ASU turns to 3s to reverse decline

ARKANSAS STATE 70, UALR 62

Midway through the first half, the game was playing to recent form.

The Trojans, energized by their quality performances in the past two games, had a 13- point lead over a Red Wolves team that had lost five consecutive games.

It appeared Wes Flanigan was going to get his first victory over in-state rival Arkansas State University in his second year as the head coach of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men’s basketball team.

By game’s end, after the Red Wolves made a season- high 13 3- pointers, first-year ASU Coach Mike Balado had his first victory in the rivalry, 70-62, on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

“I feel much better,” said Balado, who was previously a four-year assistant at Louisville. “You never want to lose five in a row. You want to get a win somewhere.”

It was the most 3-pointers the Trojans (5-15, 2-5 Sun Belt) have given up since an 81-79 loss in the season opener to Ouachita Baptist University, which made 14.

Flanigan pinned the loss on poor defense, especially on the perimeter.

“I thought we were late a lot of times, especially closing back out,” said Flanigan, whose team had given up an average of 8.8 3-pointers in the previous four games. “They put you in those ball screens, and you have to help.”

Junior guard Grantham Gillard was 5 of 8 in 3-point shooting for ASU (7-13, 2-5) and tied a career-high with 23 points. The long shots prevented UALR from using its size advantage. The Trojans could not afford to trade twopoint shots for 3- pointers, and their 5-of-17 night from

3-point range (29.4 percent) was not enough to keep up.

“That’s the story for us,” said Flanigan, whose team entered the game with the Sun Belt’s lowest 3-point percentage (30.8).

But 3- pointers initially put the Trojans ahead. Sophomore guard Ryan Pippins made two, the last while fading away at the top of the key to complete a 7-0 run to give the Trojans an 11-5 lead with 14:24 left in the first half.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MITCHELL PE MASILUN Arkansas State’s Connor Kern (12) finished with 8 points in the Red Wolves’ 70-62 victory over UALR, while Andre Jones had 11 points and 9 rebounds for UALR.