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http://www.ucasports.com/news/2018/8/9/mens-basketball-bears-to-face-sec-foe-in-season-opener.aspx

Very strong OOC pre-season schedule. Hope we get the team synergy put together pretty fast this fall.

Good looking schedule! It’s going to be an interesting year without Howard! I sure hope we have some guys step up to fill his shoes!

I heard several times last season off line that while Jordan is not replaceable we had lots of new talent coming on line ready to play.........replacing his points is one thing.....replacing his leadership is the big question mark to me....we will see.............Go Bears!!

SLC

Men picked 8th in preseason poll.

Season tips-off tomorrow at Missouri!

GO Bears!

I just heard that the exhibition Hendrix game will be Friday, not Thursday as schedule shows.

@Mizzou

Bears fall at Mizzou but stay in the game......

UCA 20-35=55
MU 30-38=68

Tigers shot much better in H2 and ended up 42% FGs vs Bears 33% although UCA outshot MU 37%-31% from 3....MU +1 on FTs....45-38 for rebs....Bears only had 13 TOs vs 11 for MU....POTO margin 14-13 MU....Tigers had 38-18 advantage on PIP......Kayouloud led Bears with 19 and Jones added 14...held Kevin Puryear to only 2 points in 27 minutes but gave up 19 to Smith and 16 to Tilmon....nice effort overall but need to shoot better..........

Down 30-20 at half........holding MU to 32% FGs but only 27% for Bears.....out rebounded 27-21...only down 3 on TOs........Kayouloud leads with 6 an Jones with 5....

Good start to be up 5-3 then went ice cold.....playing better mid H1 but down 20-10...getting out rebounded 19-12......holding Tigers to 30% FGs....

Kayou-FREAKIN-loud!

19 points, 6 rebounds, 4/8 on three pointers.

He's a welcome addition to the Bears!

Cross-town Game vs Hendrix

HC 34-39=73
UCA 46-53=99 (1-1)

Warriors play 17 tonight.........73 is too many points unless a lot came late .....plus we allowed 36 FTs.........

Bears had 52-12 PIP advantage.............26-12 for POTO.........10-0 fast break points.........FG % 49% v 38%.....neither team hit 3s well..at least Bears hit 77% FTs.........

Bennett led Bears with 21 and Jones added 17.....3 others in double figures.......

Good to get a win and Ozarks is next on Monday at 7pm.........then Pitt, Troy and Saint Louis.........a bit more challenging.........Go Bears!!

@Pitt

UCA 37-34=71
Pitt 48-49=97

UCA v Pitt

FGs: 46% v 49%
3s: 48% v 37%
FTs: 68% v 74%
Rebs: 32 v 38
TOs: 23 v 10

Pitt was +9 in shots taken........ mostly due to being +13 in TOs but also +6 on o-rebs.........Pitt was +20 PIP including +10 fast break points and +17 in made FTs........got to expect that at and ACC team's home court.....Bears had 4 in double figures but Panthers had 5.........Unruh was 15/4, Chatham was 11/4 and Bennett/Koval each had 10.......Koval also had 3 blocks........and 7 rebs.....

Other than TOs Bears seemed to play well and 10 different guys scored.............shooting was not the issue........rebounded well but gave up a lot of rebs also.....wish they had not let Pitt pile on in H2..........

On to Troy for Sunday game...............

Bears stayed within striking distance of the Pitt Panthers for a half Thursday night before falling 97-71 at Petersen Events Center.

The Bears (2-2) led through the first seven minutes of action, by as much as nine points, before foul trouble and turnovers eventually took their toll. UCA was called for 27 fouls, resulting in a 35-13 discrepancy in free throw attempts. UCA was 9 of 13 while Pitt was 26 of 35. The Bears also turned the ball over a season-high 23 times to just 10 for the ACC member Panthers (4-0).

