UALR Trojans Take Down Rival Red Wolves; Sweep the Day

UALR Trojans Defeat Red Wolves 74-67 (Men’s Game)

LITTLE ROCK – Down four at the half, UALR (14-15, 9-8 SBC) limited Arkansas State (17-10, 9-6 SBC) to just 9-of-26 shooting from the floor in the second half to come from behind for a 74-67 win Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center. The UALR Trojans hit 14 of 25 shots and knocked down all 16 free throw attempts over the final 20 minutes.

“I’m proud of our guys. Total team effort,” said head coach Steve Shields following the win. “I thought we played very well tonight (in terms of) moving the basketball. Tonight we made 26 baskets and had 16 assists. I thought we had some guys come off the bench and really step up big.”

In a game that featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes, UALR shot 46.4 percent from the floor, including 56.0 percent (14 of 15) in the second half. Sophomore James White led four Trojans in double figures with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. White added eight rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes. Junior Ben Dillard and freshman Mareik Isom scored 11 each and junior DeVonte Smith added 10 points of 4-of-5 shooting.

Junior Josh Hagins dished out 10 assists on the night, becoming the first UALR player to tally double-digit assists since D’Andre Williams during the 2011-12 season.

Trailing 32-28 at halftime, UALR allowed Arkansas State to extend its lead to 37-30 before the first media timeout of the second half. The Trojans cut their deficit to three on consecutive buckets by White, then tied the game on a triple by Dillard with 13:34 to play.

“We didn’t play very well in the second half,” said A-State head coach John Brady.  “They (UALR) were tougher than we were down the stretch and we couldn’t hit a shot when we needed to.  This was the first time on the road that we didn’t really shoot the ball well.

“We have to get better and have three big conference games at home this upcoming week.  We need to bounce back from this and get ready for them,” added Brady.

The Trojans took their first lead since the 6:00 mark of the first half on a layup by Smith that made it 39-38 with 12:39 remaining. The game featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes over the next seven minutes, with UALR eventually going up for good on a jumper by White with 5:11 to play that made it 57-56.

The Trojans stretched their lead to three on free throws by Dillard, then to five on a jumper by Stetson Billings. ASU climbed back within two on two separate occasions, the last coming on three free throws by Kirk Van Slyke that made it 61-59 with 3:57 to go.

UALR went back up five on a three-point play by Dillard, and the Red Wolves came up empty on two 3-point tries on the other end. Junior Gus Leeper knocked down a pair of free throws to get the Trojans’ cushion to seven. A transition finish by Billings following an ASU turnover made it 70-61 with 1:20 to go.

The Trojans went up 74-65 on a couple free throws by senior Leroy Isler. ASU’s Ed Townsel made two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to bring the game to its 74-67 final.

Golden led the Red Wolves with 15 points on the night, including a 3-of-6 effort from long range. Brandon Reed scored 13 on 4-of-7 shooting and Kendrick Washington scored 11 points.

UALR ended the night with a 35-27 edge on the glass, including 11-7 in offensive rebounding. The Trojans led 28-16 in points in the paint and 14-4 in second-chance points.

UALR will close its regular season Saturday, March 8 against ULM at the Jack Stephens Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

UALR Trojans Women’s Game: Trojans Win – 64-55

After losing by more than 30 at archrival Arkansas State’s building in January, the UALR women’s basketball team was ready to show it was no pushover on Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

The Trojans did that, and then some.

Thanks to a first-half burst that gave UALR a double-digit lead, the Trojans leapt on the Red Wolves and never relented for a 64-55 victory on their home court.

UALR (15-11, 10-6 Sun Belt Conference) prevented Arkansas State (18-10, 12-4) from clinching the conference’s regular-season championship with the win, and it owes the victory largely to defense. UALR forces the Red Wolves to shoot just 34.8 percent in the first half, blocked five total ASU shots and forced A-State into 16 turnovers. Following a season-high 86 points allowed at Troy on Wednesday night, UALR cut that by more than 30 on Saturday.

The Trojans remain in a tie for third place in the conference with Texas State with both teams having two games remaining. Saturday was UALR’s ninth straight win over Arkansas State at home, and the Red Wolves have never won a game at the Jack Stephens Center.

“Little Rock came out and hit us pretty hard in the first half on both ends of the floor and it just felt like we were in a battle all night,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “We struggled offensively early on and we couldn’t to find any type of consistency on the offensive end and as a result it put us behind on the defensive end.”

Sophomore Shanity James had a stellar outing on offense, scoring a season-high 19 points and coming up one short of her career high. James – who also got four rebounds and a block – was aggressive going to the basket all night and made five of her six attempts from the free throw line.

Also playing well was senior Taylor Ford, who had 15 points to go along with three assists in 38 minutes. And freshman Di’Mond Jackson had the best night of her career, getting the start and proving herself with a career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. She also led all players with five assists.

The Red Wolves got the better of the early part of the second half, scoring the period’s first four points and converting easy looks on their first five possessions after the Trojans started the period with an 11-point lead. The UALR advantage narrowed to 38-35 at the 13:30 mark, but the Trojans started scoring after that.

James scored four consecutive points, freshman Kaitlyn Pratt added a free throw, and James scored another layup to make it an eight-point lead. Ford drained a jumper to balloon UALR’s lead at 47-37.

After that, UALR never led by fewer than six again. The Red Wolves got that close late in the game as the Trojans missed the front end of consecutive 1-and-1 plays, but another Ford jumper with 1:59 left put UALR up by 11 and in the lead comfortably.

Also contributing to the UALR offense was Kiera Clark, who tallied eight points, four rebounds and two assists. Taylor Gault had four points in just seven minutes, two of them coming on late free throws to keep UALR ahead. And senior Hannah Fohne was strong on the defensive end, pulling down five rebounds and blocking two shots to extend her school record in that category to 109. Pratt pulled down the 100th rebound of her young career in the game as she finished with three.

The contest was really won in the first half as UALR piled on A-State early. Despite allowing 36 points in the first half at Troy on Wednesday, UALR only gave up 23 to the league-leading Red Wolves.

Things were close in the early going, but with the Trojans already ahead 12-10 with 12 minutes left in the half, they started a 14-0 run that spanned nearly six minutes and extended the lead to 26-10. The Trojans drew offensive fouls, blocked four Arkansas State fouls and got points from everywhere on the court during the run.

The Red Wolves responded with five consecutive points after that, but a layup from Ford while she was getting fouled put the momentum back on UALR’s side. The Trojans maintained their lead for the rest of the half, going into the break ahead 34-23.

UALR has a quick turnaround before its next game as it faces Georgia State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Trojans by two points in their building back in January.