23 Feb 2022 Bears battle ASUN East leader before falling
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Bears battled the best of the ASUN East Division evenly for much of the night Monday before falling 85-66 at the Farris Center.
The Bears (9-18, 6-8) led for much of the first half before falling behind by two at halftime. UCA then opened the second half with a 15-7 run to grab a 47-41 lead five minutes into the second half. But the Flames (20-9, 11-3), one of the top three-point shooting teams in the conference, eventually found their range from the perimeter and pulled away for the victory.
Liberty finished 10 of 24 (41.7%) from beyond the arc, with the league’s leading scorer Darius McGhee going 6 for 16. He finished with 34 points but had to take 27 shots to get that total. UCA was more balanced, with four players in double figures, led by sophomore guard Collin Cooper with 17 points. Cooper made 4 of 9 from three-point range and added 3 assists and 2 steals.
In the opening six minutes of the game, Cooper connected twice from three-point range and Eddy Kayouloud added another, giving UCA an early 13-7 lead. It turned into an 11-3 run for the home team, but Liberty quicky answered, scoring 12 consecutive points to go up 23-17 and lead for the remainder of the half.
UCA held McGhee to 10 points — 4 of 12 from the field — in the first half. Cooper topped him with 11 points.
“Defensively in the first half, we did what we set out to do,’ said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. “They shot a good percentage but we turned them over quite a bit. And I think we started the second half, we had some pretty good energy, but after that I think we just looked a little worn down and we couldn’t keep up the defensive intensity. And they adjusted because they stopped passing the ball so much and just started getting it to McGhee coming off ball screens and had made something happen. Of course, he can get downhill quickly and he can shoot from about 40 feet out as we saw.”
UCA senior forward Jared Chatham followed up his 36-point performance with 16 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Junior forward Eddy Kayouloud and freshman guard Camren Hunter added 12 points each, with Hunter dishing out a career-high 8 of UCA’s 14 assists.
Liberty shot 61% from the field in the second half and made 7 of 15 from beyond the arc. UCA finished 7 of 22 from three-point range, with Kayouloud going 2 for 4.
“Eddy was pretty effective against McGhee,’ said Boone, “and there were times when Jared was very effective against him also. And I think that may have surprised them a little bit. Jared does a pretty good job of keeping guards in front of him, and he’s pretty long so he’s hard to shoot over. And that was our key, we wanted to keep size on him as much as we could.”
Cooper, from Fayetteville, had his best scoring game since he had 18 points against Florida Gulf Coast.
“If we can get Coop continuing like this, having confidence, shooting the ball that well, and as we get everybody back, I wouldn’t want to play us,” said Boone.
UCA hits the road for a quick turnaround, taking on North Alabama at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Florence, Ala. UCA closes the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Lipscomb, the team they are battling for third place in the ASUN West Division. The Bears are already assured of hosting a first-round game in next week’s ASUN Tournament, facing either a No. 5 or No. 6 from the East on Tuesday night at the Farris Center.
