LIVE AUDIO
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will play their first non-Division I game on Monday, hosting crosstown opponent Hendrix in a noon matinee at the Farris Center.
The Bears will be playing just their second game of the season on the new Scottie Pippen Court, following a 70-67 victory over Oral Roberts way back on Nov. 20. UCA's game with the Little Rock Trojans last week was postponed due to injuries and illness in the Trojan's program.
UCA is now experiencing it's own issues with a short bench, having played at Missouri State on Saturday night without six players missing because of injuries and illness. The Bears are expected to be without at least four of those players on Monday.
The Bears and Warriors last met on Nov. 7, 2019, with UCA winning 71-51 in what counted as an exhibition for the NCAA Division II Warriors. UCA held Hendrix to just four field goals and 11 points in the first half. For the game, Hendrix shot 26.7 percent from the field overall (16 of 60) and went 6 of 28 (21.4 percent) from three-point range.
The Bears did not shoot particularly well either, going 5 for 20 from beyond the arc and just 18 of 30 (60 percent) from the free-throw line.
Hendrix, coached by 11th-year veteran Thad McCracken, stands 6-3 overall and last played a countable game on Dec. 4 when it lost 75-71 in overtime to Hope College at Washington University in St. Louis. The Warriors played an exhibition at Arkansas Tech last Wednesday, losing 58-51 in Russellville.
Seth Stanley, a 6-foot-7, 185-pounder from Rogers (Ark.) Heritage High School, leads the Warriors in scoring at 19.4 points per game and shoots 45.6 percent from the field. He has also made a team-best 18 three-pointers and is an 87-percent free-throw shooter. Stanley scored 16 points in the 2019 game on 4-of-15 shooting.
The Bears lost to the Missouri State Bears on Saturday in Springfield, with junior transfer
Darious Hall leading the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds and freshman point guard
Camren Hunter adding 16 points. Sophomore
Jaxson Baker, coming off the bench for the first time this season, hit all three of UCA's three-pointers and scored a season-high 13 points.
After Monday's game, the Bears will have a nine-day holiday break before heading to College Station, Texas, on Dec. 29 to take on the Texas A&M Aggies.
Â
Â