CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears turned up the defensive pressure Saturday to beat the Little Rock Trojans 69-54 at the Farris Center and even the season series at 1-1 in front of a crowd of 2,412.

The Bears (6-5) led the Trojans to just 28.3 percent shooting overall and 26.1 percent (6 of 23) from three-point range. UCA also forced 18 turnovers, recorded 10 steals and blocked six shots to improve to 4-0 at home this season. 

"I showed the guys on the board (in the locker room) where we shot 20 percent from the three-point line, and about 41 percent overall and 59 from the line,' said Pennell. "You just look at those stats, you think we lost the game. But I said, this is the way you win conference championships, you win games like this. You have to be better on the defensive end and in the toughness category. Because sometimes you just don't make shots.

"Little Rock is going to be one of the better defensive teams we see all year. (Coach) Wes (Flanigan) does an incredible job getting them to play hard. They get up on you, they get up into your space and you don't get clean looks. So we knew it would be tough to score. But I thought tonight the difference was we defended really well.'

The Bears, who lost to to Little Rock 71-65 on Nov. 29 in Little Rock, turned a 35-30 halftime lead into as much as a 19-point margin in the second half. In the opening nine minutes of the half, the Bears outscored the Trojans 18-4. 

UCA got a combined 37 points from seniors Mathieu Kamba (19) and Jordan Howard (18), while freshman center Hayden Koval had eight points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

"I thought our guys did a really nice job of correcting some things we didn't do over in Little Rock a week ago,' said Pennell. "Especially on the defensive end. I thought everything they got on the offensive end was contested or it was tough. And we did a better job rebounding, even though they outrebounded us by four. I thought the second half we kept them off the offensive glass.'

"(Hayden) is jumping a whole lot better,' Pennell said of his 7-foot freshman, who played through a sprained ankle in the first meeting with Little Rock. "He brings something we haven't had since (former center) Jake Zuilhof, but you also get the offense on the other end. As he gets more comfortable, he's really really going to be a weapon on the outside because he can shoot that ball. He just needs a little more confidence.

"But I loved his interior defense, and I thought he rebounded a lot better tonight. And we certainly needed that.'

The Bears, who have won consecutive games after a 96-69 win over Pac-12 California on Wednesday night, take an eight-day break for final exams before traveling to Morehead State on Sunday, Dec. 17 and Oregon on Wednesday, Dec. 20.