CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears return home to the Farris Center to face UT Martin on Wednesday night, which may or may not be a good thing.
The Bears and Skyhawks have met five times since renewing their series in 2007, and the home team has never won. UCA is 3-2 over the past five meetings, but 0-2 at the Farris Center.
“We need to try to change that this year,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson, who saw his team win 75-68 a year ago at the Elam Center in Martin, Tenn. “We have to figure out how to defend our home court.’
The Bears are coming off a 74-72 road victory at Eastern Illinois last Wednesday, a game that came down the final shot. Junior transfer DeShone McClure hit a rebound jumper as time expired to give the Bears (2-3) the victory. A video review by the game officials confirmed the win.
“That was a big shot for DeShone to hit,’ said Williamson. “He had missed two attempts in the final seconds of our loss to Sacramento State, so it was good to see him get that one to go. It was a big road win for our team.’
UCA’s last two losses, to Arkansas State and Sacramento State both at home, were by 1 and 3 points, with both coming down to the final seconds. After Wednesday, the Bears will play three consecutive road games, including stops at Oklahoma State and a game against Mississippi State in Jackson, Miss.
The Bears are second in the Southland Conference in scoring at 77.2 points per game and second in rebounding. The most surprising statistic might be three-point shooting, where UCA leads the league at 40.6 percent and has three players ranked in the top 10. The Bears shot just 30 percent and finished eighth in the league a year ago.
Junior Ryan Williams is tied for third in the SLC at 45.5 percent, followed by senior Jarvis Garner in fifth (44.8) and senior Robert Crawford in sixth (42.9).
UT Martin is 3-5 overall with losses to UALR, Arkansas State in three overtimes, Bradley and Memphis. The Skyhawks won their last outing, beating Kennesaw State 65-63 on Saturday in Martin as Justin Childs hit the game-winning layup with just two seconds to play.
Sophomore Myles Taylor from Little Rock Hall leads UTM in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (7.9).
