BURN THE HORSE
Tonight’s game might be Jacksonville’s first visit to theJack Stephens Center, but the Dolphins are hardly a stranger to UALR fans.
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JACKSONVILLE AT UALR7:30 tonightJack Stephens Center |
UALR (2-2) hosts Jacksonville (2-2) at 7:30 p.m. tonight ina meeting of former Sun Belt Conference mates. The game is part of the HoopsFor Hope Classic, which will continue on Saturday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
UALR and Jacksonville have met 16 times with UALR holding a13-3 all-time advantage. In fact, UALR has won the past eight meetings betweenthe teams. However, they haven’t played since a Jan. 24, 1998, game at BartonColiseum. UALR won 88-73.
Jacksonville, which was once a Sun Belt powerhouse beforeUALR’s time in the league, now plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference.Jacksonville has been to the postseason three of the past four seasons, playingin the NIT twice and the CIT once.
BURN NOTICE
After his opening night 13-point, 13-rebound game, UALRjunior Will Neighbour was asked how his head felt just days after a prettyserious concussion.
“Spinning. Definitely spinning,” he said.
That might help explain his struggles in a pair of losses toLouisiana Tech and Ole Miss. But Neighbour looked like his old self again onMonday, scoring 17 points as UALR upset Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
BTH KEYS
PAINT POWER: Jacksonville outscored Missouri State 20-16 in pointsin the paint on Monday. UALR has to utilize its size advantage to win thisstatistic tonight.
LET IT FLY: UALR only needed to make 2 of 5 three-pointersin Monday’s victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Trojans will probably have tomake a few more than that tonight and Jacksonville is holding opponents to 23.7percent from behind the arc.
BIG START: Jacksonville is 2-0 this season when leading athalftime. UALR hasn’t trailed in the second half at home this season. Somethinghas to give.
VEGAS SAYS
Las Vegas has yet to set a line for tonight’s game. This isthe first time this season there has been no UALR line.
PREDICTIONS
USA Today’s Jeff Sagarin rates UALR and Jacksonville almostidentically this morning. He gives five points for home-court advantage infavoring the Trojans tonight.
THESPORTS NETWORK (4-0) No pick
REAL TIMERPI (4-0) UALR 76, Jacksonville 60
JEFFSAGARIN (3-1) UALR 75, Jacksonville 70
CBSSPORTSLINE (3-1) UALR 71, Jacksonville 66
OMNIRANKINGS (0-0) Should be available beginning Saturday
BTHAVERAGE (4-0) UALR 74.0, Jacksonville 65.3
