17 Jan 2024 UCA plays Lipscomb in Nashville tonight

Posted at 7:45 PMh in Sports by

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Bears will try to make it two in a row Thursday when they take on the Lipscomb Bisons at 7 p.m. at Allen Arena.

The Bears (6-15, 2-1) knocked off Bellarmine 59-57 last Saturday at the Farris Center to move above .500 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. That puts them in a tie for fourth place with their next opponent. The Bisons are 11-7 overall and 2-1 in league play after a 91-77 win at home over Austin Peay on Saturday.

The Bisons have won four of their past five games, including a 78-75 win at Florida State on Dec. 30 in Tallahassee, Fla. Lipscomb also lost 69-66 at Arkansas earlier in December. The Bisons’ other conference victory was over Bellarmine, following a loss at Eastern Kentucky.

UCA’s results are similar in league play, with a loss to EKU and a win over Bellarmine. UCA’s first conference victory came at North Alabama.

The Bisons have won the last two meetings with the Bears, including the sole matchup last season in Conway. Lipscomb outscored UCA 48-36 in the second half to break a 45-45 halftime time. UCA’s Eddy Kayouloud led all scorers with 29 points. UCA was 13 of 13 at the free-throw line and made 10 three-pointers.

The teams have met four times, with the first coming way back in the 1990 NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. UCA then won the first meeting as ASUN teams in 2022, taking a 93-88 victory at the Farris Center.

Lipscomb has the No. 3 scoring offense in the ASUN, averaging 80.7 points per game, as well as the No. 3 scorer in Derrin Boyd (17.1 ppg), a graduate transfer from Georgetown College. UCA has the second-leading rebounder in the league in sophomore Glory Etim, who averages 8.6 rebounds per game, with a high of 16 at Eastern Illinois.

The game will also feature the past two ASUN Newcomers of the Week. UCA freshman Tucker Anderson won the award last week and Lipscomb’s Dylan Faulkner won it on Tuesday. Anderson is UCA’s leading scorer at 14.2 points per game and ranks 13th in the conference. He is also ranked fourth in three-point percentage (39.2 percent) and fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.6).

Faulker is No. 2 in the conference in blocked shots (1.6 per game) and Etim is fourth (1.4).

The game will be carried live on ESPN+ and on 92.7 Jack FM.