BURN THE HORSE
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| BTH UALR Rewind |
Pondering what it will take to get D’AndreWilliams a first-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection while compiling theBurn The Horse UALR Rewind.
Williams proved his worth againon Saturday, scoring 18 points to lead UALR to a 62-60 victory over ArkansasState. Williams driving layup in the final minute tied the score and gave UALRits ultimate opportunity to win.
I have no idea how the Sun BeltCoach of the Year voting will go. But it seems Middle Tennessee’s loss and UALR’svictory on Saturday night opened the door for UALR Coach Steve Shields to winthe award.
You couldn’t argue with MiddleTennessee’s Kermit Davis winning COY after the Blue Raiders went 14-2 in SunBelt play. But UALR was picked fifth in the West Division and led wire-to-wire.
We’re biased, but we’ll takeShields for COY.
BTH Keys to Victory
SHOT SELECTION: ASU clamped downon UALR’s offense but the Trojans remained patient. We didn’t see nearly thesame number of bad shots as in Thursday’s loss to North Texas. As a result,UALR shot 54 percent in the second half and 48 percent for the game. Grade: A.
CLAMP DOWN: Arkansas State struggleswhen it doesn’t get to 70 points. UALR held the Red Wolves to 60 on Saturday.Grade: A+.
OFF THE BENCH: UALR didn’t get atremendous amount off the bench, but Tramar Sutherland did give 9 points in 10minutes. And Ben Dillard had 5 points. Grade: B-.
FREE TIME: UALR didn’t get tothe line enough and didn’t make them enough. Well, at least not until the finalsecond of the game when Tramar Sutherland made a pair. ASU was 17 of 20 at thefree throw line compared to UALR’s 10 of 17. That shouldn’t have been goodenough. Grade: D.
Vegas, baby
UALR won the game but didn’tcover the Las Vegas spread of 3.5 points.
Predictions
All five predictors went withUALR and earned victories on Saturday.
Stat of the game
54.2: UALR’s field-goalpercentage in the second half as the Trojans shot 13 of 24.
Always negative
8-15: UALR’s free throw shootingfor the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds on Saturday. Tramar Sutherland madethat irrelevant by sinking two in the final second for the victory.
Keep it positive
167: Arkansas State went thefinal 167 seconds (2:47) without a field goal as UALR rallied for the victory.
Player of the game
UALR seniors D’Andre Williams,Courtney Jackson and Tramar Sutherland share the award. Williams led UALR with18 points and hit the game-tying shot in the final minute. Jackson finishedwith 12 points and 8 rebounds and made some of the slickest scoring moves inthe history of the Stephens Center. And Sutherland hit two free throws with 0.8seconds left for the victory.
Up next
UALR plays in the quarterfinals of theSun Belt Tournament at 8:30 p.m. next Sunday in Hot Springs. UALR will play thewinner of Western Kentucky and Florida International.
