CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears punched their ticket for the Southland Conference Tournament with arguably their most complete game of the season Wednesday, a rousing 88-70 victory over third-place Sam Houston State at the Farris Center.

The Bears (15-15, 9-8) assured themselves of the seventh seed for next week's conference tournament, their second consecutive trip to the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.They did it Wednesday with a dominant second half, one in which they shot 62.5 percent from the field and outscored the Bearkats 52-37.

Senior guard Jordan Howard broke yet another record, becoming the all-time NCAA Division I career scoring leader in Arkansas history, finishing with a game-high 28 points to surpass Arkansas' Todd Day. Fellow senior Mathieu Kamba scored 14 of his 24 points in the decisive second half, going 10 of 14 from the field and adding three assists and two steals.

"The second half was maybe one of the best halves we've had of the year,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, "and it couldn't come at a better time. We just tried to use more of the court in the second half and guys made shots, which is always a key when you're doing that.

"That's kind of our MO when we get good ball movement. The thing I like is we had 21 assists on 32 made baskets. We shared the ball well. And when we get a good look behind the line, we generally shoot it pretty well.'

The Bears have now beaten the Bearkats two consecutive times at the Farris Center, including a 67-65 win in December 2016. It was just UCA's third win over SHSU in 20 meetings and was by far the largest margin of victory.

"We played a complete team game and it started on the defensive end,' said Howard, who scored in double figures for the 115th time in his 119 career games. "That's something we've been preaching in practice and coach has been preaching. And that really led to our offense in transition and that got us going in the second half.

"When we get it rolling, we're a dangerous team. When we're hitting on all cylinders... Thatch was hitting, Matty (Kamba) was hitting, Hayden was playing big, Matthew (Mondesir) was playing huge. Everyone was really contributing. When we get in that flow and share the ball and get in transition, we're really hard to stop. And that's what we did really well in the second half.'

The Bears had a solid, if not spectacular, first half and led the Bearkats 36-33 at halftime. But the second half was all UCA as it made seven three-pointers, several slam dunks and put up 52 points against the best defensive team in the Southland. The Bearkats, who had won six of their past seven games, held the Bears to 76 points and 40-percent shooting in the first meeting, an 82-76 SHSU win in Huntsville, Texas.

Freshman center Hayden Koval missed the first SHSU game with a sprained ankle but came up big Wednesday, despite battling early foul trouble. He finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. UCA also got 13 points _ 3 of 6 from three-point range _ from junior guard Thatch Unruh. A huge three from Unruh gave the Bears their biggest lead of the game at 88-68 with 1:45 to play.
 

"I thought our defense was solid in the first half,' said Pennell. "We challenged shots. In fact, we keep a stat on the sideline... we challenged 79 percent of their shots, and anything over 70 is good for us. That part was nice, but we weren't cleaning it up (with rebounding). The last part of defense is rebounding.

"The second half, much better job, and that kind of got us going. We're at our best when we're getting stops and getting fast breaks.'

Howard broke the record with a three-pointer with 2:32 left in the first half, one of his four for the game. He also owns the state's D-I career three-piont record with 374, and tied his own school record for single-season three-pointers with 101 this season.
"That's a phenomenal accomplishment,' said Pennell. "Seems like every time we play a game, he breaks some sort of record. He's just having a magical career. And the kid is so humble... he just plays the game the right way. Great teammate... couldn't happen to a better guy. I certainly understand how great Todd Day was. So to be mentioned in that sentence is pretty impressive.'

The Bears will celebrate Senior Day for Howard, Kamba and graduate Ethan Lee when they host Northwestern State at 5 p.m. at the Farris Center. The SLC Tournament begins next Wednesday in Katy. As the seventh seed, UCA will play the No. 6 seed at 7:30 Wednesday night.

"I think our guys know now what's riding,' said Pennell. "Every game you can win and get further above that .500 mark gives us a better chance of getting to postseason. And if we play like we did tonight, we'll make some noise at the Southland Conference Tournament. We have to try to continue to get better, but that effort tonight will travel for us.'