Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The UALR men's basketball team (21-7, 14-3) shot 59.3 percent from the field on Thursday night on its way to an 80-54 thrashing of New Orleans (11-18, 6-21) at the Jack Stephens Center. The win over UNO was UALR's 14th Sun Belt victory of the season, tying this year's squad with the 1995-96 Trojans for the most conference wins in school history.
UALR heads into Saturday's regular season finale tied with WKU atop the Sun Belt Conference overall standings at 14-3. The Trojans close out the regular season at home against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, while the Hilltoppers face Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro. The winner of the Sun Belt's regular season championship earns an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament.
The Trojans took a 17-point lead into the half on Thursday night by closing out the first half with a 12-0 run, and put the game away by shooting 66.7 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. UALR connected on 8-of-12 from three-point range, with freshman Curtis Jackson scoring nine points off a perfect 3-for-3 effort and sophomore Matt Mouzy going 4-for-8 from three-point range en route to a team-high 12 points.
“I thought it was a total team effort with all eleven guys contributing tonight. I couldn't be more proud of our guys' for the energy level, intensity and enthusiasm they brought to the floor,” said head coach Steve Shields. “The biggest thing tonight was that we had good shot attempts. We weren't forcing shots and we were really sharing the basketball. We played very unselfish basketball for 40 minutes.”
UNO's Kyndall Dykes led all scorers with 20 points off 7-of-15 shooting in the losing effort. Obi Ikeakor chipped in 10 points off the bench by going 5-for-5 from the field, while Darrian McKinstry racked up seven assists in 17 minutes of playing time.
The Privateers shot just 38.0 percent on the night, including an 0-for-10 effort from three-point range. UALR enjoyed a +14 margin on the glass (37-to-23) and outscored UNO's bench 39-to-16. The Trojans racked up 21 assists on 32 field goals, with freshman Lionel Foster tallying eight points and a team-high six assists.
Nine of UALR's 11 players scored at least five points in Thursday's win. Senior Brandon Patterson chipped in 10 points and six rebounds, while senior Shane Edwards totaled eight points and a game-high nine rebounds while taking just four shots.
Tied 17-all at the 10:00 mark of the first half, the Trojans scored 10-unanswered points as part of a 22-5 run to close out the half and take a 39-22 lead into the break. Senior John Fowler sparked the run with a three-point play to put the Trojans on top 20-17, and Curtis Jackson followed with a three pointer to make it a six-point game.
A jumper by Foster and a fastbreak layup from freshman Courtney Jackson extended UALR's lead to 10 points, 27-17. The Privateers answered with a quick 5-0 spurt to pull within five, 27-22, but the Trojans finished off the half with a 12-0 run to take a 39-22 lead into the locker room.
UALR shot 53.3 percent from the field in the first half (16-of-30) and played to a +10 margin on the glass (22-to-12), while holding UNO to a .321 field goal percentage. Fowler led all scorers with nine points at the break, while Ikeakor paced the Privateers with eight points off 4-for-4 shooting.
The Trojans scored the first six points out of the gate to push their lead to 23 points, 45-22, and led comfortably throughout the second half. Up 58-42, Mouzy hit four-consecutive three pointers as part of a 14-3 run to push UALR's lead to 27 points, 72-45, with 4:37 remaining.
UALR returns to action Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Louisiana-Lafayette, which will be Senior Night for Patterson, Fowler, Edwards and LaMarvon Jackson.