Sugar Bears-McNeese Showdown #1

The Sugar Bears got their win Wednesday night over a pesky Southeastern La. team to set up the first of two regular season showdowns with the reigning Southland Champions, the McNeese State Cowgirls. McNeese has won 7 in a row, sport the best record in the SLC (16-4), and are a perfect 6-0 this year in the SLC. The Cowgirls beat Nicholls State in Lake Charles on Monday night and have had a few extra days to prepare to make the trip to Conway.

McNeese State is ranked #11 in this week’s Colleginsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, and again feature the Baggett twins and Kendra Wells, MSU’s top rebounder. I believe both teams are ranked 1-2 in 7 or 8 categories in the SLC heading into the match up tomorrow. They finished 15-1 last year in SLC play, with their lone loss coming in OT here at the Farris Center. In fact, MSU’s last 2 SLC losses have come at the hands of the Sugar Bears.

UCA is now 15-4, 5-1 in league play, and sit 1 game behind the Cowgirls after the win over SLU. The Sugar Bears, ranked #17 in this week’s Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, are riding a 4 game winning streak, the third such streak this season, and are still perfect at home at 11-0. I hope the fans show up in force like they did for the Indiana and Alabama games, this is a big SLC battle to say the least. Tip off at the Farris Center is set for 2 pm, and the radio broadcast will begin at 1:40 pm on The Bear 91.3 and UCAsports.com.

Sugar Bears host Southeastern Louisiana

The Sugar Bears continue their three game home stand tonight at the Farris Center when they host the Lady Lions of Southeastern Louisiana at 7 pm. UCA enters tonight’s game 14-4 overall, and sit in 2nd place in the SLC East with a 4-1 mark, 1.5 games behind McNeese. (who comes to town on Saturday)  The girls have won 3 in a row since the SFA loss, 6 of their last 7 and 10 of  the last 12.

The Sugar Bears lead the SLC in several categories, and are even ranked in the top 10 nationally in defense in 2 categories, and top 15 in 3 different categories.   The Sugar Bears remain #17 in this week’s Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. McNeese is up to #11 now.

Meanwhile, Southeastern La. comes in on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Lady Lions (5-12, 0-4) have lost 4 in a row, and 8 of their last 9 games. They have only 1 win over a true Division 1 opponent (Jackson St.) and have another over a transitional team. (New Orleans) The Lady lions were swept by UCA last year and have lost 3 of the last 4 in this series. The Sugar Bears lead the series 6-5 overall. Also, UCA tries to remain perfect at home this season. (10-0)  So hopefully see you at the Farris tonight, 7 pm tip, 6:40 pregame on UCAsports.com (internet only)

SBs vs Lamar 1.21.12

Well the 13-4, 3-1 Sugar Bears finally come home for 3 straight games starting Saturday afternoon when Lamar visits in the first game of the doubleheader. Tipoff is at 2 pm and both games will be heard live on The Bear 91.3 and UCAsports.com beginning at 1:40 pm.

UCA is coming off the long trip and big comeback win over Nicholls, Lamar enters the Farris Center 9-8 overall, and 1-2 in SLC play with a full week off and a win at UTA in their last game a week ago Saturday.

The Sugar Bears have won 2 in a row in the series after the dominating defensive effort holding Lamar to a school SLC game record low 37 points a couple of weeks back in the 62-37 win at Beaumont.

Hope to see you guys there tomorrow afternoon! I know a great crowd would be nice to see after the 1st 3 of 4 SLC games have been on the road. Plus I’m sure the men wouldnt mind having a big crowd on hand either now that they’ve won 2 in a row as well!

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.