Pennell excited Bears found way to tourney

Former UCA Coach Russ Pennell is shown in this file photo.
Former UCA Coach Russ Pennell is shown in this file photo.

Weeks ago, the University of Central Arkansas' men's basketball team was in real trouble.

The Bears lost seven games in a row from Jan. 26 to Feb. 23. Unless UCA (13-18, 8-10) had some sort of awakening, the postseason looked improbable.

UCA won three of its last four regular-season games, including a win-and-you're-in 70-63 victory Saturday at Northwestern State, which sent UCA to the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas, and knocked the Demons out.

"Three years in a row you get to go to Katy," UCA Coach Russ Pennell said after Saturday's victory. "And this one is really sweet because we were dead in the water a couple of weeks ago. But they just didn't give in and they just kept battling."

The Bears earned the No. 7 seed in the Southland Tournament and will take on No. 6 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14-17, 9-9) at 7:30 p.m. today at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of UCA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will face No. 3 seed Southeastern Louisiana at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"Everyone is 0-0," Pennell said.

It has been more than two months since the Bears and Texas-A&M-Corpus Christi met. To open Southland play, the Islanders defeated the Bears 87-75 on Jan. 2 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

"It's been a while since we've played them," Pennell said. "I think we're both better teams now than we were then."

Pennell remembered the first half against the Islanders. UCA fell into a 42-34 hole at halftime and trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half.

UCA put together a 41-point second half, and tied the game with 8:19 remaining.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot 23 more free throws than the Bears, and went 27 for 35 from the free-throw line. UCA made 15 of 31 three-pointers, which was the most UCA made in a single game this season.

The Islanders finished the regular season winning their final three games.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which is 7-1 vs. UCA in the past eight games, and UCA have never met in the Southland Tournament.

UCA men vs. Texas A&M-CC

WHAT Southland Conference Tournament

WHEN 7:30 p.m. Central today

WHERE Merrell Center, Katy, Texas

RECORDS UCA 13-18, 8-10 Southland Conference; Texas A&M-CC 14-17, 9-9

SERIES Texas A&M-CC leads 13-2.

RADIO KUCA-FM, 91.3, in Conway

INTERNET ESPN-Plus

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

UCA

POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG

G DeAndre Jones, 5-11, So. 12.5 3.8

G Thatch Unruh, 6-5, Sr. 12.4 3.8

F Eddy Kayouloud, 6-7, Fr. 9.6 5.0

F Tanner Schmit, 6-8, Sr. 5.2 2.3

C Hayden Koval, 7-0, So. 12.3 6.0

COACH Russ Pennell (46-107 in his fifth season at UCA, 140-165 in 11th season overall)

TEXAS A&M-CC

POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG

G Kareem South, 6-2, Jr. 14.1 5.2

G Jashawn Talton, 6-1, So. 8.9 5.0

G Emmanuel Toney, 6-2, Sr. 7.9 3.4

G Jake Babic, 6-5, Sr. 5.0 2.7

F Elijah Schmidt, 6-8, Jr. 6.2 5.5

COACH Willis Wilson (124-131 in eighth season at Texas A&M-CC, 342-378 overall in 24th season)

TEAM COMPARISON

UCA Texas A&M-CC

72.4 Points for 66.9

76.3 Points against 66.2

-2.6 Rebound margin +3.7

-1.4 Turnover margin -0.3

42.7 FG pct. 43.3

35.3 3-pt pct. 32.9

72.4 FT pct. 69.2

CHALK TALK The winner of No. 7 seed UCA and No. 6 seed Texas A&M-CC will advance to play No. 3 seed Southeastern Louisiana at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Merrell Center. ... Texas A&M-CC defeated UCA 87-75 on Jan. 2.

Sports on 03/13/2019

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