ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will hit the road again Wednesday for another road game, this time at one of the toughest places to play in the country, The Pit at the University of New Mexico.

    The Bears will be playing their seventh road game in their first nine games of the season on Wednesday against the 6-3 Lobos. New Mexico has won three consecutive games and is 4-1 at The Pit this season. UCA head coach Russ Pennell visited The Pit while an assistant coach at Ole Miss.

    "It's a very unique building,' said Pennell. "It's underground so you go in at ground level and then go down. It's  very loud because the fans are shouting down into a pit, literally. And they love their team there. It's like their professional franchise.

    "It's just a pretty hard place to play.'

    UCA is coming off an 11-day layoff following an 85-73 loss at Troy on Dec. 6. The Bears will finally return to the Farris Center for two consecutive games on Dec. 21 against Coastal Carolina and Dec. 29 against Morehead State to close out the non-conference portion of their schedule. Southland Conference play begins Jan. 3 at Abilene Christian.

    "I think it's been good because I think we needed a little rest,' said Pennell. "They didn't get to rest mentally because of final exams, which they did fantastic in, with over a cumulative 3.0. We gave them about three days off, but the practices when we came back have been great. They've been really spirited. And the last couple of days were probably two of the best practices we've had.'

    Freshman guard Jordan Howard continues to lead the Bears in scoring at 16.6 points per game, and tied his career-high with 21 points in the loss at Troy. Howard, from Chandler, Ariz., has scored in double figures in all eight games and has made a team- and SLC-high 24 three-pointers. He is shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range to rank sixth in the league.

    Junior guard Mike Martin is third in the SLC in three-point percentage at 48.5 percent (16 of 33) and is UCA's second-leading scorer at 11.4 points per game. Martin had a season-high eight assists at Troy. Freshman guard Boo Milligan sparked the Bears off the bench in the same game, connecting on 3 of 6 from three-point range and scoring 15 points and pulling down 6 rebounds.

    "I'm just wanting to see continued improvement,' said Pennell. "I thought we got better at Troy. I want us to play longer stretches well. And I think the big thing for us to improve is defensively. If we can do that, I think we can have some success when we get to conference.

    "But we have to make that a focal point. We have to guard better. People are shooting too good of a percentage and scoring too many points against us. And what I'm watching on film, we're not that bad defensively but we just have breakdowns at inopportune times. We'll actually play well for 20-25 seconds, then someone will just drive in and dunk the ball.

    "So we have to get a little more detailed and a little more consistent.'     

    Sophomore guard Cullen Neal, son of Lobos head coach Craig Neal, leads New Mexico in scoring at 17 points per game, while senior guard Deshawn Delaney is No. 2 scoring (13.7) and No. 1 in rebounding (6.0). The Lobos are ranked 23rd in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 56.7 points per game. Their last three opponents have scored 47, 46 and 46 points.

    New Mexico is sixth in the nation in three-point defense, with its opponents shooting just 24.7 from beyond the arc. UCA enters the game making 8.5 three-pointers per game and shooting 38.6 percent from three-point range.