Marshall plan goes into effect late
MISSOURI STATE 73, UALR 68
UALR slowed one of the nation’s leading scorers for much of Thursday’s game, but Marcus Marshall got going just in time for Missouri State.
Austin Ruder scored a career-high 23 points and Marshall scored 11 of his 16 points in the final 8:27 as Missouri State stormed back late in the second half for a 73-68 victory over UALR at John Q. Hammons Arena on Thursday night in Springfield, Mo.
Ruder entered averaging 9.7 points but made seven three-pointers against the Trojans. Marshall came in averaging 24 points per game but was held to five points — and scoreless for more than 20 minutes — before his late outburst sparked the Bears (3-3).
“He’s a great three-point shooter,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said of Ruder. “We knew he could shoot the ball. You’ve got to spend so much time and focus on Marshall that something gives.”
Mareik Isom made 4 of 4 three-pointers to lead UALR (4-2) with 14 points, while James White had 13 points but was held to four points in the second half. Ben Dillard made 3 of 4 three-pointers to finish with 11 points, and the Trojans (4-2) made 47.9 percent of their shots.
UALR closed the first half with an 8-0 run over the final 5:11 to take a 32-27 lead into halftime. Josh Hagins made a jumper during the run, White followed with another, Dillard made a three-pointer and DeVonte Smith added a free-throw to close the half.
The Trojans extended their lead to 40-30 and 45-35 early in the second half and Gus Leeper’s jumper made it 60-52 with 8:27 left.
That’s when Marshall made a three-pointer, his first points since the 9:12 mark of the first half, to make it 60-55 and spark a 15-1 run. Marshall scored six points in the run and the Trojans missed six shots in a row as the Bears stormed to a 67-61 lead with 2:12 left. UALR never had possession with a chance to tie the game again.
UALR, a 72 percent freethrow shooting team before Thursday, made 13 of 23 from the line.
“We’ve been a good freethrow shooting team, and we’re going to be a good freethrow shooting team,” Shields said. “We left 10 of them out there tonight, and we lose by five.”
SOUTHLAND WOMEN CENTRAL ARKANSAS 72, CENTRAL BAPTIST 39
Brittany Agee scored a game-high 20 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Central Arkansas to an easy victory over Central Baptist College on Thursday night at the Farris Center in Conway.
Agee made 8 of 15 shots from the floor while helping the Sugar Bears (4-3) shoot 45 percent from the floor. Maggie Proffitt added 15 points on 5-of9 three-point shooting, while Brianna Mullins and Kendara Watts added 10 points each.
UCA held Central Baptist (5-6) to 23.2 percent shooting (13 of 56) and held a 46-33 rebounding advantage.