In mythical WNIT seeding, UALR's first-round game doesn't match up

Thought this was interesting and it backed up some of what we reported yesterday.

Just for fun, the Columbia Tribune seeded the 64-team WNIT bracket. Of course, the WNIT doesn't actually do this. Well, at least they don't publicly release it.

By the CDT's estimation, UALR would have been a 3 "seed" and is playing at Pacific, which would have been a No. 1 "seed."

The other No. 1 "seeds" all play much lower "seeds" in their first round game. Duquesne plays 11th seeded Akron, San Diego State plays 15th seeded UC Santa Barbara and Toledo plays 12th seeded Butler.

Read on:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/blogs/beyond_box_score/wnit-huge-stepping-stone-and-what-if-it-had-seeds/article_eb0074da-90d7-11e2-8941-001a4bcf6878.html

We've updated our UALR future roster as the spring recruiting period nears

We are not yet aware of any potential transfers this spring. For now, we'll assume everyone who is scheduled to return will return for the 2013-2014 season. If they do, and if everyone stays throughout their eligibility, this is what the UALR roster looks like going forward.

Of course, it's likely it won't stay exactly the same. We'll try to update with additions and subtractions as we become aware of them this Spring.

UALR will fork over $10,000, WNIT even more for cross-country trip

Postseason is going to cost UALR some bucks after all.

UALR chose not to participate in the pay for play postseason men's basketball tournaments, even one in which it wouldn't have cost them anything. UALR is playing in the women's National Invitation Tournament and will have to fork over $10,000 up front.

Why? Because UALR failed to bid to host a home game in the tournament (according to last week's Statewide). The WNIT then sent UALR to play Pacific on Friday night in Stockton, Calif.

WNIT bylaws state that "a team pays the first $10,000 of its travel expenses (air, hotel, bus) during the tournament and the WNIT reimburses the team for all expenses above that level. It does not matter now many games that includes; once the $10,000 has been met, the reimbursement kicks in and covers the entire tournament)."

Considering round trip flights from Little Rock to San Francisco departing Thursday are currently priced well over $1,000 and a charter flight would be even more expensive, UALR will easily meet the $10,000 limit in its first game. That doesn't include hotels, ground transportation once they reach California and per diem.

The positive going forward is that UALR doesn't have to pay to travel again throughout it's life in the tournament. UALR could also bid on future home games, but the price gets more expensive the further teams advance in the tournament.

I have to question why the WNIT, which will have to pick up all of UALR's additional expenses on this trip and all expenses going forward, would send the Trojans to California. It's very unlike what they typically do.

UALR-Pacific will be one of the tournament's best first-round matchups. But even that seems to violate the principles the WNIT utilizes.

While the WNIT doesn't seed teams, its bylaws do state that "first-round pairings will be determined initially in team strength (i.e. a top tier team plays a bottom tier team; a middle tier team plays a middle tier team) and then may be adjusted with consideration to school location, conference and prior meetings among the teams, among other factors."

It's hard to believe the WNIT would consider UALR to be a "bottom tier" thing. UALR's RPI finished at 65 this season. Likewise, Pacific was very good with a 47 RPI. It's hard to imagine either was "middle tier" either. To compare, Memphis (128 RPI) is traveling to Arkansas (78) for a first-round game.

Did the WNIT punish UALR for its unwillingness to host? Whatever the reason, something seems askew.


No postseason for UALR after all tournament lineups announced

With the announcement of the NCAA, NIT, CBI and CIT fields comes the end to the 2012-2013 UALR basketball season. The Trojans end the season at 17-15.

I've been asked several times over the past week whether or not UALR was invited to play in the CBI or CIT. Both tournaments talked to UALR but I don't know if a formal invitation to play was extended. Therefore I can't tell you whether or not UALR even had an invitation to turn down.

But given UALR's past stance on these tournaments, I never thought it was likely they would participate.

