What it needed was a break from a brutal nonconference schedule that gets even tougher on Saturday when Ole Miss visits the Stephens Center for a 2 p.m. tipoff. And Philander Smith, which is 0-12 this season, provided just that on Tuesday.
UALR jumped out to a 15-3 lead early and built a 22-point first-half lead before getting sloppy on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. That sloppyness may be attributed to the lineup on the court. All 13 players saw first-half action as Coach Steve Shields mixed and matched combination throughout.
Senior Montrell Thornton, who didn't even play in Sunday's victory over Tulsa, led UALR with 13 points, making 6 of 6 field goal attempts. Senior Solomon Bozeman added 12 points as 12 of the 13 players scored. Freshman Gus Leeper was the lone non-scorer, missing a couple of layup attempts in the first half.
Tuesday was also "Dead Day" at UALR as final exams begin on Wednesday morning. That was another reason for a needed breather in the schedule.
There was some good: UALR had 24 assists.
But there was also some bad: UALR had a season-high 17 turnovers. The Trojans nearly reached their season average of 11.6 turnovers in the first half with 11.
"I thought we weren't as crisp with the basketball as we have been this season. We also gave up 14 offensive rebounds, which isn't something that we're very pleased about. On a positive note, we had 24 assists and shared the basketball well," UALR Coach Steve Shields said.
Phhilander Smith is a NAIA program located a few miles from the UALR campus. The game counts as an exhibition for the Panthers.
