UALR finds Burns time for production
The question has been asked of Darrell Walker several times this season.
Why isn’t Deondre Burns starting?
Burns, a redshirt junior, is the eldest of all the Trojans. He is the
lone roster survivor of three coaching changes — from Chris Beard to Wes Flanigan to Walker — in the past four seasons. His tenure is longer than any on-court member of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s men’s basketball team.
In 2015-2016, the 6-2 guard from Yazoo City, Miss., appeared in 16 games and made one start under Beard.
In 2016-2017, Burns made
14 starts and played in all 32 games.
Last season, Burns did not play and redshirted because of a knee injury.
The resume — including a scoring line of 10.4 points per game this season, the third most on the team — runs deeper than others.
“Look,” Walker said Thursday, “I like bringing Dre’ off the bench because he can score points off the bench.”
On Thursday — after injuries to starting freshman guard Markquis Nowell (ankle) and sophomore guard Jaizec Lottie (hand) forced Walker to reconfigure his lineup — Burns ascended into UALR’s starting five for the first time since March 2, 2017.
“There’s no way I could’ve brought him off the bench,” Walker said. “He had to have the basketball in his hand. And late in the game, he made plays for us.”
Burns, who scored 35.6 percent of UALR’s 525 bench points prior to Thursday, scored 10 in 34 minutes in the Trojans’ 56-52 victory Thursday against the University of Texas at Arlington, which was tied for first place in the Sun Belt before its loss.
Burns clinched Thursday’s victory with two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining to push UALR’s lead to four points.
Helped by Burns’ clutch free throws, UALR has won three consecutive games, which is tied for the longest active streak in the Sun Belt with Texas State. UALR and Texas State (20-5, 9-3) will meet at 3 p.m. today at the Jack Stephens Center.
“To see Dre’ go up there and make those two free throws was big,” Walker said.
The decision to keep Burns as UALR’s primary bench weapon prior to Thursday was because Walker wants Burns’ scoring burst to carry UALR’s second unit.
His teammates have plenty of respect for Burns, no matter his situation prior to the opening tip. Fifty-six seconds after Thursday’s tip, Burns wrapped his right arm around redshirt junior Rayjon Tucker and waved at center Nikola Maric — a freshman who was wandering away from his teammates — to join the huddle Burns organized.
Burns was one of two player representatives the school chose to speak in October at the program’s basketball media day before the season began.
Then, months before the Trojans (10-15, 5-7) surged from last place in the Sun Belt to a tie for eighth place with South Alabama at 5-7, Burns foreshadowed the current state of the Trojans, who were picked to finish 12th out of 12 teams in the preseason.
“We’re going to shock a lot of people,” Burns said confidently. “Being picked last, that doesn’t bother us at all.”
The thought that Burns was going to miss Thursday’s win-sealing free throws never entered Tucker’s mind.
“That’s game,” Tucker said. “No doubt about it.”
“Look, I like bringing Dre’ off the bench because he can score points off the bench.”
UALR Coach Darrell Walker