Defensively, UALR did more than
enough. Offensively, UALR didn’t do nearly enough. The result was a
disappointing 67-58 loss to Georgia State on Thursday at the Jack Stephens
Center in Little Rock.
UALR shut down R.J. Hunter, the likely
Sun Belt player of the year, but couldn’t follow that up with anything on the
offensive end. UALR shot 36.8 percent from the field but made only 2 of 14
three-pointers. And both of those treys came after the game’s outcome had
already been decided.
But worse than all of that, UALR got
pounded on the boards 41-35 by a Georgia State team that is dreadful at
rebounding.
It leaves Georgia State at 10-0 in Sun
Belt play and riding a 14-game winning streak. UALR drops to 7-4 and badly
needs a victory against Western Kentucky on Saturday if it has any hopes of
securing one of the top two seeds at next month’s Sun Belt Tournament.
James White had 14 points and 7
rebounds to lead UALR. Josh Hagins and Leroy Isler added 11 points.
But UALR
got next to nothing offensively from Will Neighbour, the reigning Sun Belt
player of the week. Neighbour, who badly injured an ankle late in last Saturday’s
game at South Alabama, was visibly limping throughout the night. He played 26
minutes, scoring just 4 points while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.
Isler stifled Hunter from the start
and put the Georgia State star in foul trouble most of the night. Hunter still
finished with 14 points in 23 minutes. But one of his two three-pointers came
with Isler out of the game.
While the Trojans largely shut Hunter
down, they couldn’t do anything with Ryan Harrow early and Devonta White late.
Harrow had 13 points while White had 22 and dominated the second half.
UALR trailed 29-21 at halftime but got
off to a dream start to the second half. Isler baited Hunter into a fourth
personal foul and UALR rallied to take a 32-31 lead on a free throw by Isler
with 15:08 left.
Then the Trojans self destructed. Hagins
had back-to-back turnovers when UALR had offensive numbers. Then an Isler
turnover led to a layup by GSU’s Manny Atkins. Another turnover by Stetson
Billings led to a layup by Devonta White and a 40-35 GSU lead.
UALR’s inability to score then finally
caught up with them. Georgia State
pushed the lead to 12 points and cruised to the victory.
