BTH Analysis: Freshman Hill's contribution small but mighty in UALR victory

Some of the best minutes of Thursday's game were turned in by freshman Maurius Hill.

CLICK TO ENLARGE ROTATION 

Hill was probably on pace to not even get in the game most of the night. Then James White got hurt. Then Gus Leeper got in foul trouble. Then Mareik Isom got in foul trouble. That's when Hill made his first appearance of the night. UALR was clinging to a 42-41 lead with 11:46 left.

After a missed free throw by Will Neighbour, Hill got the offensive rebound and scored to give UALR a 48-44 lead with 9:12 left.Those would be his only points and rebounds in five minutes of action. But UALR outscored Texas State 12-6 during his five minutes. A +6 for five minutes of work is pretty amazing.

It's the reason UALR Coach Steve Shields has tried to get Hill a few minutes here and there throughout nonconference play. Hill has been soft with the ball at times this season, but he came up big when UALR had to have it on Thursday.

In the game plus/minus statistic, Will Neighbour and Gus Leeper came in at +8 to lead the Trojans.

In the Four Factors To Winning, UALR won two. The Trojans had a much better rebound rate, probably the difference in the game, and free throw rate. Texas State shot a better effective field goal percentage and had a slightly better turnover percentage.