This was from an Associated Press story in 2009 when a 23-8 UALR team missed out on the NIT after a semifinal loss in the Sun Belt Tournament. UALR then turned down bids to both the CBI and CIT.
"The CBI and the CollegeInsider -- I give those people a lot of credit for starting new tournaments and that's great -- but our goal was to play in the NCAA or the NIT," UALR Athletic Director Chris Peterson said.
UALR's resume was not as solid this year. But judging by the teams that were selected, UALR would have definitely been in the mix. UALR did practice last week but it's hopes for postseason appeared to have ended when players were sent home for Spring Break.

UALR had only one senior this season in walk-on Ted Crass. If everyone returns, UALR will have one of the most experienced lineups in Division I next season.

Burn The Horse UALR award winners

No idea if UALR will accept the invitation to either the College Basketball Invitational or College Insider Tournament. In the meantime, we’ll go ahead and give out our Burn The Horse yearly award winners.

BTH PLUS MINUS LEADER

Junior Will Neighbour was the runaway winner.

BTH VOTE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

As voted in our nightly polls throughout the season by Burn The Horse readers, freshmen point guards John Gillon and Josh Hagins tied for player of the year points. Neighbour was third and sophomore Michael Javes fourth.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

No doubt is was junior Leroy Isler, who routinely drew difficult assignments and came through much of the time. Isler seemed to really embrace playing defense. That’s a great trait to have in a teammate.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Since the majority of the roster was made up of newcomers, this was difficult. In the end, we decided to go with freshman point guard John Gillon. Gillon averaged 10.6 points this season.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

There were a lot of different starting lineups utilized throughout the year. And even though he started 11 of the 25 games he appeared in, we went with sophomore Taggart Lockhart. His loss due to injury was definitely felt late in the season.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

I’m not sure there’s a more inspirational story than that of senior guard Ted Crass. If everyone worked as hard in their life as he did for UALR, we’d all be a lot more successful.

UALR's season of questions ends with more questions

For UALR, a season that began with so many questions ended with more questions after Saturday’s loss to Florida International in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament.
John Gillon

Playing one of the youngest rosters in NCAA Division I, UALR finished with a 17-15 record and tied for fourth in the Sun Belt Conference. UALR has no scholarship seniors and could return everyone. That should be a reason for tremendous optimism.


But, considering where this team was in January, the finish is completely disappointing. UALR was on pace for a second place finish before a four-game collapse that saw the Trojans have to scrap in the final week just to get a tournament bye.

BTH Morning After: Deja vu for UALR as opposing guard torches Trojans

Saturday night’s 69-54 loss to Florida International featured something that has been a consistent issue throughout the 2012-2013 season. The opponent had a guard that UALR could do nothing to stop.

This time it was Florida International’s Malik Smith. He made 8 of 10 three-pointers and finished with 25 points as the Golden Panthers blew UALR away in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals.

The rest of the FIU roster made just 3 of 16 three-pointers on the night.

Watch highlights from UALR's quarterfinal loss to Florida International

UALR blown out in quarterfinals of Sun Belt Tournament

Saturday night at the Sun Belt Tournament was a microcosm of much of UALR’s season.

Slow start. Check.

Turnovers. Check.

Inability to get defensive stops. Check.

Rebounding issues: Check.

The result was a disappointing 69-54 loss to Florida International on Convention Center Court in Hot Springs. UALR’s season ends at 17-15.

BTH Live Tweetcast: UALR vs. FIU game updates tonight at 6


UALR takes on Florida International at 6 p.m. tonight at Hot Springs Convention Center in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament. Check back at 6 p.m. when we hope to have live video courtesy of the Sun Belt Digital Network. We'll also have our live Tweetcast with game updates, observations, commentary and more.
Mobile users. Follow along on Twitter at this link: CLICK HERE

BTH Gameday: UALR and FIU different teams with similar seasons

6 p.m. tonight
Hot Springs


UALR and Florida International, two pretty similar teams in a lot of ways, meet at 6 p.m. tonight in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Hot Springs Convention Center.

