When Isaiah Palermo committed his fifth foul with 28 seconds left in double overtime Saturday afternoon, University of Arkansas-Little Rock Coach Darrell Walker had no other choice.
With seven players injured and four of the Trojans' healthy players disqualified, Terrell Curtis II yanked off his black warmup shirt and headed to the scorer's table. The walk-on from Maumelle who'd played just 35 minutes all season was going to get the most meaningful minutes of his four-year college career.
Curtis made the most of them.
With a corner three-pointer and clutch third-chance layup in triple overtime, Curtis helped UALR hold off Texas-Arlington in a nearly three-hour 98-96 thriller at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans coughed up a lead that was as large as 17 points in the second half -- with Carson Bischoff shooting the Mavericks back into the game -- and were unable to convert on chances to win the game at the end of regulation, overtime and double overtime.
Texas-Arlington nearly sent the game to a fourth overtime when David Azore was fouled attempting a three-pointer with two seconds left, but Azore missed two of three at the line and the Mavericks' last-second shot bounced off the rim.
"Even going down to me, it's next man up," Curtis said. "The last person had to come up and step in, and Coach [Walker] made sure that everybody was ready to play."
UALR (7-9, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference) had certainly hoped to land the plane in regulation and earn a split over three days against Texas State and Texas-Arlington, leading by 16 with nine minutes remaining. Bischoff then canned two three-pointers in less than 90 seconds, pulling Texas-Arlington within 60-50 at the 5:57 mark of regulation.
The Mavericks kept the heat on the Trojans, chipping away at UALR's lead until Bischoff tied things at 66-66 on another three-pointer with 2:02 left. And when David Azore, who scored a game-high 37 points, converted a three-point play with 1:11 remaining, it appeared as if Texas-Arlington might complete the comeback.
But Myron Gardner knocked down a tough jumper in response to make it 69-68 for the Mavericks then drew a foul the next trip down for the Trojans, going 1 of 2 at the line to send things to overtime.
That was when UALR's D.J. Smith took control. The freshman scored 13 of his career-high 27 points over the three overtime periods, hitting on both of his three-point tries as he finished 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Walker started Smith at point guard in 10 of UALR's first 13 games but benched him two weeks ago, hoping the North Little Rock alumnus would benefit from a different perspective. After scoring 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting Thursday against Texas State, Smith turned in his best outing at the most opportune of times.
"He's made some really good leaps," Walker said of Smith. "I let him sit for a while and just marinate and basically become a coach. ... When you're a point guard, you really are a coach on the floor. I thought he directed the offense pretty well, made big plays and big shots. He was big for us."
The Trojans led by as many as four points in the first overtime and five in the second, but Azore and Bischoff willed the Mavs back.
They couldn't do it again in the third overtime after Curtis' layup put UALR ahead 95-91 with 51 seconds left, as the shorthanded Trojans were finally able to celebrate after the final Texas-Arlington misses.
"Wins bring teams closer together all the time," Smith said. "I could feel us coming closer together. We were battling out there with each other and then when the horn went off, everybody was excited for each other."
Texas-Arlington;M;FG;FT;O-R;PF;A;PTS
Akobundu-Ehiogu;11;0-0;0-0;1-1;0;0;0
Levi;44;2-5;0-2;0-5;2;7;4
Azore;49;10-25;17-21;0-5;4;3;37
Elame;25;1-4;0-0;0-0;3;0;2
Mwamba;46;3-10;0-0;1-6;5;1;7
Bischoff;30;9-11;0-0;1-4;0;0;27
Talbot;5;0-0;0-0;0-1;0;0;0
Hoiberg;12;0-1;0-0;0-0;2;0;0
Rojas;29;3-6;6-9;8-13;4;0;12
Wilson;11;2-4;1-2;2-3;3;0;5
Young Jr.;12;1-2;0-2;2-2;0;0;2
Team;;;;2-5;;;
Totals;200;31-68;24-36;17-45;23;11;96
PCT — FG 45.6, FT 66.7. 3-PT — 10-24, 41.7 (Bischoff 9-11, Mwamba 1-5, Hoiberg 0-1, Young Jr. 0-1, Levi 0-2, Azore 0-4). BL — 4 (Rojas 3). TO — 19 (Elame 4, Rojas 4). ST — 6 (Levi 4).
UALR;M;FG;FT;O-R;PF;A;PTS
Palermo;46;5-16;3-5;4-5;5;3;14
White;37;3-8;2-2;0-3;5;7;11
Jefferson;10;2-3;0-0;0-1;5;0;6
Gardner;46;3-6;2-4;0-3;5;5;10
Osawe;40;5-12;5-6;1-5;1;1;15
Smith;45;8-12;6-9;0-4;4;2;27
Stulic;37;3-8;2-2;0-4;3;2;10
Besovic;8;0-0;0-0;2-2;2;1;0
Curtis;5;2-2;0-0;0-1;1;0;5
Team;;;;3-7;;;
Totals;200;31-67;20-28;10-35;31;21;98
PCT — FG 46.3, FT 71.4. 3-PT — 16-31, 51.6 (Smith 5-6, White 3-5, Jefferson 2-2, Gardner 2-3, Stulic 2-5, Curtis II 1-1, Palermo 1-4, Osawe 0-5). BL — 3 (Gardner, Osawe, Stulic). TO — 15 (Smith 5). ST — 5 (Palermo 3).
Texas-Arlington;26;43;6;11;10—96
UALR;35;34;6;11;12—98
Officials — Carrion, Gammon, Ramnanan
Attendance — 1,910
University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Myron Gardner (center) attempts to shoot between Texas-Arlington’s Nicholas Elame (left) and Nicolas Elame during the first half Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. Gardner had 10 points and five assists in UA LR’s 98-96 triple overtime victory. See more photos at arkansasonline.com/132ualruta. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)Gallery: University of Texas Arlington at UALR
