MBB: Stephen F @ Home Wednesday

Not only is this the first conference home game, but it’s also on TV.
I’ve been granted the freedom to go by my boss, and I’m bringing two friends with me. The team could certainly use our support, and it nothing else, it’ll look good on TV if there are people there.

7pm, Farris Center
Bring your headphones to listen to the Sugar Bears when you’re not busy cheering.

SFA (8-7, 2-0)
UCA (5-8, 0-1)

SFA’s two SLC wins are over 0-2 teams. Our lone loss is to a 2-0 team. SFA has wins over not D1 Centenary, Wiley College, Texas College and UT Tyler. So, taking away those games, they are really just a 4-7 team. Taking away UCA’s non-D1 wins, we’re just 3-7.

The Lumberjacks were picked 4th in the West. We were picked 5th in the East. This should be a winnable game. In fact, our schedule has been so much more difficult than their’s that the Bears’ RPI is 217 to SFA’s 303. Lamar, who beat us up pretty good, is sitting way up there at 62. Oregon is the only team the Lumberjacks have played with an RPI better than 141.

RealTimeRPI.com actually puts us as the 11-point favorite (and that we’ll finish with six conference wins). You’ve got nothing to watch on TV tomorrow night, get out to the gym, make some noise and support the guys.

MBB: Bears in Iowa tonight

The Hawkeyes enter tonight’s game after a 82-68 Saturday win over Drake which improved their record to 6-5 this season. Tonight will be the Bears’ first game since the 7-point Arkansas State loss. In that game, LaQuentin Miles only scored three second-half points was held seven points below his average.

Iowa’s only quality win so far has been over Drake. On the other hand, UCA’s only win over a team with an RPI better than 200 was against Eastern Illinois. And if you’re wondering who UCA’s next opponent is – well, it’s Drake on Wednesday night.

Iowa plays 8-10 guys a night and has gotten balance throughout the stat sheet this season. Eight players average more than six points and only one, Matt Gatens, is averaging double-figures. Gatens is a 6-5 senior guard that’s averaging 14ppg. The same is also true of rebounding. The Hawkeyes have just one guy averaging more than 5 a game, but they are still out-rebounding their competition.

They have three guys who are 6-9+ but those guys are currently deeper on the bench. But this isn’t the same UCA team that’s been trotting out undersized players. With Tidwell, Henson, Borden and especially Harks as of late, we have some 6-8+ bodies to throw out there.

It will be important for UCA to take smart 3-pt chances (shooting an abysmal 23% so far) and limit Zach McCabe’s opportunities behind the arc. Equally important is keeping Gatens off the free throw line where he’s an 88.6% shooter.

Catching up on some news

MBB:
The season is over for the men and our first-year head coach. It was a long one. Everyone knew is was probably going to be. Now, with six seniors leaving (and only five underclassmen on the roster), it’s officially rebuilding time. We know about Darius Singleton (avg 16.7pts and 7reb this season) and Malcolm Canada (18.1pts, 5.1ast, 5 reb, 2.7stl). That still leaves four others. More on the two we know about soon.

WBB:
The good news is that the season is not over for the Sugar Bears. They play Stephen F Austin tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 in hopes of winning their next three for their first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. While in Katy, Texas, waiting for tomorrow, the team found out that Megan Herbert was named the conference player of the year. Nakeia Guiden was named honorable mention.

Former Players:
Today is the Pro Day for last year’s seniors. We all know that no UCA player was invited to the combine. Here’s a list of “Non-Combine invitees fun facts” that mentions former Bear/current Jaguar Larry Hart:

Central Arkansas’ Larry Hart (fifth round – Jacksonville) led all drafted non-Combine invitees in sacks with 1.5.

Jacob Ford was set to become a free agent this offseason, and last Wednesday the Titans tendered a qualifying offer at a second-round level. If that confused you as much as me, let me quote the explanation from the same story:

Under the rules of the current collective bargaining agreement, the Titans would be able to either match any offer the players received from another team or would receive a draft pick for compensation in some instances…
[However,] players with at least four years of experience — Tulloch, Ford, Harris and Hall — are expected to become unrestricted free agents in the next CBA. Still, the Titans are covering their bases with those players just in case the next CBA keeps them restricted free agents..

Weather Update

With the snow already falling in central Arkansas, both the men’s and women’s games schedule to be played on Saturday have been postponed. There is no word yet on a makeup date – if any. The women will play in Conway at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The men won’t be able to play in Arlington until Monday at 4 p.m. (think Super Bowl).

The men were scheduled to leave around 11 this morning, but with the condition of the roads from here to Arlington a problem, the decision has already been made.

Farris Center Floor Renovation

UCASports.com has updated the Facebook gallery with what looks like photos of the finished product.

What do you think of the new floor?

Before:

After:

More photos here at the official ucasports facebook page.

Coach Williamson bringing more pub to UCA

One obvious positive mentioned before and after the hire of Corliss Williamson was that he could be a media magnet. He’s already proved that to be true with his Rivals.com story posted on the forum last week. I don’t know that we’ve ever had a feature story on Rivals before – ever.

Now, Arkansas Life – the expensive ($4.99?) magazine produced by the DemGaz – has a big cover story on Coach W’s new job. The good news is that the magazine can be read online for free.

Former NBA basketball player and Razorback legend Corliss Williamson takes on expectations again – as UCA’s new coach.

The three-page story is full of a lot of the same information as other stories, but it does give us this gem:

But don’t think Williamson’s changed his nickname to “Big Warm and Fuzzy.” He’s as competitive as ever. He likes to give God credit for his success, but he admits to “losing my religion sometimes when I’m coaching on the sidelines.”