LITTLE ROCK, Ark. _ Little Rock senior guard Marcus Johnson set a Stephens Center record with nine three-pointers on Saturday afternoon, leading the Trojans to a 70-59 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears in Round 2 of the "Rock N Roar Rivalry.'
The Trojans (8-2), who won their fifth straight game (including an overtime win over UCA on Nov. 29 in Conway, finished 15 of 27 from beyond the arc, with Johnson hitting 9 of 11. Little Rock also held UCA to just 31.5 percent shooting from the field and won the rebound battle 42-37.
"I would say if we took a poll of everyone in this building, they would say the three-point shot beat us,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "And they couldn't be more wrong. But if we finish plays and we make our free throws, we had enough opportunities to still win this basketball game. And that's what I'm trying to get across to my team.
"The most overrated part of basketball is the three-point shot, because it's like hitting the 400-yard drive... it's impressive. And certainly they hit them _ he was 9 of 11 _ but they shot 39 percent from the field. And our problem right now it not down on the defensive end, it's on the offensive end. We're just not shooting the ball well. We're getting open looks and we're just not making shots.
"But it was a hard-fought game and I thought I guys gave great effort.'
For the game, Little Rock shot 39.3 percent overall and 55.6 percent from the three-point line. UCA was 7 of 16 from beyond the arc and made 18 of 21 free throws (85.7 percent).
"It's frustrating, the guys are frustrated,' said Pennell. "Nobody is pointing fingers at anybody. It's just a deal where right now it's not going well. We have to have more of a resolve to get this thing done. I think we're getting closer to that, but we still have a little bit of that 'hang your head. When I took the project on two years ago, I told Dr. (Brad) Teague, my biggest concern was scheduling aggressively like this can cause you to lose heart. And if you don't watch it, the morale of the team drops to a point where even when you play against like competition, you don't play up to your potential.
"I don't think we're quite there yet, but that is a concern. So what we have to do as a staff is keep talking about the process. Let's figure out how we can get better. A lot of times the difference (in winning and losing) is just miniscule.'
The Trojans scored 27 of their 37 first-half points from the three-point line, with Johnson hitting 6 of 7 and Kemy Osse adding two more. UCA did its damage from the free-throw line, hitting 12 of 15. Howard and junior Mathieu Kamba were both 5 for 5 from the line. Little Rock did not attempt a first-half free throw.
Five of Trojans first six field goal were from beyond the arc, giving them an early 17-9 lead. But Howard hit consecutive threes, Jeff Lowery added a free throw and Albert Christensson put in a rebound basket to cut the UCA deficit to 19-18 with 12:25 left in the half. With Johnson nailing three more three-pointers, the Trojans pushed back out to a 37-26 advantage with 2:15 remaining in the half.
Kamba made two free throws with 1:18 on the clock and Howard went 4 for 4 in the final 43 seconds to get the Bears within 37-32 at the break. Little Rock had 11 fouls at the break compared to just four for UCA.
After falling behind by nine points early in the second half, the Bears rallied behind three-pointers from sophomore Thatch Unruh and senior Derreck Brooks and briefly grabbed only their second lead of the game on Brooks' jumper at the 14:38 mark. But the Trojans pushed the lead back out to as much as 11 points over the final six minutes of action. UCA got to within seven points, 64-57, with 3:20 to play on a jumper by Lowery. However, Little Rock added another three-pointer from Kemy Osse and free throws from Osse and Johnson to set the final.
Johnson finished with 29 points, one short of his career high, while Osse added 12 points and senior center Lis Shoshi had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Trojans. Howard topped the Bears with 21 points, hitting 4 of 7 from three-point range, just eight short of tying Marcus Pillow's career three-point record of 206. Brooks added 14 points for UCA, while Kamba had 11 points.
UCA returns to the road on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor, Mich., taking on the Michigan Wolverines at 8 p.m. (CT) on the Big Ten Network.
