CONWAY, Ark._  Jordan Howard followed up a 37-point performance with a 36-point effort on Saturday, leading the University of Central Arkansas Bears to a 112-77 romp over the New Orleans Privateers before a season-high crowd of 2,192 at the Farris Center.

    Howard, a sophomore guard, led four Bears in double figures as UCA (4-15, 3-6) scored its most points since Dec. 20, 2013 when it had 121 against Eclessia College. Senior Justin Foreman and sophomore Mathieu Kamba added 17 points each and junior Derreck Brooks had 12 as the Bears shot a season-high 62.1 percent for the game. Howard made 6 of 13 from three-point range and UCA added 21 of 25 (84.0 percent) from the free-throw line.

    "One of the goals we had getting ready for this game was to get off to a fast start,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "And I thought the guys came out with a real focus. We hit our first couple of shots and got some stops and it just kind of got rolling downhill from there.'

    Howard had 22 first-half points and Foreman and Kamba added 10 apiece as the Bears led by as much 27 points before halftime. They settled for a 58-33 lead at the break after shooting 61.1 percent from the field, 43.8 percent (7 of 16) from three-point range and 100 percent (7 of 7) from the free-throw line. Howard was 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

    "He is in a zone right now, playing awful well,' said Pennell. "The thing I like is his teammates understand that and they're getting him the ball. It's not like he's taking bad shots. He's taking really good shots and I think our offense is getting that for him. He's a special player and I'm glad he's having the success he's having, because when he's good, we're good.'



    A 19-6 run midway through the half turned a 21-12 UCA lead into a 40-18 margin. Down the stretch, Boo Milligan and Howard both nailed three-pointers in the final two minutes to give the Bears their 25-point halftime lead.

    "I told our staff before we went into the locker room at halftime, I want no negative thought,' said Pennell. "So what I did, I said what we're going to do is hang our hat this whole half on the defensive end. They hit us in the mouth a little bit and at the time out I told them, you're too casual. You're not playing every possession to win like we've been talking about. Let's just go back to that. 

    "We didn't talk about the lead, we didn't talk about any of that stuff. And we righted the ship. And Jordan hit a big three about then and I thought that kind of broke their back a little bit. I thought the guys handled it from a maturity standpoint tonight.'

    The Bears' lead reached as much 35 points in the second half as the they improved on their 61.1 percent first-half shooting by hitting 63.3 in the final 20 minutes. UCA also outrebounded UNO 41-32 and won the turnover battle 13-11. The Bears also blocked 8 shots, with graduate center Jake Zuilhof getting three. Zuilhof also had 9 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth double-figure rebound game of the season. Junior guard Jeff Lowery had a career-high nine of UCA's season-high 28 assists, while Foreman added five and Howard four.
    
    UCA's bench produced 21 points and 9 rebounds, led by 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists from sophomore Boo Milligan.

    "When I put the starters back in about the five-minute mark,' Pennell said, "I told the four guys coming out how proud I was of them. I challenged them this week also. You know, it's hard being a bench player. It's hard getting 2-3 minutes and then coming out. I told them they need to be good with the role they're given now. And they embraced that.

    "They did a really nice job and I was proud of them because we got in a little foul trouble and needed them. That was about the first time we played Tanner (Schmit) and Albert (Christensson) together all year and they handled it fine. So that as a coach kind of gives me a vision of maybe some different pieces to move around.'

    Guard Christavious Gill led the Privateers (8-13, 4-6) with 22 points. UNO had won three consecutive games, including a 94-83 win over the Bears on Jan. 25 in New Orleans. UNO shot 41.2 percent overall and just 22.2 percent (4 of 18) from three-point range. 

    The Bears play their second consecutive home game on Tuesday, hosting the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.