PISCATAWAY, N.J. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears came within a basket of a possible Big 10 upset on Saturday afternoon before falling 87-84 to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Reynolds Athletic Center.

    The Bears (0-3) tied the game at 81-81 with a layup by junior guard Derreck Brooks with just 55 seconds left. Rutgers' Deshawn Freeman answered with a layup with 38 seconds left, and after a UCA miss, Brooks fouled Corey Sanders. He made both free throws for a 85-81 lead for the Scarlet Knights with :19 remaining.

    UCA senior guard Mike Martin nailed a three-pointer, the seventh of the game for the Bears, with six seconds left to get the Bears within 85-84. Sanders was fouled again and made two more three throws for an 87-84 margin. The Bears drove the length of the court but Brooks misfired at the buzzer.

    "One of the things we talk about,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, " is I'm not really into moral victories. I'm into playing well, and that's what I told them. I thought there were stretches of basketball where we played extremely well. I thought our offense was as good as it's looked. We were cutting to the goal, we were making good passes. We had a lot of good plays.

    "So we can celebrate that the play was good at times. But if we just go, 'hey, we took a Big 10 team to a three-point game,' then we're missing the mark. We have our sites set way too low. So I think we take the good play into the next game but not so much about the score.'

    UCA led by as much as seven points in the first half and never trailed by more than six points. The Bears shot 47.9 percent from the field and had a season-high 18 assists, led by Brooks and Martin with four each. UCA also helds its own on the board with the taller Scarlet Knights, losing that battle 37-36. Brooks and Jake Zuilhof had eight rebounds each.

    Brooks led the Bears with 21 points, hitting 10 of 18 from the field, while sophomore guard Jordan Howard added 19, hitting 5 of 11 from three-point range. 

    "Derreck is just a big-time player,' said Pennell. "It's nice to have that guy. I just wish we could have gotten him one more look. And we know Jordan can score. He got out here yesterday and got some extra shots, and I felt like he was going to have a good game. 

    "I credit Rutgers' defense, it was good. They are big. And that's one of the issues when we play these teams in the Power 5 conference, the difference is the size. We obviously have good players in the Southland, but the size is the difference. They were really big inside, and I thought we did a good job on the glass. But they wore us down a little bit, too, especially getting to the foul line.'

    Mike Williams topped Rutgers with 25 points, hitting 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. Freeman added 23 points as the Scarlet Knights shot 50.9 percent overall and shot 34 free throws to UCA's 11.

    The Bears continue their road trip as part of the MGM Grand "Men Who Speak Up" Main Event in Las Vegas next week. UCA faces UT San Antonio at 2:30 Monday, with the winner/loser taking on the Howard/Texas Southern winner/loser on Wednesday.