No, the teams don’t have similar personnel. UALR has a bigger, inside oriented team while FIU has more than solid guard play. But they did have similar seasons.

Saturday's Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals are set


Summit Arena/Convention Center ready for Sun Belt to begin

A look at the Hot Springs Convention Center Court, where UALR will take on Florida International at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Follow the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament with Tourney Twitter from BTH

We're following those following the Sun Belt Tournament with our Burn The Horse Tourney Twitter located in the left column of the site. Official school accounts, beat writers, broadcasters, bloggers and fans are represented.

Friday's Sun Belt Tournament matchups

BTH Scout: UALR, FIU combined for 89 turnovers in two meetings this season

6 p.m. Saturday
Hot Springs

UALR and Florida International played two very different types of games in their two meetings this season. After splitting those games, UALR meets FIU at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament at Hot Springs Convention Center.

UALR ran to an 88-76 victory on Jan. 12 at the Jack Stephens Center. Then FIU took control of a defensive struggle on Feb. 21 in Miami, winning 65-52.

BTH Up next: Sun Belt Tournament 5. UALR (17-14) vs. 4. Florida International (16-13)

WHEN 6 p.m. Saturday
WHERE Hot Springs Convention Center
TICKETS $14 adults; $1 children 3-17; children 2 and under free. Available at Summit Arena Box Office.
ALL-TIME SERIES UALR leads 17-9 (FIU leads 1-0 in Sun Belt Tournament)
THIS SEASON At Little Rock: UALR 88, FIU 76; At Miami: FIU 65, UALR 52
VEGAS SAYS TBA
RADIO KABZ 103.7 in Little Rock (Ray Tucker)
TV None
VIDEO WEBCAST Free through Sun Belt Digital Network
PROBABLE ROTATIONS

AND ONES  UALR and FIU both went 3-7 on the road in Sun Belt Conference play. FIU’s victories came at Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe. UALR’s victories came at Western Kentucky, North Texas and ULM. … FIU is 3-2 in their past 5 games and 6-4 in their past 10. UALR is 2-3 in their past 5 and 5-5 in their past 10.

After three losses, Shields' UALR Trojans back on track in rematch games

6 p.m. Saturday
Hot Springs

Going into this season, UALR Coach Steve Shields’ teams had been really good in blowout revenge games. Under Shields, the Trojans were 10-1 in the rematch game against a team that had beaten them by 10 or more points in the first meeting.

Then UALR lost to Louisiana Tech at home. And UALR lost to South Alabama at home. And they lost to Middle Tennessee at home. And just like that, the Trojans were 10-4 in such situations.

UALR got back on track this week with its victory over Arkansas State (ULL would have been another except the first game was only decided by nine points). UALR lost the first meeting of the season with Arkansas State 86-62. UALR responded by winning 78-71 in the rematch.

The Trojans will get another chance on Saturday when they meet Florida International at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament in Hot Springs. FIU defeated UALR 65-52 in the last meeting between the teams Feb. 21 in Miami.

UALR's Neighbour only Trojan on 15-man all-Sun Belt teams

Will Neighbour was the only UALR player recognized today by the Sun Belt Conference in its postseason awards.

Neighbour, a junior forward, was named third team all conference. He began the season as a preseasaon first team selection.

Middle Tennessee's Kermit Davis was named coach of the year, South Alabama's Augustine Rubit player of the year, Middle Tennessee's Bruce Massey defensive player of the year and Louisiana-Lafayette's Shawn Long freshman of the year.

The first team included: Rubit, Florida Atlantic's Greg Gantt, Florida International's Tymell Murphy, Louisiana-Lafayette's Elfrid Payton and Middle Tennessee's Marcos Knight.

Preseason player of the year Tony Mitchell of North Texas made the second team.

Will Neighbour was UALR's most efficient this season

There are a lot of ways to evaluate basketball players. But in just about all of them, junior Will Neighbour was UALR’s most proficient player this season.

