ABILENE, Texas _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears have three regular-season games remaining to earn a couple of victories to assure a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament for the second straight year.
The road to the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas _ site of the tournament _ begins Saturday afternoon when the Bears take on the Abilene Christian Wildcats at 4 p.m. at Moody Coliseum. UCA then returns home for its final two games against fourth-place Sam Houston State next Wednesday and against 12th-place Northwestern State next Saturday for Senior Day at the Farris Center.
The Bears (13-15, 7-8) and Wildcats (15-13, 7-8) are tied for seventh place in the SLC standings. The top eight teams receive berths in the postseason tournament. UCA advanced as the eighth seed last year with a 7-11 conference record, surviving a five-way tiebreaker for the final spot.
ACU won the first meeting between the teams in Conway on Jan. 20 with a dominant second half. UCA trailed 38-37 at halftime but was then outscored 42-26 in the final 20 minutes as the Wildcats won 80-63, breaking UCA's two-game winning streak in the series. The Bears shot just 31.3 percent from the field, and 2 of 13 from three-point range, in the second half.
Senior guard Jordan Howard scored a game-high 28 points but was the only UCA player in double figures. ACU had five players score at least 11 points, led by Jalone Friday with 18 and Jaylen Franklin with 16. Jaren Lewis added 13 points and 11 rebounds as ACU outrebounded UCA 40-29.
Neither team enters the game with much momentum as the Wildcats have lost four of their last five games and the Bears are riding a three-game losing streak. After a 100-80 victory over Houston Baptist on Feb. 7, the Bears have dropped games to McNeese State and Nicholls at home and on the road at second-place Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night.
ACU postponed its game with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi a day because of weather conditions and then lost to the Islanders 76-67 on Thursday night at home. After Saturday's game, the Wildcats finish with a pair of road games, at SFA and at last place Incarnate Word (0-15).
Howard, a senior from Chandler, Ariz., leads the Bears and the conference in scoring and is second in the nation at 25.6 points per game. UCA's career scoring leader and top three-point shooter, Howard is just 36 points away from becoming the NCAA Division I career scoring leader in the state of Arkansas. University of Arkansas All-American Todd Day scored 2,395 points from 1989-92), while Howard sits at 2,360 points.
To knock off the Wildcats at home, the Bears will need to find their perimeter touch, which has been missing for three games. In the three losses, UCA, which ranks No. 2 in the SLC in three-point shooting, has made a combined 16 of 73 (21.9 percent). They were also 5 of 21 (23.8 percent) in the first meeting with the Wildcats, while ACU made 10 of 22 (45.5 percent).
The Wildcats rely on balance as four of their five starters average double figures in scoring. Lewis averages 13.5 points per game, followed by Friday (13.2), Tevin Foster (12.6) and Franklin (10.8). Franklin is third in the SLC in field-goal percentage, shooting a a 56.8-percent clip. He is also third in the league in steals at 1.9 per game and fourth in assists at 4.5 per game.
Howard is also No. 1 in the conference in free-throw shooting at 88.4 percent, which includes an NCAA season high of 19 of 19 against Nicholls last week. Freshman Hayden Koval leads the SLC in blocked shots (3.1 per game) which is sixth in the nation. Fellow freshman DeAndre Jones is third in the league in assists at 4.5 per game and third in three-point percentage (42.5). Senior Mathieu Kamba is ninth in rebounding (6.5) and 14th in field-goal percentage (50.9).
Saturday's 4 p.m. game time is approximate because it is a doubleheader with the UCA-ACU women, which begins at 1 p.m. Follow the action live with Justin Acri on The Bear 91.3 or at ucasports.com/KUCA.
