Playing without the injured White, UALR was never in it and was
dominated by Arkansas State 77-49 at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
Much like last Saturday’s blowout loss to Georgia State, the ultimate result
didn’t come unexpected. The margin and ease with which Arkansas State won likely
did.
"You can't get beat 13 on the glass and have only 2 assists. ," UALR Coach Steve Shields said. before apologizing to the UALR fans who made the trip to Jonesboro. "It's one game. Unfortunately it's a big game. I'm very sorry to our fans who drove up here."
Arkansas State jumped out to a big lead early in the first half and
UALR never threatened. A big reason was the disappearance of UALR senior Will
Neighbour.
Without White to take some of the pressure off, Arkansas State went all
in on stopping Neighbour. Outside of foul-prone Gus Leeper, none of White’s other
replacements – Mareik Isom, or Marius Hill – provided much in the way of an offensive
threat.
Neighbour, averaging more than 18 points per game, finished with the worst
game of his UALR career. Facing a double team every time he touched it,
Neighbour went 0 for 12 from the field.
"They doubled him in the post and crowded him all over the floor," Shields said.
But he was hardly alone. UALR made only 14 field goals the entire game.
Leeper’s 10 points led UALR. He was effective when in but had to sit
much of the first half after picking up three fouls. His replacement, Mareik
Isom, picked up a couple of quick fouls and wasn’t a factor.
UALR returns to action at home on Thursday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
