MADISON, Wis. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will play one of the toughest schedules in school history this season, and it starts with Friday's opening game at No. 9 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.
The Bears, under the direction of head coach Russ Pennell, will face the Badgers, Oklahoma State, Western Michigan, Southeast Missouri, Arkansas State, Little Rock, Butler, Michigan and Arizona State among their first-semester matchups, with all but two of those on the road.
"I told our guys, we're the only team in the country getting to play the No. 9 ranked team in our opening game,' said Pennell. "So that's a great opportunity. We're playing one of the most experienced teams in the nation, one that is picked to be one of the favorites in the Big Ten Conference. And I think the reason we've been able to recruit the kind of guys we're getting is because they want to play in these kinds of games. Now we understand you're going into hostile territory, going up against a perennial power.
"But we feel like we're at a point now where we need to come in and compete in these type games. We need to be relevant. And I'm looking for that. I'm looking for just that no quit, don't back down, we belong mentality. I think that's what you need to take from these games. If you give yourself a chance to win the game, that's great. We never tip if off that we don't think we're going to win. But what we want to do more than anything is account for ourselves well and play extremely hard.'
UCA returns three full-time starters in senior guard Derreck Brooks, junior guard Jordan Howard and junior forward Mathieu Kamba, along with several players who have a lot of court time. Those include senior guard Jeff Lowery, junior forwards Albert Christensson and Ethan Lee and sophomore guard Thatch Unruh.
"What a great opportunity,' Pennell said. "I don't think we're going to be scared, I don't think we're going to be intimidated. In fact, what I've seen at practice, I think there is an excitement about the opportunity. Wisconsin's style, it is what it is. They aren't going to trick you, they aren't going to do anything fancy. You just have to be good at what you do and don't beat yourself because they will capitalize on all your mistakes.'
Pennell said his third UCA team seems much more prepared for the season opener than his first two squads.
"The last probably 10 days or so we've had, which you would hope, the best practices we've had,' Pennell said. "There has been a consistency, there's been a real ownership in what we're doing. The guys are becoming more vocal, they're starting to coach themselves a little bit more. We keep talking about playing to the standard, and we've identified that standard. I think they are reaching for that more and more. We're having less and less periods of practice that are poor. And I feel good about that.
"Of course, we only know what we know about our team right now. Until we play a couple of games and there will be things that we identify that maybe we not quite as good at as we thought, or we didn't spend as much time on it as we should have. But you just don't know that yet.''
Pennell said what has caught his eye the most is the offensive talents of this team.
"I do know this, I really like this team's ability to score the ball,' he said. "Our last intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday, we went collectively, 25 of 46 from three-point range. And we had hands in the face. We just made shots, and this team can do that. We know you can't live and die on that because you aren't going to do that every game. But we think we can score.
"And I think where we've improved the most is on the defensive end of the floor. And that's definitely where we'll be tested these first few games. We'll find out a lot about where our defense really is.'
UCA's projected starters for the opener are Howard, Brooks, Christensson, Kamba and either Unruh or freshman Aaron Weidenaar. Howard was a first-team All-Southland Conference selection last season _ and SLC Freshman of the Year in 2014-15 _ when he set the UCA school single-season record with 95 three-pointers and had scoring games of 37 points and 36 points twice. Brooks was the SLC Newcomer of the Year and averaged 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Kamba averaged 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds and shot a team-high 58.4 percent from the field a year ago. Unruh redshirted last season after starting 19 games as a true freshman and connecting on 42 three-pointers. Christensson has played in 54 games over the past two season. Weidenaar comes to UCA from Bozeman (Mt.) High School.
The game can be heard on The Bear 91.3 with Justin Acri and viewed on the Big Ten Network Plus. Live stats are at http://www.sidearmstats.com/wisconsin/mbball/
