UALR thriving on 3 principles
The UALR men’s basketball team doesn’t have a player who ranks among the Sun Belt Conference’s top-10 scorers or rebounders.
The Trojans are in the bottom half of the league’s team rankings in scoring and rebounding, too.
Yet, UALR will head into today’s game against Appalachian State in a tie for first place in the Sun Belt. The Trojans have more victories than it earned all of last season. They also have more victories than all but 12 of the 351 teams in Division I basketball.
The Trojans have succeeded by excelling in the three basic tenets first-year Coach Chris Beard relies upon: sound defense, valuing offensive possessions and making free throws.
“Those are three staples of our teams, regardless of talent, we have any given year,” Beard said. “Those are things we believe in.”
The Trojans (14-1, 4-0) are among the best in the nation in those three categories. Heading into tonight’s game against Appalachian State (312, 1-3) at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, the Trojans lead Division I by holding teams to 55.8 points per game, are fifth nationally in freethrow shooting (77.3 percent) and are tied for 10th nationally with 10.0 turnovers committed per game.
UALR leads the Sun Belt in all three of those categories, which have helped it get to this point without a traditional go-to star. Guard Marcus Johnson Jr. is UALR’s leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, which ranks 11th in the Sun Belt, and Lis Shoshi’s 5.3 rebounds per game are 13th.
UALR showcased its teamover-self profile in two victories last week.
Roger Woods scored 16 points while leading four players who had 11 points or more in a 77-57 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Jan. 7. Shoshi had 10 points and five others had eight or more two days later in a 58-57 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.
“We have no objective to have the leading scorer in the league,” Beard said. “We’d love to be a team that has five guys in double figures.”
The expectations of Beard and his new coaching staff were made clear early on to the players. Junior forward Maurius Hill, who averages 4.4 points and 4.0 rebounds and has started every game, said he remembers a practice last summer that didn’t involve a basketball. It was nothing more than defensive drills in the practice gym at the Stephens Center.
Beard’s man-to-man defense doesn’t rely on much pressure, opting for a consistently sound approach.
“They were pretty strict on defense,” Hill said. “If you don’t do something right, you’ve got to start over.”
Guard Jermaine Ruttley said if a player misses a free throw in a game, he has to make 50 in practice before the next game. A turnover leads to an unappealing conditioning exercise on the stairs of the Stephens Center.
“There’s always a consequence,” Ruttley said. “Every time we turn the ball over in practice, we have to go touch the top of the stadium. Nobody wants to touch the top of the stadium.”
Beard has guided his team to not only a surprising record in his first season but also an identity. Not that he thinks they’re a finished product just yet. The Trojans have played well enough defensively to make up for offensive deficiencies, but Beard said scoring has to improve.
UALR’s 68.8 points per game are seventh in the Sun Belt, and although its 43.2 field-goal percentage is fifth, Beard said he wants that statistic to approach 50 percent.
Beard hopes the Trojans can play enough defense, make enough free throws and limit turnovers enough to allow the offense to come around.
“Our team is still a work in progress,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface of how good we can be, and the challenge at this time of year is to keep getting better. The mark of a disciplined team is a team that can continue to improve.”