LAKE CHARLES, La. _ Two teams in need of a victory will face off Wednesday night in Lake Charles, La., as the University of Central Arkansas Bears take on the McNeese State Cowboys at the brand new H&HP Complex.
The Bears (5-7, 10-15) are in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Southland Conference standings. The Cowboys (7-18, 3-9) are 12th out of 13 teams. The top eight teams in the final standings make the SLC Tournament, which is set for March 13-17 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
UCA has lost five consecutive games, four by less than 10 points and one in overtime. The Bears have six regular-season games remaining, with four road games and two at home at the Farris Center. MSU has also lost its last five games, including a 36-point loss at Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday.
The Bears, coming off an open date last weekend, are one of the top three-point shooting teams in the SLC but have struggled with that part of their offense in recent games. UCA is a combined 18 of 68 (26.4 percent) from three-point range in the past three games, after hitting 14 in the previous game, an overtime loss at Stephen F. Austin. For the season, UCA averages 8.2 threes per game, third in the conference, with a high of 15 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the league opener in early January.
Senior Thatch Unruh is UCA's top three-point threat with 47 made this season. Unruh has moved into a tie for fourth place in UCA history with 164 for his career, tied with UCA Hall of Famer and NAIA All-American Clifton Bush. Unruh is averaging a team-high 15.0 points per game in conference play.
Sophomore DeAndre Jones has connected 45 times, followed by freshman Eddy Kayouloud with 33 and sophomore center Hayden Koval with 28. The Bears are shooting 34.9 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks fourth in the SLC. The Bears have made 204 three-pointers through 25 games this season, which ranks as the fourth-best in school history. The 2017-18 Bears set the mark with 286.
Jones leads the league in assists at 4.8 per game, while Koval is No. 1 in blocked shots at 2.1 per game, and is coming off an eight-block effort against Houston Baptist. Koval surpassed the school blocked shots record two games ago and now stands at 157.
McNeese has played the past two games without its leading scorer and rebounder in Roydell Brown due to injury. Brown averages 14.5 points (ninth in SLC) and 9.5 in rebounding (second). The Cowboys still have two players averaging double figures, including James Harvey (12.3 ppg) and Shamarkus Kennedy (11.8), while Malik Hines is close (9.9). Harvey is one of the league's most prolific three-point shooters with 63, the third-most in the SLC.
Game time is 6:30 p.m. and will be carried live on The Bear 91.3 with Justin Acri.
The Bears continue their road trip Saturday afternoon at Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La.
