UALR rally stalls out at Western Kentucky

PETE PERKINS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- A big shot and a big rebound stopped another big comeback bid by UALR.
Junior center Chris Marcus scored 20 points Saturday night to lead the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to a 59-49 victory over the UALR Trojans before a crowd of 4,800 at Diddle Arena.
Marcus' offensive rebound at 1:47 helped stop UALR's rally from a 15-point deficit.
"He's good," UALR freshman center Jake Yancey said. "He's definitely the best big man I've played against."
Senior guard Nashon McPherson's three-point play with 8:53 left gave Western Kentucky (11-5, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference) a 48-33 lead.
But Western Kentucky would scored only two points over the next 51/2 minutes.
Western Kentucky held a 50-39 lead after two free throws by Marcus at 5:21. Turnovers on the Hilltoppers' next two possessions let UALR back in the game.
UALR (8-6, 1-3) responded with six consecutive points, and was within 50-45 when Yancey put back a miss by senior forward Stan Blackmon at 3:40.
"We didn't handle the ball quite as well as we had," Western Kentucky Coach Dennis Felton said. "I think we lost our concentration a little bit, and that let them get back in it."
UALR's return to contention was similar to what it showed Thursday in its 69-65 loss at Denver.
Denver held a 17-point advantage before UALR rallied.
"I'm pleased that the guys never quit," UALR Coach Porter Moser said. "That makes two games in a row. I'm pleased with that, but I just told the guys that I don't want to see any pleasure in their faces. Not now, not back in the hotel, and not while we're traveling back to Little Rock. We lost. We've shown a little slippage lately, and that's on me. Now we just have to get back to practice and turn it around, and get ready to take it out on Arkansas State."
UALR plays host to Arkansas State on Thursday at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock.
"I don't think any of us are satisfied coming close," Blackmon said. "I want to win. That's an emotion we all have to keep."
Blackmon led UALR with 20 points, his fourth consecutive game with at least that many.
After Yancey's final basket, junior guard Tremain Rowles hit a running jumper from the lane to give Western Kentucky a 52-45 lead.
Senior guard Alan Barksdale, who spent much of Saturday in a Bowling Green hospital with an injured foot, missed a three-point attempt on UALR's next possession.
What followed for Western Kentucky doomed the Trojans.
Western Kentucky worked the shot clock down before Rowles missed a three-pointer.
Marcus got the rebound.
Blackmon fouled out when he tripped over sophomore guard Alex Finger into Marcus, who hit two free throws to give Western Kentucky a 54-45 lead with 1:47 to play.
"Rowles hit a big shot," Moser said. "And Marcus, what can I say? I'm going to put up a copy of the Western Kentucky media guide on our bulletin board, and let them see the tape. They'll see what they have to do in the off-season. Jake [6-9] and Too Tall [freshman center Darius Eason, 6-9] fought really hard out there, but they weigh 217 pounds. They need to get bigger and stronger."
Marcus, 7-1, weighs 285.
"Rowles did some good things for us," Felton said. "But what I thought what he did best was his defensive play against Barksdale."
Barksdale hit 2 of 8 shots from the field, and 1 of 7 from three-point range. He was 3 of 10 and 1 of 6 at Denver.
UALR shot 34 percent from the field against Western Kentucky.
"Shooters go through this," Moser said. "We'll get out of it. They just have to keep shooting, and start knocking a few down.
"But they really locked up on Barksdale. I don't think he had an uncontested shot tonight. Teams work hard against him. You have to give credit to Western Kentucky."
"They did a pretty good job," Barksdale said. "Still, I missed three shots that were open."
Barksdale spent much of Saturday at a Bowling Green hospital with an injured foot. An early X-ray showed he might have suffered a stress fracture. Later tests revealed the injury was less significant, and he was allowed to play.
"My foot felt OK," Barksdale said. "But my legs just felt a little heavy. Going to the hospital took me completely out of my routine. Instead of getting up at 8 for breakfast, I got up an hour earlier to have my foot checked. Then I had to go back. I missed our shoot-around. I missed the pregame meal.
"On top of that, this has just been a tough trip. We play at Denver, then we travel all day yesterday. It was tough. But, we'll get the day off tomorrow, and then we'll come in Monday and get back on track."

This article was published on Sunday, January 14, 2001

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