BEAUMONT, Texas _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears played a tough non-conference schedule over the past two months to get ready for their “second season,” which begins Saturday.
The Bears (5-7) open Southland Conference play at 3:30 Saturday against the talented and athletic Lamar Cardinals at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas. The Cardinals (10-5, 1-0) are in their first season under the direction of Coach Pat Knight, son of legendary college coach Bobby Knight.
“We had some success there for a stretch in our non-conference schedule,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “Of course, we struggled early and again late. But we stepped up our competition quite a bit over the last few weeks.
“So now it’s good to get back to more of our own level, where we as a team competitively. Looking at how we competed against the teams on our level in the non-conference schedule, I think we’ll have an opportunity to make some noise in the conference if we can get back to playing that way.’
The Bears are coming off a big loss at No. 19 UNLV on Dec. 28 and have strung together four losses after a five-game winning streak in late November and early December. The Bears showed some early fight against the Runnin’ Rebels, leading 11-6, before the home team got hot from the perimeter and knocked down an unbelievable 18 three-point shots.
“We definitely weren’t intimidated early,’ said Williamson. “We came out and tried to take it to them and our guys really played with some fire and some intensity. Of course, we ran into a buzzsaw. It seemed like they didn’t miss any shots at all and kind of took us out of it with their pressure. But I thought our guys continued to compete and fight throughout the game, and that’s what we’re looking for.’
The Bears will be playing Saturday without two players, one starter, who are indefinitely suspended for breaking teams rules. Senior guard Mark Rutledge and freshman guard Darius Singleton will miss at least the Lamar game. Rutledge, a returning starter, has started all 12 games this season and is averaging 9.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
The Bears are near the top in the SLC rankings in several categories and near the bottom in a couple more. UCA is fourth in scoring offense (75.5 ppg), second in rebounding (40.0), second in assists (14.7) and fifth in field-goal percentage. However, the Bears are seventh in three-point percentage _ up from last a month ago _ at 30.1 percent, last in free-throw percentage (56.1 percent) and last in scoring defense (86.8 ppg).
“I think playing the tough schedule we did gives our guys a realistic view of where we are as a team,’ said Williamson. “It helps our coaching staff when you play against different styles, some of which are similar to what we face in our conference, only with better personnel. It gives us an opportunity to really gauge ourselves and see if we can compete with those teams.
“You know you’re rarely going to win those games, but you want to see if your guys are going to compete. And in turn, you hope that playing against that kind of competition and learning how to compete against that caliber of team, it will help prepare you for conference.’
Lamar opened Southland play Wednesday with a 74-58 road victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which is 1-12 overall. Two-time SLC Player of the Week Mike James, a senior guard, led the Cardinals with 31 points. James leads Lamar in scoring with a 15.9-point average, followed by senior guards Anthony Miles (13.8) and Devon Lamb (10.5).
James is third in the SLC in scoring, while Miles is eighth. Miles leads the league in assists (3.9) and and Lamb is second in steals and third in rebounding. Miles is third in three-point accuracy (44.1 percent).
“We know they’re a tough matchup,’ said Williamson. “If you look at their personnel, they have some tough matchups. With the new coach, Coach (Pat) Knight, I think he’s done a great job of bringing some structure and discipline to that program that, in turn, has them playing at a different level now. Even when they stepped up in competition during the preseason, they were very competitive, they played within themselves and made it tough for those teams to beat them.
“I think they are probably the favorite to win our league right now.’
Williamson said the start to conference play will be similar to the way the Bears started off non-conference play, on the road at powerhouse Stanford.
“This is how we started off our regular season, on the road against a very talented team,’ he said. “Hopefuly that will pay off for us in conference time. Hopefully we’ll understand what we’re going to be up against, on the road against quality teams. We’ve been there already.’
UCA returns home to the Farris Center next Wednesday for a Southland TV matchup with Stephen F. Austin.
