What’s it going to take for UALR to get its first road victory of the
season? The answer: A more complete effort.
UALR made drastic improvement in rebounding on Saturday, holding a
42-30 advantage, including 19-11 in offensive rebounds. But UALR had 21
turnovers and allowed South Alabama to shoot 44 percent from three-point range.
The result was a 77-62 loss.
- UALR has had games where they’ve taken care of the basketball.
- UALR has had games in which they’ve rebounded well.
- UALR has had games where they’ve shut the opposition down from the perimeter
But UALR hasn’t played the type of complete game it’s going to take to
win on the road.
BURNING FEELING
Since UALR’s fall semester grades were posted on Friday afternoon and
everyone played on Saturday, we assume that means everyone is eligible for the
spring semester.
STAT OF THE GAME
27-7: South Alabama had a 27-7 advantage in points off turnovers. Those
20 points negated any good statistics UALR put up on Saturday.
BTH KEYS
70 Or Bust: This one really should be graded on a pass/fair basis. UALR
either holds South Alabama to fewer than 70 points or it doesn’t. And on
Saturday, UALR didn’t. UALR has yet to win when an opponent reaches 70 points.
Grade: Fail.
Restrict Rubit: South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit finished with 19
points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. At least he only had 3
offensive rebounds. Grade: D.
Turning Point: UALR had 21 turnovers to South Alabama’s 10. Grade: F.
THE GOOD
Thrust into the starting lineup, freshman Kemy Osse finished with 11
points, 3 rebounds 1 assist, 2 steals and 0 turnovers.
THE BAD
Sophomore Michael Javes recorded a goos egg on Saturday and only had
one field-goal attempt in 23 minutes.
THE UGLY
15-26: UALR made just 57.7 percent of its free throws on Saturday. That
included three misses by Kemy Osse and two by Ben Dillard.
VEGAS, BABY
South Alabama was an eight-point favorite and easily covered. UALR,
which is winless on the road this season, is 3-4 as an underdog against the
spread this season.
PREDICTIONS
Saturday’s prediction winners were OmniRankings, Real Tme RPI and Jeff
Sagarin. It should be noted that I mocked OmniRankings 77-62 score prediction.
And they almost nailed it. Props to them.
UP NEXT
UALR players go home for Christmas break and won’t report back to
campus until Dec. 26. Since UALR moved the South Alabama game from Dec. 27,
they don’t play again until Dec. 29, when they visit Louisiana-Lafayette.
