BTH Morning After: Body bag games, blowout losses worth four victories to UALR

BURN THE HORSE
I remember when they used to call basketball guarantee games body bag games. Maybe they still do. UALR certainly got their money’s worth out of a couple of body bag games this year.

BTH MORNING AFTER

I guess I’m attempting to be funny when I write that. But I’m also pretty serious. UALR got exactly what it wanted out of a 40-point loss at Ole Miss and a 34-point loss at Cincinnati.
Obviously, they didn’t want blowout losses. But what they did want is cash. And what they did with the cash was as successful as it could be.
UALR took the money it received from the guarantee games with Ole Miss and Cincinnati and bought four home games with it – three of which they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.
The games included:
  • An 84-68 victory over Tennessee-Martin;
  • A 59-43 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee;
  • A 78-56 victory over Jacksonville;
  • And a 91-30 victory over St. Gregory’s.
The rest of UALR’s nonconference schedule included games as part of a home-and-home series with Louisiana Tech and Tulsa and two games in Mexico against SMU and South Carolina.
So, UALR is 7-4 on the season and right where we hoped they’d be at this point. They’ve won the games they were supposed to win and lost the games they were supposed to lose. No reason to panic yet in spite of the lopsided totals in the losses.

BURN BABY BURN

At one point during Thursday’s game UALR had 25 points and 24 turnovers. If you want to look at the positive, UALR scored its next 28 points with only 8 turnovers. It’s not much, but we’ll take it on a night like this.

STAT OF THE GAME

32 Hey, here’s another positive. Believe it or not, UALR’s 32 turnovers on Thursday were not a school record. The record of 35 was set in 1985 in a loss to Providence. Of course, that Mike Newell-coached team turned its season around and eventually beat Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.

THE GOOD

Junior Will Neighbour had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists a steal and a blocked shot on Thursday.

THE BAD

UALR turned the ball over on 39 percent of their possessions on Thursday. Honestly, it felt like more.

THE UGLY

UALR’s four losses this season have come by an average of 26.0 points.

KEYS REVISITED

The matchup: Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick had 18 points in 27 minutes. But UALR did a good job on him early in the game. That keeps it from a total failure. Grade: D.
Toughen up: UALR was beaten 39-32 in rebounding and didn’t handle Cincinnati’s physical pressure. Grade F.
Jump around: UALR did shoot 40 percent when it managed to get the ball across half court. Grade: C.

VEGAS, BABY

UALR was a 20.5-point underdog and lost by 34.

PREDICTIONS

Everyone took Cincinnati in a blowout. That makes all predictors winners tonight. Real Time RPI continues to lead the season standings.

UP NEXT

UALR goes through final exams and has 10 days off until taking on Tulsa at the Stephens Center. Probably the best thing that could come out of this week is the consecutive days of practice this team hasn’t had since the season opener.

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