UALR

GameNight: UALR 71 - Creighton 69

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:24:54 -0500

Start: Nov 25 2008 - 8:00pm

Preview & Prediction: By Raphielle Johnson

A pair of undefeated teams meet in Little Rock when the Creighton (3-0) Blue Jays take on the Arkansas-Little Rock (3-0) Trojans. Dana Altman’s team has blown out all three opponents, averaging more than eighty-three points per game. Three Blue Jays average fifteen points per game, led by sophomore guards P’Allen Stinnett and Booker Woodfox at 15.7 points per game. Even with those two getting the job done, a bench player was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week. Junior Cavel Witter received the honor for his play in blowouts of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Oral Roberts, averaging twenty points per game. The area where the Blue Jays will be tested, and it could have an impact on whether or not they win their first road game of the year, is on the backboards. While Creighton is a -3.7 in rebounding margin, UALR is a + 4.7. And unlike their first three opponents, the Blue Jays face a team capable of making them pay on the offensive end for such a disparity.

Four Trojans are averaging double figures in scoring, with Matt Mouzy (15.7) and Shane Edwards (15.0) both at fifteen points per game. The closest call for UALR was a one-point win at Pepperdine, with the Trojans escaping two attempts at a game-winning shot and a 1-6 stretch from the charity stripe in the game’s final 1:29. People will likely head into this game with more regard for Creighton’s program, but don’t ignore what Steve Shields and his staff has done in Little Rock. UALR has won its division title (the Sun Belt is divided into two divisions) in three of the last five seasons, and were picked along with North Texas to win the Sun Belt West this year. Besides Mouzy and Edwards, keep an eye on junior Steven Moore, who scored fourteen points in the Trojans’ win over Louisiana Tech. Moore was suspended for their season-opening games in California and is a candidate for conference honors this year. If Creighton can hold their own on the glass they’ve got a shot to win this one.

Winner: Creighton Margin: 1-4 pts.

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the Sun Belt?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:02:15 -0500

Sun Belt Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:51:49 -0500

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Conference Rank: 18th

Conference Page

All-Sun Belt Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Josh White	North Texas	So
G	Dominic Tilford	So. Alabama	Sr
F	Desmond Yates	MTSU	Jr
F	Alex Galindo	Florida Int'l	Sr
F	Carlos Monroe	Florida Atlantic	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Carlos Monroe Desmond Yates		Points: Desmond Yates 16.0 Rebounds: Carlos Monroe 9.5 Assists: Kevin Kanaskie 3.3

Sun Belt Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

79	South Alabama	Sun Belt	1	NCAA
95	Middle Tenn St	Sun Belt	2
123	West Kentucky	Sun Belt	3
175	Ark Little Rock	Sun Belt	4
191	LA Lafayette	Sun Belt	5
201	North Texas	Sun Belt	6
213	Florida Intl	Sun Belt	7
231	Florida Atlantic	Sun Belt	8
241	Denver	Sun Belt	9
247	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	10
264	New Orleans	Sun Belt	11
280	LA Monroe	Sun Belt	12
307	Troy	Sun Belt	13

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the Sun Belt?

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Rise & Fall: The Sun Belt

State of '08: Arkansas

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:44:53 -0400

What is the top D1 basketball program in each state.. and which program is the worst? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a state by state ranking based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Arkansas. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

Arkansas - With so many unfamiliar faces on next year's roster, no one's really sure what to expect.. will the Razorbacks be bad or really bad? Also on the negative end, the glory days of the early to mid-nineties (National Champs in '94) seem like distant memories. Regardless, there's not much competition for the title of top team in this state.

UALR - The Trojans bounced back from two down seasons to win 11 Sun Belt games, and won 20 games against all competition. Still, its been years since UALR was relevant on the national scene, or even in the Sun Belt title race. 1996 was their last postseason trip (NIT), and 1990 the last NCAA Tournament bid (which was the end of coach Mike Newell's late eighties glory run).

Arkansas State - The newly titled Red Foxes (nee Indians), Sun Belt rivals of UALR, are coming off a brutal season that included just 8 D1 wins, an RPI of 294, and a 9-game losing streak (at least one of their 8 wins was over UALR..) John Brady was hired in the off-season to right the ship, and hopefully get the program to the Big Dance for just the 2nd time ever.

Central Arkansas - The Fighting Pippens (this is where Scottie went), are new to D1 ball having completed just two seasons with the big boys. All things considered, last year's 10-16 record against D1 teams isn't that bad, and their 280 RPI topped Arkansas State and UAPB.

