If UALR is to make a Sun Belt Conference
run, it needs more from senior forward Will Neighbour.
Wait, you say. Isn’t Neighbour leading
UALR at 16.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game? He is. But as UALR prepares for
tonight’s 7 p.m. matchup against Grambling State, Neighbour’s numbers are
trending downward in recent games.
They still aren’t bad. In the past
four games, Neighbour has two double-doubles. But his scoring average has been
five points fewer than it was in the first seven games. He’s still getting basically
the same number of attempts as he was early in the season, he’s just not making
as many shots.
He shoots 54 percent from the field
this season. But he shot 60 percent in the first seven games and 42 percent
since. He shoots 45 percent from the three-point line. But he shot 53 percent
in the first seven games and 33 percent since.
Why? It's certainly not for a lack of effort. Neighbour plays as hard as anyone night in and night out.
Perhaps it was just the grind of so much travel and so many road games. A little break at Christmas might make a world of difference.
Or it could just be the attention he's getting. There’s no doubt opposing teams
are keying heavily on Neighbour, making him work for everything he’s getting.
That won’t change. But if that happens, UALR has to have others make opponents
pay for overplaying Neighbour. And that hasn’t consistently happened yet.
BURN UNIT
This is the final nonconference game
for UALR, which will open Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday in San Marcos,
Texas, against Texas State. With its 4-7 record, UALR’s nonconference season
hasn’t been all that different from 2011-20012. UALR was 3-11 in nonconference
games that season. But UALR went on the
road and won the first two Sun Belt games (at North Texas and Denver) and ended
up winning the West Division with a 12-4 conference record.
INJURY REPORT
Both junior point guard J.T. Thomas
and freshman post Andrew Poulter are continuing to get closer to returning to
action, but it doesn’t appear either will be ready to go tonight.
Thomas has missed the past seven games
after getting injured Nov. 22 against Southern. He is continuing to progress
but has not been able to resume full speed basketball drills. Poulter hasn’t
played at all this season but was recently cleared to resume basketball
activities. He now needs to get into sufficient game shape in order to be available
for minutes.
UPDATE (10:56 AM): Thomas is definitely out tonight and likely headed back for MRI. He's apparently no closer to returning at this point.
UPDATE (10:56 AM): Thomas is definitely out tonight and likely headed back for MRI. He's apparently no closer to returning at this point.
KEYS TO VICTORY
Get out of the gate: Grambling has
already played since Christmas but UALR hasn’t. The Trojans need a fast start
tonight.
Build Confidence: UALR needs some
productive minutes from the likes of Mareik Isom, Stetson Billings and Maurius
Hill tonight.
Pedal to the metal: We’ve seen UALR
get off to some good starts. But they’ve been unable to put someone away. We’re
looking for UALR to deliver the knockout punch they’ve been missing this
season.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
No line for tonight’s game. It appears
Vegas hasn’t set a line on a Grambling game this season.
