Gamecock torches Bears for 35 points

ASUN MEN

JACKSONVILLE STATE 101, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 71

CONWAY — The smallest player on the court caused the University of Central Arkansas its biggest problems Wednesday night.

Demaree King scored 35 points as Jacksonville State beat UCA 101-71 at the Farris Center.

The 6-0, 180-pound King, went 11 of 20 from the field, including 10 of 18 from behind the three-point line to score the most points by a single player against UCA this season.

“Demaree King absolutely torched us tonight in every way,” UCA acting head coach Brock Widders said. “We let him absolutely pick us apart, take us down, and we did not ever respond and return from that.”

Jacksonville State (12-18, 5-12 ASUN) scored 50 points in the first half, just the sixth time an opponent hit that mark in a half against the Bears, to take a 50-33 lead. King made 8 of 9 shots in the half, all three-pointers, to head into the break with 24 points.

UCA ( 9- 21, 4- 13) kept pace with Jacksonville State for most of the half, trailing 30-27 with seven minutes remaining.

The score remained unchanged for nearly four minutes afterward before Jacksonville State’s Skyelar Potter hit a three-pointer to make it 33-27. Eight seconds later, King hit a three-pointer to make it 36-27.

He scored 12 points down the stretch to extend the Gamecocks’ lead.

“That is an incredible pace for them. That’s hard to match,” Widders said. “Runs happen in games, but really it was our response that was disappointing.

“At that point, we were trying to trap him, we were trying to do several things to him. In my head, I thought I am honestly just impressed. I am impressed with this young man and his abilities. And so good for him.”

King entered averaging 14.1 points per game, and the Gamecocks were hitting 8.7 three-pointers per game. They made 19 of 34 shots from deep Wednesday.

UCA keyed on King to start the second half, holding him scoreless for the first 10:31. While his first few shots of the half didn’t fall, King found ways to get his teammates involved.

King finished with a teamhigh five assists as Jacksonville State shot 53.1% in the second half and scored 51 points. Five other Gamecocks also reached double- digit scoring, led by Marcellus Brigham’s 18.

“So we come out of halftime and we’re saying [King] is the game,” Widders said. We gotta key on Demaree King, we gotta take him out of the game. … While the game was tight, Demaree King was calm, let us key on him and got it to his teammates. So we took away one thing and then Demaree was able to expose something else.”

Camren Hunter led UCA with 19 points on 7- of- 14 shooting, followed by Collin Cooper’s 16 points and Eddy Kayouloud’s 12.

SUN BELT MEN

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 85, ARKANSAS STATE 74

A 13- 0 run by Louisiana- Lafayette in just under three minutes gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a lead they’d never relinquish, comfortably handling visiting Arkansas State at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La.

The Red Wolves closed to within five points early in the second half, scoring eight consecutive to cut their deficit to 42-37, but that was as close as they’d get, losing for the 14th time in their last 16 games.

ASU ( 11- 19, 3- 14) got 18 points apiece from Caleb Fields and Omar El-Sheikh, with El-Sheikh grabbing 13 rebounds — seven of them on the offensive glass — to record his 11th double-double of the season.

Jordan Brown led Louisiana-Lafayette (22-7, 12-5) with a game-high 24 points while adding 12 rebounds.

SUN BELT WOMEN

ARKANSAS STATE 98, LOUISIANA-MONROE 73

Arkansas State continued its late-season roll, winning its third consecutive game Wednesday night at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.

The Red Wolves took control of things against Louisiana-Monroe (721, 3-14 Sun Belt Conference) with a dominant 35-11 second quarter, ending the first half on an 11-0 run to lead 54-29 at halftime. ASU (11-17, 6-11) pushed its lead to as large as 37 in the third quarter, using a 14-0 run to bury the Warhawks.

Four different Red Wolves logged double-figure points, highlighted by Izzy Higginbottom’s 19 and Anna Griffin’s 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

ASU shot 47.4% as a team and 10 of 25 on three-pointers, getting 43 bench points and 24 points off Louisiana-Monroe’s 22 turnovers.