BURN THE HORSE
Most of the time, fans have a pretty good idea who the starters are
going to be before the opener. That’s just not the case with this year’s UALR
team.
 |
Tennessee-Martin at UALR7 p.m. tonightJack Stephens Center |
But where to go at point guard? It’s likely whoever is running the
point tonight – for all 40 minutes of the game – will be playing their first
NCAA Division I basketball game. And that’s kind of scary.
Ultimately, freshmen Josh Hagins (6-2) and John Gillon (6-0) should be
fine. And they may even be fine tonight. But until they get out there under the
lights you just can’t say for sure.
But we’re about to find out.
UALR opens its 2012-2013 season at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jack Stephens
Center against Tennessee-Martin. The
Skyhawks have the look of an opening night cupcake. But if you look closer,
they might not have the cream filling.
Tennessee-Martin went winless last season in the Ohio Valley
Conference. But they did so without Terence Smith, who missed all of last year
with a medical redshirt. He averaged 11.3 points as a freshman. And Mike Liabo,
who averaged 15.2 points, played last season with a hip injury. Might he be a
little better?
“We’re very versatile on the wing,” UT Martin Coach Jason James said. “We
have four guys who can be effective in different ways.”
The Skyhawks also feature a pair of Arkansans who no doubt will bring a
supporting group to the Stephens Center tonight. Myles Taylor (Little Rock
Hall) scored in double figures 21 times and topped 20 points five times. He was
named Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. The other Arkansan is senior
Jeremy Washington, who played in all 31 games last season.
Expect Tennessee-Martin, which made 16 of 24 three-pointers in its
exhibition game, to come in playing like its hair is on fire. UALR needs to
extinguish that fire quickly if it hopes to dine on something sweet.
BURN NOTICE
UALR hasn’t lost a home opener since Nov. 23, 1999, when Sidney
Moncrief’s Trojans opened what was then called Alltel Arena with a 93-64 loss
to Oklahoma State. Since then, home opener victories have been against Central
Arkansas (twice), Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas (twice), Navy, Central
Methodist, University of the Ozarks, Louisiana Tech, St. Gregory’s (twice) and
Northwestern State.
KEYS
CONFIDENCE KILLER
Tennessee-Martin has two Arkansans on its roster and will be riding a wave of
confidence after scoring 109 points in an exhibition victory over Illinois
College. UALR needs to smother that confidence early or this could be a long
night.
TURN, TURN, TURN It is
pretty standard that you need to win rebounding and turnovers to win. But with
no experienced point guards on the roster, UALR is going to be tested. The
Trojans need to handle the pressure and win the turnover battle.
GO BIG OR GO HOME
Tennessee-Martin doesn’t have a player bigger than 6-7 while UALR could trot
out three 6-10s at the same time. UALR needs to use its height advantage to
both score inside and find open looks on the outside. It will be interesting to see how the new strength UALR's Michael Javes put on during the offseason is used against 6-7, 250-pound Myles Taylor of UTM.
VEGAS, BABY
UALR opened as a 10.5-point favorite but the line quickly dropped to
9.5 points. This morning it's down to 8.5 points. (Update: The line continues to move. It's now 8 points).
PREDICTIONS
JEFF SAGARIN (0-0) UALR 74.1, UTM 60.1
CBS SPORTSLINE (0-0) UALR 73, UTM 63
THE SPORTS NETWORK (0-0) UALR 75, UTM 60
REAL TIME RPI (0-0) UALR 74, UTM 60
OMNI RANKINGS (0-0)
BTH AVERAGE (0-0) UALR 74, UTM 61
OMNI RANKINGS (0-0)
BTH AVERAGE (0-0) UALR 74, UTM 61