Click to enlarge
He led the Trojans in points, rebounds and minutes played. But he also dominated the BTH UALR Plus/Minus statistics all season long.

Neighbour was a team best +77 for the season and +45 in Sun Belt Conference games. He was also the leader at +0.09 plus/minus per minutes played and +2.7 plus/minus per games played. Neighbour also finished with UALR’s best rating six times, most on the team, and in the top five 20 teams, also best.

UALR really spread the wealth around this season. In the first 15 games, UALR had 11 different plus/minus leaders.

Hagins was on the plus side in 19 of the 31 games. That was one better than Neighbour’s 18 of 31.

Nobody was better than Neighbour in home games, where he finished +148. Freshman Josh Hagins was best on the road, finishing at -55. Freshman James White was a whopping 270 points better at home than on the road.

White turned in both the best and worst performances of the season. White was +48 in UALR’s victory St. Gregory’s and -37 in UALR’s loss to Ole Miss.

UALR to provide free student bus to Hot Springs for Sun Belt Tournament

The UALR Department of Athletics will provide free busing to UALR students wishing to attend Saturday's Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament games at Summit Arena in Hot Springs.
The No. 2-seeded UALR women begin the day at 2:30 p.m. when they face off against the winner of No. 7 South Alabama and No. 10 Troy in Summit Arena, while the No. 5-seeded UALR men's team plays No. 4 FIU on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Convention Center Court.
 
Signups for the buses to Hot Springs will take place Wednesday, March 6 and Friday, March 8 from 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. at the Donaghey Student Center. Those wishing to ride the bus will be asked to put down a $5 deposit to reserve a seat, but will have their money returned upon loading the bus on Saturday, March 9. The buses will depart from the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will return to Little Rock following the UALR men's basketball game against FIU, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
The bus is also scheduled to leave at the same time on Sunday, March 10 to watch the women's game at 2:30 p.m. followed by the men's game at 6:30 p.m. if both teams advance. UALR Athletics will also sponsor a bus if either or both teams make the finals on Monday, March 11.
If you have questions regarding the student bus, contact Andrea Angel by phone at 501.569.3393 or email at alangel@ualr.edu.
- UALR Sports Information

UALR remains unsure if sophomore Taggart Lockhart will return

Last night on The Steve Shields Show, UALR Coach Steve Shields addressed the situation with sophomore guard Taggart Lockhart.
Taggart Lockhart


Lockhart has been out of action after two concussions in a two-week period. The second came after a hard foul in the second half of the game against Arkansas State in Jonesboro.

Shields said: "Still having some headaches in the mornings and [UALR Athletic Trainer Michael Switlik is] working with him daily. Not real sure if we'll get him back this year. Anytime you're dealing with those head injuries it's a touchy deal. With the NFL and all the concussions and the way that's played out, you've got to make sure before you bring those guys back."

Time is running out for Lockhart to return. UALR begins Sun Belt Tournament play at 6 p.m. on Saturday against Florida International.

Lockhart is averaging 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.7 minutes this season. Even missing as many games as he has, Lockhart ranks third on the team in plus/minus for Sun Belt Conference games.

UALR 4-0 all-time in Hot Springs wearing maroon uniforms

UALR will meet Florida International at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament. As the lower-seeded team, UALR will be the visitors and will wear maroon uniforms.

The only time UALR has worn maroon at the Sun Belt Tournament in Hot Springs was in 2011 when the Trojans swept all four games to win the championship. They switched from black uniforms to maroon that season and wore them for victories against South Alabama, Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee and North Texas.

Stadium Journey gives mostly positive review of UALR's Jack Stephens Center.

Read it here:
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/jack-stephens-center-s773/

Fox 16 highlights from Saturday's UALR-ASU game

UALR AD speaks out: Students shouldn't have rushed the court

After UALR beat Arkansas State on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center, the student section rushed out onto the court to celebrate. They might have been rushing out to get senior walk-on Ted Crass as much as anything. But should they have been out there?

