Sun Belt Sports Fans

Arkansas-Little Rock 62, Middle Tennessee State 58

Middle Tennessee State and Arkansas-Little Rock each entered a Saturday afternoon game at Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock evenly matched, giving the aura of a game that would be played closely. Sure enough, it was. The game was a defensive struggle throughout, with neither team being able to break away. Neither team led by more than eight points, and there were twelve lead changes and thirteen ties in the game. UALR finished the first half on a 10-0 run to go up 30-23, but lost that as MTSU went on a 8-0 run to start the second half. The game acquired a yo-yo form after that.

The final tie came at 57. With 1:37 left, Matt Mouzy hit his third three-pointer of the game (he finished with 9 points) after being left alone for a split-second too long atop the arc, giving the Trojans a 60-57 lead. MTSU got a free throw after that, but failed to score again and the Trojans (15-13, 7-6) picked up a 62-58 win over the Blue Raiders (14-14, 9-6).

The Trojans got 17 points from Solomon Bozeman, who was the only Trojan in double digits. Mouzy had 9 points to lead the Trojan bench, which chipped in 24 points. In such an evenly played game, that ended up being the difference maker, as the Blue Raiders’ bench was outscored 24-3 by their Trojan counterparts. James Washington led Middle Tennessee with 17 points. JT Sulton added 15 and Jason Jones had 14.

Head coach Kermit Davis had his Blue Raiders playing various different defensive schemes to try and limit Bozeman’s touches, but in the end it ended up not being enough as Bozeman hit 4 of his 8 shots and went to the line 11 times. Getting the ball to Bozeman seemed to be coach Steve Shields’ attack method, and it worked early on. But the true test came in the second half, after Bozeman picked up his fourth foul just minutes in. The Trojans fought back after falling behind initially, surviving despite the Sun Belt’s second leading scorer sitting on the bench with the four fouls.

Coming into the game, both teams had very similar stats. They did little to distinguish that in the game. Both teams shot just under 39 percent from the field. Each team was around 69 percent from the free throw line. UALR made one more shot from three-point range. The assist-to-turnover ratio for each team was right around 1. Rebounds were just about even.

The win, combined with a North Texas loss, moves the Trojans into sole possession of fourth place in the Sun Belt West, and with three games left, they still have an outside shot to win the West, especially after division-leading Denver fell at home to South Alabama. The Blue Raiders, with just one conference game left, seem locked into second place in the Sun Belt East as they approach the conference tournament.

Sujal Shah
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer