Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The UALR men's basketball team led from wire-to-wire Saturday night en route to a 73-47 win over Denver in the Trojans' Sun Belt Conference opener. UALR (6-6, 1-0) opened the second half on a 12-0 run, holding the Pioneers scoreless for the first 7:06, to build a 17-point lead on their way to opening conference play with a victory for the fourth-consecutive season.
After allowing five-straight opponents to shoot 50 percent or better from the field, the Trojans held the Pioneers (1-11, 0-2) to a .333 shooting percentage on Saturday, including a meager 6-of-25 in the second half (24.0 percent). The Trojans, meanwhile, shot 48.1 percent for the game, including 43.8 percent from three-point range (7-of-16), and a season-best 88.9 percent from the foul line (16-of-18).
“I was concerned about two things coming in tonight, our effort and intensity and enthusiasm, combined as one, and our ability to pull for one another. That's all I care about. We can talk about offense, we can talk about shots, but that is all I care about,” said UALR head coach Steve Shields. “It is like I told them before the game. When we come back here in the locker room, if we are fortunate enough to get a win, there won't be a lot of jumping around and excitement because I won't allow it. I'll get excited when we string off, not wins, but some performances where we have had effort, intensity and enthusiasm while pulling for one another.”
Senior Rashad Jones-Jennings came up with his seventh double-double of the year, totaling 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, helping the Trojans to a 36-to-25 edge on the glass. Junior Terrance Akins went 4-for-6 from three-point range and finished with a team-high 14 points.
Denver's DaShawn Walker led all players with 19 points in the loss, going 7-of-17 from the field in 34 minutes off the bench. The Pioneers committed 19 turnovers on the night, while UALR racked up 14 assists off just 13 turnovers. Sophomore Buddy Harding and freshman Steven Moore paced the Trojans with five assists a piece.
UALR scored the first two baskets of the game to take a 4-0 lead following a bank shot from Harding as the shot clock expired. Denver pulled within a point, 9-8, off a three-point play from Tyler Bullock with 15:57 on the clock, but that would be the closest the Pioneers would get the rest of the way. Jones-Jennings answered with a three-point play of his own to extend UALR's lead back to four, 12-8.
Leading 18-16 with 8:17 to play, the Trojans embarked on a 9-0 run, sparked by a three-pointer from sophomore Brandon Nichols, to take a 27-16 lead with 4:10 remaining. Walker responded with back-to-back three pointers to cut Denver's deficit to five points, 27-22, and help the Pioneers stay within five points at the break, 32-27.
Up five at the start of the second half, the Trojans used a jumper from sophomore Lekheythan Malone, who finished with 10 points and four rebounds, and a three pointer from Akins in the first minute and a half to go ahead 37-27. Denver called a timeout to regroup, but the Trojans did not let up and extended their lead to 17 points, 44-27, by scoring seven unanswered points out of the timeout. Akins capped off the 12-0 run with another three pointer to put the Trojans ahead 44-27 with 16:10 to play. Denver never threatened again.
A three-point play from Walker with 12:54 to go marked Denver's first points of the half, and snapped a 7:06 scoring drought. The Pioneers committed six turnovers and went 0-for-6 from the field during that stretch.
Saturday's win snapped UALR's five-game homecourt losing streak in conference play, and improved the Trojans' record to a perfect 6-0 against Denver in Little Rock.
UALR returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 21 when it hits the road to take on Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. After that, UALR will enjoy a week layoff before traveling to Lafayette, La. to face the Ragin' Cajuns on Dec. 28.
