ARLINGTON, Texas _ Poor free-throw shooting, a season-long problem for the University of Central Arkansas Bears, proved to be their downfall once again on Monday in a 93-70 loss to the UT Arlington Mavericks at Texas Hall in a game delayed from Saturday because of winter weather.
UCA made only 16 of 35 attempts (45.7 percent) from the line, while UTA connected on 24 of 31 (77.4 percent). The Mavericks (11-10, 5-3), who moved into a first-place tie in the Southland Conference West Division, also dominated inside, scoring 58 of their points in the paint compared to 20 for the Bears. The Mavericks shot 66.7 percent from the field in both halves, finishing a solid 34 of 51.
“The free-throw shooting is something that is very disappointing,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “We take the time to get free-throw work in in practice, and put them in game-type situations. But to come out here and not knock down free throws is very disappointing. And it hurt us tonight.’
The Bears (5-17, 1-8) shot a respectable 52 percent from the field in the first half and still found themselves down by five points at halftime to the hot-shooting Mavericks. UTA shot 66.7 percent from the field and also made 10 of 13 (76.9 percent) from the free-throw line. The Bears led several times early in the half, including a 24-23 lead on Mike Pouncy’s driving layup with 7:50 to play.
But the Mavs put together a 14-3 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 37-27. UCA stopped that spurt with Imad Qahwash’s three-pointer but Bradley Gay answered with a three-pointer for the Mavs for a 40-30 lead with 3:45 remaining. From that point, UCA outscored UTA 8-3 the remainder of the half and did not allow a field goal in the final 3:45 to trail 43-38 at the break.
“We made the run and were able to cut it to five, and felt pretty good about it,’ said Williamson. “Then we came out and tied it up early in the second half, But then we started turning the ball over. We turned it over entirely too much in the second half, and that gave them an opportunity to take control of the game.
“We talked about it at the beginning of the game, let’s limit our unforced turnovers. Then tonight we had way too many unforced turnovers.’
The Bears tied the game at 45-45 on a three-pointer by Qahwash with 17:40 remaining, then took what would be their last lead, 50-49, on Dewan Clayborn’s three. From there, the Mavs began to routinely break the UCA press and score on layups. A 12-3 run put UTA up 66-57 before the Bears got back to within four at 67-63 on Pouncy’s jumper from the top.
The Mavericks then pushed the lead to as much as 23 points in the final eight minutes. UTA got 21 pionts from Gay, and 15 points inside from 6-foot-10 sophomore center Jordan Reves. Three other players scored in double figures for the Mavs, who also outrebounded the Bears 38-25.
“You look at our scouting report, and UTA shoots the ball well from the outside,’ said Williamson. “That’s what we expected from them. But they were able to take us off the dribble tonight and they played smart. They knew they could take us off the dribble and they ended up only shooting seven threes in this game. They just beat us inside all night.
“(Reves) had 15 points and their other big man had 10. And our bigs only combined for 13, and that’s if you throw Tadre (Sheppard) in there. We told them we didn’t want the big guy to hurt us and that’s exactly what happened. We didn’t do a good job and they did a great job of finding the man inside and they scored.’
Qahwash, a senior from Kitchener, Ontario, topped the Bears with 19 points, hitting 4 of 6 from three-point range, while Pouncy, from nearby Cedar Hill, Texas, had 17 points.
UCA has a quick turnaround with a home matchup against West co-leader Texas State on Wednesday. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.
