Bears get 2nd crack at Trojans

University of Central Arkansas men’s basketball Coach Russ Pennell hopes the second-half struggles that led the Bears toward two consecutive losses don’t continue in their second chance against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Saturday at the Farris Center in Conway.

UALR (2-6) has won the last 11 meetings over UCA (5-5), and the Trojans overcame a 34-23 halftime deficit to win 71-65 on Nov. 29.

“We didn’t match [UALR’s] toughness and mentality,” Pennell said. “We were not the aggressors, and we didn’t execute or do anything that we coach and teach to do. That second half led to some very uncomfortable practices for my guys. Hopefully we’ve learned from them.”

After losing 78-76 at San Francisco on Monday, the Bears bounced back with a 96-69 victory over California (3-6) on Wednesday night, when senior point guard Jordan Howard scored 26 points and senior guard Mathieu Kamba scored 23 points. UCA led 45-25 at the half and outscored the Golden Bears 51-44 in the second half.

“The winning comes when you play right, when you execute,” Pennell said. “You’re not going to hope yourself to win. You’re going to have to work yourself to win. We continue to coach that in practice. Leading up to this point, practices were not fun.”

UALR’s 42.5 percent shooting percentage ranks 271st in the nation. In last Saturday’s 74-66, doubleovertime loss to Oral Roberts, the Trojans were 4 of 30 (13.3 percent) from the three-point line.

“The way we shot the basketball was detrimental to our cause,” UALR Coach Wes Flanigan said. “Our team played against four minutes of zone [defense], and we couldn’t get them out of it. We’ve got to step up and make wide-open looks. That’s been the downfall of our team so far this year.”

Last season’s leading scorer for UALR, junior guard Deondre Burns, has yet to play in a game due to an MCL sprain — someone, Flanigan said, who was “recruited here to make shots for us, and that responsibility has fallen on others.”