Arkansas college basketball roundup

SOUTHLAND MEN MISSOURI 68, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 55

Sophomore Mark Smith scored 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the three-point line as Missouri beat the University of Central Arkansas in its season opener Tuesday night in Columbia, Mo.

After trailing 5-3 to start, Smith, a University of Illinois transfer, led the Tigers on a 15-0 run to go ahead 18-5, drilling 3 three-pointers to fuel the stretch.

Missouri’s defense took care of the rest, limiting the Bears to 33 percent shooting.

Despite Smith’s strong performance, Missouri’s offense was held to just 32.4 percent shooting in the first half. The Tigers improved in the second half, shooting 55.6 percent.

The offense missed the versatility of sophomore forward Jontay Porter. The Tigers lost Porter to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in a scrimmage with Southern Illinois in October. The Bears, on the other hand, missed the presence of last year’s top two scorers, Jordan Howard (25.1 points per game) and Mathieu Kamba (13.8 points per game).

Missouri’s lack of scoring at times opened up windows for the Bears to climb back into the game. UCA trimmed Missouri’s lead to four points with 4:57 to go in the first half and seven with 10:51 in the second. The Tigers pulled away with an 11-1 run midway through the second half.

UCA plays its first home game Thursday against Hendrix College.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN CENTRAL ARKANSAS 55, CENTRAL BAPTIST 34

The University of Central Arkansas held Central Baptist College to single-digit scoring in the first and third quarters Tuesday to win its season-opener at the Farris Center in Conway.

Senior guard Kamry Orr led the Sugar Bears with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, while junior guard Taylor Sells added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Freshman guard Maegan Parham led Central Baptist with 11 points, including 3 three-pointers.

Neither team shot well from the floor as a whole — UCA shot 32.8 percent and Central Baptist shot 29.3 percent — but the Sugar Bears particularly struggled from the three-point line, going 1 for 17. UCA outrebounded Central Baptist 40-34, including a 21-11 advantage in offensive rebounds, while holding a 32-14 advantage on points scored in the lane, a 15-5 advantage in second-chance points and scored 26 points off 27 Central Baptist turnovers.