What might UALR look like next year? Or more likely two years from now?
It might look a lot like what Middle Tennessee does right now.
Middle Tennessee won its 12th consecutive game on Saturday,
beating UALR 66-61 in Little Rock. The Blue Raiders’ rotation features five
juniors and five seniors.
They’re a physically imposing bunch who appeared to intimidate UALR
early in the game. But then something happened. UALR fought back.
Freshman Josh Hagins didn’t back down when confronted by Middle
Tennessee’s Bruce Massey. UALR junior Will Neighbour was involved in a double
technical foul with Middle Tennessee’s Marcos Knight.
Every time Middle Tennessee pushed, UALR pushed back.
Ultimately, it was too little too late. But we saw a fight from this
UALR team that was absent on Thursday night when Arkansas State pushed the
Trojans around Jonesboro for 40 minutes.
When UALR made the commitment to rebuild its roster with mostly
freshmen following the 2011 NCAA Tournament, it was pretty clear this year
would be one of inexperience. Give this group a full year with strength coach
John Barron and they’ll start to look more like the physical specimens wearing
the blue uniforms on Saturday night.
And next year, UALR may develop from the pushee to the pusher.
BURN UNIT
UALR sophomore guard Taggart Lockhart didn’t play on Saturday. He had a
concussion and missed last week’s game at Louisiana-Monroe. He returned on
Thursday but took another shot to the head and had to leave that game. His
status going forward is not known.
STAT OF THE GAME
24-29: Virtually flawless free throw shooting by Middle Tennessee
helped the Blue Raiders hold off UALR’s rally.
BTH KEYS REVISITED
Make it take it: Middle Tennessee is undefeated this season when it
shoots a higher field goal percentage than its opponent. On Saturday, Middle
Tennessee shot 40.8 percent to UALR’s 39.3 percent. Close wasn’t close enough.
Grade: C.
Back that glass up: Middle Tennessee dominated rebounding with a 41-32
advantage. Grade: F.
Come out swinging: UALR needed a
solid start. The Trojans weren’t bad defensively but they couldn’t even get a
good look offensively in the first half. Grade: D.
THE GOOD
21: UALR forced Middle Tennessee into 21 turnovers and held a 21-13
advantage in points off turnovers.
THE BAD
13-22: UALR’s free throw shooting, several of which were the front end
of 1 and 1s.
THE UGLY
25: UALR made just 6 of 24 first-half field goals for 25 percent.
VEGAS, BABY
Middle Tennessee was between an 8.5 and 9.5-point favorite. Those
betting UALR were winners.
PREDICTIONS
Everyone went with Middle Tennessee and everyone was a winner.
UP NEXT
UALR heads to Florida and needs to win both if it has any hope of
winning the Sun Belt’s West Division.