Senior Thatch Unruh kept the Bears close early, scoring 12 of his team-high 15 points in the opening five minutes of the game. UCA led 19-16 at the 13:48 mark of the first half, but Pitt tied it with a three-pointer by Jared Wilson-Frame and never trailed again. UCA had three starters _ centers Hayden Koval and SK Shittu and point guard DeAndre Jones _ pick up two fouls each by the 12:00 mark of the first half.

The Bears stayed within five points on consecutive slam dunks by freshman Khaleem Bennett, the latter with 4:00 left in the half. But the Panthers outscored the Bears 14-8 down the stretch to post a 48-37 advantage at the break. The Bears out-shot the Panthers from the field in the first half, hitting 48.1 percent overall and 58.3 percent (7 of 12) from three-point range.

However, the turnover difference was 14-3 in favor of the Panthers and they scored 21 points off those miscues. For the game, Pitt had 31 points off UCA's 23 turnovers.

In the second half, the Panthers tried to pull away early but a tip-in by Bennett kept UCA within 10 points at 56-46. But from there, Pittsburg outscored UCA 41-25 to lead by as much as 28 points before capping it off with a pair of free throws by Sidy N'Dir with 13 seconds left. Four Bears finished with four fouls, while nine of the 11 Bears who saw action had at least one foul.

Sophomore forward Jared Chatham came off the bench to score 11 points and pull down 4 rebounds for the Bears. Bennett and Koval had 10 points each, with Koval adding a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. UCA finished 10 of 21 from three-point range (47.6 percent), with three each from Unruh and Koval (3 of 3). Wilson-Frame led the Panthers with 20 points, going 4 of 8 from three-point range, while Au'Diese Toney added 15 points as the second of five players in double figures.

@Troy, 11/181/18

UCA 34-43=77 (2-3)
Troy 43-39=82

Outshot by 52% to 46% FGs and 42% v 37% 3s........both had 12 TOs....Troy +5 rebs but Bears #2 o-rebs.......Bears #3 on shots taken and #3 on 3s.....Troy #6 on FTs made.......really a close game in stats....... means a winnable game got away.......Eddy Kayouloud tallied 30 for Bears, Deandre Jones added 19 and Hayden Koval added 15............no one else close to 10......

Next is @Saint Louis next Saturday........

@Saint Louis, 11/24/18

UCA 30-31=61
SLU 34-39=73

This one got away............ended the game with only 1/12 FG attempts............trailed only 49-48 with 11:57 to go...........

UCA v SLU

FGs: 36% v 42% ...actually Bears had 4 more shots
3s: 32% v 44%......Bears +1 on made 3s
FTs: 73% v 69%........Bills got to the line +14 time
Rebs: 24 v 47.........Bears had only 5 o-rebs
TOs: 13 v 18

D'Andre Jones tallied 22 and Eddy Kayouloud next at 8........

When we win these games we will have taken a step up for sure......not far away...... Go Bears!!

Rebs: 24 v 47.........Bears had only 5 o-rebs

Seriously?

UALR@UCA

I-40 Series, Round 1

UALR 32-33=65 (3-4)
UCA 33-45=78 (3-4)

UALR/UCA

FGs: 41% v 51%.....14 fewer attempts and same # made
3s: 28% V 50%....Jones 4/7
FTs: 19% V 74%....Trojs only 4/21.......Bears 14/19...cannot count on +13 often
Rebs: 41 V 37 ... John son had 12 for UALR
TOs: 17 V 17.....too many.......numerous due to poor handling of press at end

D'Andre Jones really shot lights out........7/11 FGs, 4-7 3s and 5-6 FTs.....23/7/7....per Justin 3rgs straight game with career high...Koval 15/6.......Bennett and Unruh both in double digits........both playing two regulars short.

First meaningful win of season...........good test for SLC play..........fought back in H2 and really took ff early H2.........did not handle last 5-6 minutes well especially..... the press but hit shots late and FTs to put game away........Round 2 at The Rock on 12/8

Next up is @Louisville next Wed (12/5) at 7pm.....Go Bears!!