UAPB - While the Golden Lions are bad by any standard, 310 RPI last year, just two wins over Top 250 teams in the past three seasons, members of the SWAC (the worst league in D1), etc, this program is actually substantially better than it was just a handful of years ago. From 1999 to 2004, UAPB won just 17 D1 games combined in 6 seasons.

Yesterday: Alabama

State of '08: The Introduction

Rethinking Rebounding: Being #1 Not so Great

Jon Teitel — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:10:45 -0400

RETHINKING REBOUNDERS

For any NBA general managers who need rebounding help (and who doesn’t these days), I implore you to think twice before taking the best rebounder in college basketball from this past season. Not Durant or Oden; not Fazekas or Big Baby. Don’t get me wrong, as I think Rashad Jones-Jennings of Arkansas-Little Rock is a fantastic player: he led the Trojans in scoring and blocks; led the nation in rebounding; made more than 50% of his field goals; and put up a double-double against three teams who made it to the NCAA tournament (Texas Tech, Belmont, and North Texas). However, being the best rebounder in the country does not often translate to success at the next level.

This season Jones-Jennings became the 15th different player in NCAA history to lead the nation in rebounding while simultaneously averaging more rebounds than points. The tallest of those other 14 big men (and the only one to average more than 20 PPG) went on to have an outstanding career in the NBA, while four others played several years in the NBA, and two others had a cup of coffee in the NBA/ABA, but half of the 14 did not play a single minute of professional basketball after being the best in the country on the boards:

Year Name, School, Height, Class RPG PPG NBA
1952 Bill Hannon, Army, 6-3, SO 20.9 16.3
1953 Ed Conlin, Fordham, 6-5, SO 23.5 18.2 7 years
1954 Art Quimby, Connecticut, 6-5, JR 22.6 16.3
1955 Charlie Slack, Marshall, 6-5, JR 25.6 19.4
1959 Leroy Wright, Pacific, 6-8, JR 25.1* 14.8 ABA
1960 Leroy Wright, Pacific, 6-8, SR 22.4* 15.9 ABA
1964 Bob Pelkington, Xavier, 6-7, SR 21.8 13.1
1965 Toby Kimball, Connecticut, 6-8, SR 21.0 19.8 9 years
1967 Dick Cunningham, Murray State, 6-10, JR 21.8 15 7 years
1971 Artis Gilmore, Jacksonville, 7-2, SR 23.2 21.9 12 years (also ABA)
1975 John Irving, Hofstra, 6-9, SO 15.4 13.4
1976 Sam Pellom, Buffalo, 6-8, SO 16.2 14.9 4 years
1979 Monti Davis, Tennessee State, 6-7, JR 16.2 12.1 2 games
1999 Ian McGinnis, Dartmouth, 6-8, SO 12.2 8.2
2002 Jeremy Bishop, Quinnipiac, 6-6, JR 12.0 11.1
2007 Rashad Jones-Jennings, AR Little Rock, 6-8, SR 13.1 12.5
*From 1956 through 1962, rebounds were calculated by highest individual recoveries out of total by both teams in all games.

There were three other rebounding champs for whom I was unable to find scoring stats (if anyone can track them down, please let me know):

Year Name, School, Height, Class RPG PPG NBA
1966 Jim Ware, Oklahoma City, 6-8, SR 20.9 ? 2 years
1978 Ken Williams, North Texas, 6-7, SR 14.7 ?
1981 Darryl Watson, Mississippi Valley, 6-7, SR 14.0 ?

So, if Jones-Jennings can learn how to score more, or grow 6 inches before the draft this summer, he just might catch on with a team who needs help on the glass. If not, then perhaps he can take a trip overseas to battle some soft foreign guys in the paint.

Sun Belt Conference Preview

CHN — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:46:45 -0500

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

Sun Belt Preview

Conference Rank: 18th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Courtney Lee, WKU, G/F

Kendrick Davis, North Texas, G

Bo McCalebb, New Orleans, G

Isaac Wells, Arkansas St, F

Rashad Jones-Jennings, UALR, F/C

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
75	West Kentucky	1	NCAA
116	Arkansas Little Rock	2
150	New Orleans	3
162	South Alabama	4
185	North Texas	5
198	MTSU	6
204	Troy	7
212	Denver	8
217	Florida Atlantic	9
227	Arkansas State	10
252	LA Lafayette	11
282	LA Monroe	12
303	Florida Intl	13

Preseason Head Coach Q&A's:

Rex Walters - FAU

Kermit Davis - MTSU

Steve Shields - UALR

2006-07 Preview: Team's #111-120

Joel Welser — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 16:49:42 -0400

Capsules of teams ranked 111th to 120th in CHN's 144 Teams in 144 Days Preview.