LIVE AUDIO
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS

KENNESAW, Ga. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will open ASUN Conference play on Saturday the same way they did a year ago, on the road. 

UCA takes on the Kennesaw State Owls at 1 p.m. (CT) at the KSU Convocation Center on The Bear 91.3, 92.7 Jack FM and ESPN+. It will be UCA's fifth consecutive road game dating back to Dec. 6.

The Bears, 5-8 overall, are hoping for the same result as their conference opener from last season when they went on the road and beat Eastern Kentucky 79-72 in their first-ever ASUN game. In fact, the Bears would probably take their first two weeks of results from a year ago as they started 3-1 in league play, with home wins over Lipscomb and North Alabama and a road loss at Bellarmine.

The Bears, who finished 7-9 in ASUN play last year and earned the No. 3 seed from the West Division for the conference tournament, will play 18 total ASU games this season, nine at home and nine on the road. UCA,which will faces four games in eight days, is at home Monday against Florida Gulf Coast and Thursday against Eastern Kentucky before traveling to face Austin Peay on Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn.

Both UCA and KSU are coming off losses to Top 25 programs in their last outings. The Bears lost at No. 18 TCU on Wednesday night, while the Owls fell at 16th-ranked Indiana on Dec. 23.

In last year's only meeting between the Bears and Owls, KSU shot 62.5 percent overall on its home floor and held UCA to just 40.6 percent. Terrell Burden led the Owls with 25 points, hitting 6 of 7 from the field and 11 of 14 at the free-throw line. UCA got 20 points (3 of 5 from three-point range) from freshman Camren Hunter, and 18 points and 13 rebounds from senior Jared Chatham before fouling out. UCA finished with 12 offensive rebounds compared to five for KSU.

This season, KSU has just two players who average double figures in scoring, led by Chris Youngblood at 13.5 points per game and Burden at 11.2. Youngblood, a 6-foot-4, 218-pound junior,  is one of the top three-point shooters in the ASUN, shooting 44.9 percent (31 of 69) from beyond the arc. The Owls are 12th in the ASUN in overall shooting percentage (43.5) but sixth in three-point percentage (38.0).

KSU has a 10-point loss at Florida and a three-point setback at VCU, along with the 14-point loss at Indiana. The Owls' victories came over LaGrange, Brewton-Parker, Southeastern Louisiana, Appalachian State, Mercer, Charleston Southern, Georgia College and USC Upstate.

UCA has lost four consecutive games since a 72-67 win over Arkansas State at the Farris Center on Dec. 6. However, all four of those losses were on the road and came against teams with a combined 36-16 record, including 11-1 TCU and 11-3 Oral Roberts.