UALR blitzed Stetson's matchup zone defense in a 75-50 victory in the final game of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. UALR improves to 8-6 on the season and finishes the tournament at 2-2 with a 2-1 record in Las Vegas.
"That was much needed going into the break," UALR Coach Steve Shields said.
UALR's eighth victory matches its total from the entire 2009-2010 season and comes against a nonconference schedule with very few breathers. Hot shooting turned what could have been a competitive game -- Stetson played even with Rice before losing on Tuesday -- into a blowout.
Solomon Bozeman led the Trojans with 16 points. Alex Garcia-Mendoza and Matt Mouzy had 11 apiece, Chuck Guy 10 and Derrick Bails 9 as UALR enjoyed only their third blowout victory of the season -- and first against a NCAA Division I opponent.
Stetson has a victory over Wake Forest early this season, but has struggled of late with five consecutive losses.
"I thought we were very sound with the basketball and I thought we shared the ball extremely well. And we were very solid in our halfcourt defense," Shields said.
UALR hadn't operated much against a zone this season. SMU played some in the season opener and Philander Smith started in a zone before abandoning it early in the game. Stetson was committed to it and UALR attacked it from the start.
The Trojans shot 55 percent from the field and made 12 of 20 three pointers. UALR trailed only 2-0 and 3-2 before taking control of the game early in the first half.
Bozeman scored the game's first eight points and then assisted on the next basket with a pass to Montrell Thornton for a dunk. It was the first of Bozeman's seven assists.
"He's been our leader this year. He's done an excellent job of it. He's got the ball moving and he's shared the basketball," Shields said. "We kind of go with Solomon. He's done a great job leading the team."
Garcia-Mendoza made 3 of 3 three pointers, Guy made 3 of 4 and Bozeman made 3 of 5. Mouzy was 3 of 8, but missed several in the second half with the game out of reach He was 3 of 4 at one point.
"We shot good threes. I thought that was the reason we shot it so well," Shields said.
UALR opens Sun Belt Conference play Dec. 30 at North Texas.
"Going to North Texas, that's the pick of our league. They've got the most experience back and a couple of all-conference selections. They just beat LSU by 20 on the road. We know we've got to be very good going to North Texas," Shields said. "I think our guys are ready to start conference play."