UALR Athletic Director Chris Peterson doesn’t think so. This is what he had to say this morning on an appearance on KABZ-FM 103.7 in Little Rock:

“First and foremost, I want to apologize to the Arkansas State fans because they’re great fans. They were out in full force and it was a great environment. 
“But for us, being the fifth seed going into the Sun Belt Basketball Tournament, you don’t storm basketball courts. That won’t happen again as long as I’m there. Our kids were great. I loved them but you just don’t do that. 
“You beat a No. 1 at home or you hit a shot to win a conference tournament or to win the conference, that’s another thing. It was a great game, a great environment. Our students were absolutely fabulous. But you don’t need to storm the court when you’re not the conference champion.”
I can go both ways on this. The student section was as good as it’s ever been – not in numbers but in actions. And anyone participating should be strongly encouraged to come back. But the victory was only a slight upset and didn’t have any effect on the Sun Belt Tournament.

It’s not the first time students have rushed the court in recent years. But the others seemed a bit more appropriate. Here are three that come to mind:

UALR 64, Louisiana-Lafayette 63 (Feb. 26, 2005)

Darius Eason’s buzzer beater gives UALR the East Division championship over Louisiana-Lafayette at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock. It was the final game there before moving to the Jack Stephens Center.

UALR 71, Creighton 69 (Nov. 25, 2008)

UALR rallied from a huge first-half deficit, winning on a basket by Mike Smith in the closing seconds. Creighton wasn’t ranked at the time but was coming off a couple of seasons when they made some national noise.

UALR 79, Arkansas State 77 (Feb. 4, 2010)

Alex Garcia –Mendoza’s 42-footer beat the buzzer as UALR rallied for an improbable victory over Arkansas State at the Jack Stephens Center.

BTH Morning After: Shields salutes senior walk-on, gives 3 minutes

Ted Crass (right) at the opening tip.
Give full credit to UALR Coach Steve Shields for saluting seniorwalk-on Ted Crass.

Crass was honored as part of a pregame ceremony on Saturday. Then henot only got the start against rival Arkansas State, he played more than threeminutes. And he held his own.

That included diving on the floor to record a steal in the officialgame statistics.

I’ve seen coaches start seniors in situations like this and pull themout at the first dead ball. But Shields didn’t go that route. He stuck with himfor a couple of minutes.

Great night for a great kid. And a great gesture by Shields.

Sun Belt Tournament seeding set; UALR plays at 6 p.m. on Saturday

The seeding is set for the Sun Belt Tournament in Hot Springs.

UALR is the No. 5 seed and will play Florida International at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Convention Center Court in Hot Springs.

Photos from tonight's UALR-ASU game

Great student section at tonight's UALR-ASU game

BTH Vote: Who was the UALR player of the game on Saturday vs. Arkansas State?




  
pollcode.com free polls 

UALR uses 16-0 run to overcome Arkansas State on Saturday

UALR took the first punch and then fought back.

The Trojans rallied in the second half to beat Arkansas State 78-71 on Saturday before a raucous crowd at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

The victory clinched a tie for fourth place overall in the Sun Belt Conference. UALR is tied with Florida International at 11-9. Florida International wins the tiebreaker with UALR on the basis of sweeping Arkansas State this season.

UALR will play Florida International in the first round next Saturday. As the visiting team, UALR will wear maroon uniforms. The Trojans have never lost a game in Hot Springs wearing maroon.



UALR beats Arkansas State 78-71

More to come.

BTH Live Tweetcast: UALR vs. Arkansas State game updates starting at 7

UALR hosts Arkansas State at 7 tonight at the Jack Stephens Center. By the time this game tips, the MTSU-WKU and FIU-FAU games will be well under way. We'll keep an eye on those games and provide live game updates, observations, commentary and more.
Mobile users. Follow along on Twitter at this link: CLICK HERE

BTH Gameday: Hard-working Crass honored before tonight's UALR game

7 P.M. TONIGHT


UALR will say goodbye to its only senior today. But I suspect this won’t be the last time we see him at the Jack Stephens Center. His story is one of hard work, perseverance and the ability to put the goals of his team way ahead of his own.

