15 Dec 2020 UCA battles Razorbacks for first time in 73 years
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The final score was not overly significant Saturday night but the game itself certainly was.
The undefeated Arkansas Razorbacks used a solid second half to down the University of Central Arkansas Bears 100-75 at Bud Walton Arena for their sixth consecutive victory. But the historic importance of the game ran a lot deeper than that.
The Bears (0-4), playing their fourth consecutive road game, were facing the Razorbacks for the first time in 73 years after Arkansas relaxed its policy against playing in-state schools. And UCA, a decided underdog, for much of the first half and was within six points with 9:45 remaining in the game before the Razorbacks pulled away.
The last time UCA and Arkansas met on the basketball court was in 1947. The Bears had played a Who’s Who of major college basketball programs since moving to NCAA Division I in 2006-07, but never the Razorbacks … until Saturday.
“This was a great opportunity for UCA and for the basketball program, the community and the entire state,” said Anthony Boone, UCA head coach and a native Arkansan from West Helena. “And it was also great that we were able to compete as well as we did for as long as we did. It shows the growth of our program and, hopefully, we’ll continue to take steps to continue that growth.
“Our guys were OK with their effort. They were upset with how it ended and, again, that shows maturity, too, because we’ve played a lot of games that we’ve had no chance to win. And for 30-35 minutes we did have a chance in this game. And our guys were upset. So, we’re thankful for the opportunity, but we’re still hungry.”
The Bears came out strong and held the Razorbacks scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and jumped out to a 6-0 lead on driving baskets by Samson George, Khaleem Bennett and Jared Chatham. Arkansas got on the board with a three-pointer by Jalen Tate but UCA held its lead at 10-7 at the first media time out with 15:13 to play.
An alley-oop dunk by S.K. Shittu on a feed from senior point guard DeAndre Jones made it a 19-12 advantage for the Bears with 12:11 remaining and forced an Arkansas time out. The Bears then connected on three three-pointers over a four-minute span – two by Jones – to hold their lead at 25-16 midway through the half. But the Razorbacks turned up the defensive pressure and put together a 20-3 to grab their first lead of the game at the 7:36 mark.
That lead reached a high of 10 points at 38-28, thanks to a 3:30 scoring drought by the Bears, which was finally broken by Chatham’s slam dunk with 3:00 remaining. Jones nailed his third three-pointer from the top of the key to get UCA within 38-33 before Desi Sills got a three-point play for the Razorbacks. Chatham scored again for the Bears to set the halftime deficit at 41-35.
The Bears outshot the Razorbacks in the first half, hitting 46.9 percent to Arkansas’ 44.7 percent. UCA was 5 of 13 from three-point range, with Jones going 3 of 5 while handing-out four assists. Seven different players scored for the Bears, led by Jones with 9.
“Part of that is we’ve already played some really good competition,” Boone said of UCA’s solid first-half performance against a talented Southeastern Conference team. “And we have some pretty mature guys. Rylan and D.J. have been through a lot of battles. Jared and S.K., they have battled. And they provide pretty good leadership.”
The Razorbacks, who are just on the outskirts of the Top 25, got rolling early in the second half and pushed their lead out to as much as 14 points before the Bears put together one more run. A three-pointer by Eddy Kayouloud, followed by a slam dunk and another three-pointer by sophomore Jaxson Baker, got the Bears within 64-58.
But from there, the Razorbacks put the game away, outscoring the Bears 36-17 the rest of the way.
UCA had four players in double figures, with Jonea and Bergersen scoring 13 apiece. Chatham, a senior from Los Angeles, had his second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Shittu scored a season-high 11 points with a perfect shooting night — 4 of 4 from the field, 1 of 1 from three-point range, 2 of 2 at the free-throw line — and pulled down eight rebounds. Jones had a team-high with 7 assists.
The Bears shot 46.9 percent from the field and won the rebound battle (37-35) for the fourth straight game against a team that was outrebounding its opponents by 14.2 rebounds per game. UCA also cut down its turnovers from an average of 24.5 in the first four games to just 14 on Saturday, with just five in the second half.
“We played really well for the first 10 or 12 minutes,” Boone said. “And then we just kind of limped into halftime. And then in the second half, we never got into a rhythm. And we stopped doing the things we did in the first half that got us a lead. Our defense was pretty good starting out and then we just kind of played flat from that point on.
“We did rebound well and I was proud of the guys for that. But we had some guys step up off the bench and play well. S.K. had a great game, he was very focused on what he needed to be doing. Defensively, he rebounded well, he made some good shots around the basket. He just played really well.
“Everyone did a pretty good job, particularly on the offensive end.”
Submitted by Steve East, Assoc. AD/Media Relations, UCA
