hard. They defend you. They get after you. I know we can play better than we did down in Arlington. We are a much better team than we were a month ago."
Texas-Arlington's stop in Little Rock is the first leg of the league leaders visiting UALR. Texas State will face the Trojans on Saturday.
UALR will try to disrupt the conference's hottest teams with a weakened version of itself. Freshman guard Markquis Nowell (ankle) and sophomore guard Jaizec Lottie (hand) are each expected to miss today's game because of injuries, Walker said.
Lottie, who visited a specialist Wednesday to confirm the severity of his reinjured hand, found out the injury will not require surgery. A timetable for his recovery was set at 10-12 days, contingent on how quickly his range of motion returns, Walker said.
"He's a perimeter guy that can push the basketball and defend," Walker said. "Jaizec does some things that sometimes you don't recognize. He pushes the hell out of that basketball. He can defend. He runs the court. We'll miss that a lot, to be honest about it."
Lottie suffered a broken finger Dec. 19 in UALR's loss at Memphis and was initially ruled out for six weeks. Three games and more than two weeks after fracturing the finger, Lottie returned Jan. 10 and played in eight consecutive games.
UALR (9-15, 4-7) went 2-0 at Troy and South Alabama last week to complete its first sweep of a Sun Belt road trip since the 2015-16 season. Lottie did not play in UALR's 73-68 victory at South Alabama.
The Trojans do have positive health-related news: Junior reserve guard Ryan Pippins returned from an eight-game absence, which began Jan. 10 because of an ankle injury, and recorded one rebound in five minutes Saturday.
Pippins' return will help alleviate UALR's dearth of healthy guards, specifically at point guard.
If Nowell, who is second on the Trojans with 12.7 points per game, is unable to play, Pippins will help handle point guard duties with redshirt junior guards Rayjon Tucker and Deondre Burns. Burns is expected to make his first start of the season today, Walker said.
"Markquis' ankle is getting better," Walker said, "but I don't know if he's going to play or not. Pip looked a lot better [Tuesday]."
Another showdown
The UALR women (14-8, 10-1) will begin a three-game road trip at 7 p.m. today against Texas-Arlington at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. Texas-Arlington (18-5, 10-2) and UALR are the Sun Belt's only two clubs with 10 victories.
Behind 37 combined points from junior guard Kyra Collier and senior forward Ronjanae DeGray, UALR defeated Texas-Arlington 68-65 on Jan. 19 at the Jack Stephens Center.
A win for UALR today would clinch the season series against the Mavericks and remove a tiebreaker from factoring into Sun Belt Tournament seeding.
"Every game now for the top teams is huge," UALR Coach Joe Foley said after UALR's eighth consecutive victory Saturday against South Alabama. "You've fought halfway through the season, and there's still a lot left."
The Mavericks, whose six-game winning streak trails only UALR's eight-game winning streak in the conference, has not lost since their three-point defeat in Little Rock.
Today’s game
TEXAS-ARLINGTON AT UALR
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Jack Stephens Center,
Little Rock
RECORDS Texas-Arlington 12-12, 8-3 Sun Belt Conference; UALR 9-15, 4-7
Sports on 02/14/2019