CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears got a combined 48 points from Eddy Kayouloud and Collin Cooper and cruised to an 82-71 victory over the Little Rock Trojans in the "Governor's I-40 Showdown" on Monday night in front of an energized crowd of 1,945 at the Farris Center.

Cooper nailed a career-high six three-pointers (6 of 12), while Kayouloud went 11 of 17 from the field for the Bears (2-1). The Bears held the Trojans to 39.7 percent shooting, including a 4-of-16 performance from three-point range.

"We were excited to play this game," said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "Both our guys and Little Rock's. We were certainly excited to play here at home, to play our neighbors down the road. And our guys wanted to come out and continue to improve on the defense we've been playing here lately. And we really came out and did a great job establishing the defensive end early on in the game.

"And really in the second half, looking at the numbers, our defense was even better. We have to get  a little bit better rebounding  but I thought we improved on that in the second half as well. We actually ended up outrebounding Little Rock, which I thought was great because they're tough, they're athletic and they really crash the glass hard. And we had some guys step up and get some really tough rebounds at key moments in the game."

Kayouloud, a senior from Paris, France, and Cooper, a junior from Fayetteville, Ark., had 27 of UCA's 37 first-half points as the Bears enjoyed a 37-30 advantage at the break. UCA pushed the lead to as much as 16 points in the second half before the Trojans (1-2) got within seven points with 8:20 to play. But the Bears ran back out to a comfortable lead down the stretch in a game in which they never trailed.

Sophomore guard Camren Hunter added 13 points, a career-high 11 assists and five rebounds for the Bears, who outrebounded the Trojans 44-37, including 15 offensive boards. Sophomore Ibbe Klintman had 8 points and 8 rebounds, while Cooper and Masai Olowokere pulled down seven rebounds each.

"Collin shot the ball really well as we like to see, but his defense was incredible, and the toughness he showed, getting in there and mixing it up and getting some tough rebounds was very valuable," said Boone. "Ibbe was a great spark for us. He got the eight rebounds in not as much playing time. And if he hadn't gotten in foul trouble, I believe he would have had double figure rebounds."
 

Little Rock had five players in double figures, but none more than 14 points from Nigel John, who scored all his points in the first half. The Trojans also went just 13 of 20 (65 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Bears now lead the year-long Governor's I-40 Showdown standings with the Trojans 14-2.

"This game is very important," said Boone. "It's a rival right down the road. I love those guys at Little Rock, Coach (Darrell) Walker is great, and Coach (Charles) Baker was actually one of my coaches when I was playing AAU. So we're great with each other.

"It's a great rivalry, and at the end of the day, it's basketball in the state of Arkansas. It's a huge game just to play it, but then to come out on top tonight was really big."

UCA travels to Ireland on Tuesday for the ASUN/MAAC Challenge. The Bears will play Niagara at 11 a.m. (CT) on Friday and Rider at 6 a.m. (CT) Saturday.

The Bears return home for the Central Arkansas Classic on Saturday, Nov. 26 when they host old Southland Conference foe Northwestern State.