No Moncrief, but UALR provides thrill for Marquette

PETE PERKINS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MILWAUKEE -- When Marquette agreed to play host to the UALR Trojans this season, it did so with Sidney Moncrief in mind.
Moncrief, a former NBA star with the Milwaukee Bucks, was UALR's head coach when the contract was signed. He had led UALR to a 4-24 record in 1999-2000, its worst since it moved to NCAA Division I in 1978.
A celebration for Moncrief was planned at Bradley Center, Marquette and the Bucks' home court. Moncrief's departure to the Dallas Mavericks, and Porter Moser being hired as his replacement, was not expected.
Neither was the kind of competition UALR offered Saturday.
The Trojans fell a layup short of overtime as the Marquette Golden Eagles held on for a 48-46 victory before a Bradley Center crowd of 8,471.
"We originally signed the contract because of Sidney," Marquette Coach Tom Crean said. "We planned to get together with the Bucks and honor him before the game. We thought it would draw some interest.
"Then he leaves and Porter takes over, and they've just played wonderfully."
UALR played well enough to have the final shot, with a chance to win or tie in regulation.
Senior guard Alan Barksdale hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 46 with 45 seconds left.
A layup by junior guard Cordell Henry put Marquette (4-2) up 48-46 with 19 seconds left.
UALR (5-2) called timeout with 14.9 seconds left.
"We put in a play with two options," Moser said. "We wanted to go inside if [junior forward] Damion [Ninkovic] was open, or otherwise look for Barksdale outside."
Barksdale inbounded to freshman point guard Bryan Crislip. Crislip crossed midcourt and passed to senior forward Stan Blackmon at the top of the key.
Blackmon went with his first option and passed inside as Ninkovic worked clear of junior forward Olumna Nnamaka.
"We were going to take the first open look," Moser said. "And we had a good look."
Ninkovic turned to the basket, dipped under Nnamaka and attempted a layup.
It rolled off the rim.
Three seconds remained.
Ninkovic got the rebound, and again shot inches from the basket.
His shot rolled off, and was batted to the perimeter as time expired.
"I took the pass, ducked in, and took the shot," Ninkovic said. "I thought it was going in. Everything was perfect. I just didn't put the ball in the hole."
Moser said he didn't regret going to Ninkovic on the play.
"I'll live with Damion taking that shot every time," Moser said.
Crean added: "That's a tough play to lose a game on, because they played so well."
UALR trailed 34-23 after junior guard David Diggs' shot from the key with 13:15 to play.
But the Trojans' half-court trap led to five Marquette turnovers in five minutes, and UALR took a 39-38 lead on a three-pointer from Barksdale at 7:32.
A layup by Ninkovic put UALR up 43-38 with 5:34 left.
"We wanted to do something to pick up our aggressiveness," Moser said. "Our traps do that. It got us a few turnovers, and a few baskets. And it kind of got us confident."
"We know that when we get in lull offensively, our defense will get us going," Barksdale said.
Marquette responded with a seven-point run, and led 45-43 after Henry's three-pointer with 3:56 left.
UALR's next points, Barkdale's final three-pointer, tied the game.
The loss was UALR's second this season with a chance to at least tie on its final possession.
Barksdale missed a three-point shot at the buzzer in Baylor's 54-51 victory over UALR on Dec. 2.
"This is no moral victory," Barksdale said. "This was a loss. It makes you sick to your stomach if you lose the game. It doesn't matter if it's against Duke or Liberty. It doesn't matter. We work too hard to lose to anyone. It's definitely not a moral victory. It's sickening, that's what it is."
UALR shot 34 percent from the field, and a season-low 17.6 percent from three-point range.
UALR entered the game shooting an NCAA Division I-best 48.5 percent on three-pointers.
"I vowed I wouldn't bring that up to our team, because I was afraid it would jinx us," Moser said. "Maybe I should've told them. It might've given them some confidence.
"We missed some shots, but I'll live with those shots. Some people might look at Alan Barksdale and think he's taking too quick a shot in transition. But if he has an open look, he should take it. He's that good of a shooter."
But the game was decided by the result of a layup, and was close enough to impress Crean.
"We knew they were going to get better when we scheduled this game," Crean said. "We just didn't know they were going to get that much better this soon. Coach Moser has done a great job with those guys, going into a tough situation, and really turning it around."

This article was published on Sunday, December 10, 2000

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