UALR’s lone senior this season is walk-on Ted Crass. He hasn’t even played 30 minutes in his entire UALR career. But in his time here, he’s done as much for the UALR basketball program as anyone who has ever worn the uniform.

Crass gave up playing basketball in high school but found that he still loved to coach the game. And when he went to UALR, he signed on as UALR’s team manager. He quickly rose to head manager, doing whatever was required of him. Sometimes that meant getting to practice hours before the players. It also meant staying way past the time when they went home.

BTH Up Next: UALR (16-14, 10-9) vs. Arkansas State (18-10, 12-7)

WHEN 7 p.m. Saturday
WHERE Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock
ALL-TIME SERIES Arkansas State leads 47-28
LAST MEETING ASU 86, UALR 62 (Feb. 14)
VEGAS SAYS TBA
RADIO KABZ 103.7 in Little Rock (Ray Tucker)
TV None
AND ONES  For much of the season it appeared this game would decide the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division. But a UALR four-game losing streak coupled with a four-game ASU winning streak propelled the Red Wolves to the division championship last weekend. … This is the second consecutive year UALR and ASU are ending the season in Little Rock. … In three previous Little Rock games, Little Rock native Trey Finn has averaged 9.3 points, 3 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He’s made 46 percent of his field goals and 31 percent of his free throws.

Sun Belt's 4, 5, 6 seeds still to be determined on Saturday

Eight of the 11 seeds in next week's Sun Belt Tournament have been decided. Only the fate of Florida International, UALR and Western Kentucky remains to be decided.

If Florida International wins on Saturday vs. Florida Atlantic it will be the No. 4 seed. If UALR and WKU remain tied, UALR wins that tiebreaker.

If Florida International loses on Saturday and UALR and Western Kentucky both win their games, then there will be a three-way tie at 11-9. UALR wins the three-way tiebreaker for the 4 seed. WKU and FIu would have to break the tie for the 5 seed. They split in the regular season. WKU would win the tiebreaker for its victory over the top seed (vs. Middle on Saturday). WKU would be the 5 and FIU the 6 if that happens.

Western Kentucky can still get to the 4 seed if FIU and UALR lose and the Hilltoppers beat Middle Tennessee. That would make FIU the 5 and UALR the 6.

If we've done the math correctly, Troy got locked into the 10 spot with their loss to Middle Tennessee coupled with North Texas' victory over Arkansas State. That locked North Texas into the 9. Louisiana-Lafayette is locked into the 8 and Florida Atlantic will be the 7.

Saturday's games include:

  • Louisiana-Lafayette at Louisiana-Monroe (4 p.m.)
  • Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky (5:30 p.m.)
  • Florida International at Florida Atlantic (6 p.m.)
  • Arkansas State at UALR (7 p.m.)
  • South Alabama at Troy (7:30 p.m.)

BTH Morning After: UALR will be either 4, 5 or 6 seed at Sun Belt Tournament

UALR’s first-round opponent in the Sun Belt Tournament will be either Florida International, Western Kentucky or Louisiana-Monroe. But the date of that game remains to be decided.


With one game remaining in the regular season, UALR will either be the No. 4, 5 or 6 seed in the tournament. If UALR wins on Saturday vs. Arkansas State, it will get a bye. The opponent will be FIU unless FIU loses to FAU on Saturday and WKU beats Middle on Saturday.

If that happens there would be a three-way tie. UALR would get the 4, WKU the 5 and FIU the 6.

UALR gets the 5 seed if FIU beats Florida Atlantic on Saturday and either UALR beats Arkansas State or WKU loses to Middle Tennessee.
But if UALR loses and Western Kentucky wins, UALR will slip to the 6 seed and will play Louisiana-Monroe in the first round.