Bears
Another learning lesson for Bears in loss to Razorbacks in NLR
UCA can’t bounce back from Hogs’ 9-0 run to start but won’t have to play teams like that down road
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ height, length and shooting touch were too much for Central Arkansas to handle Saturday at Simmons Bank Arena in an 82-57 loss in front of a crowd of 15,535.
The Razorbacks (9-2) shot 67.9 percent from the field overall (33 of 55) and won the rebound battle 36-22. Six players scored in double figures for the Hogs, who won their fourth straight game, had six players in double figures, led by Boogie Fland with 16 points.
“They obviously have great size and length,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “And I tell you this, they try. Some of these games like this (teams are) bored out there, but they try. They are really good defensively. They’re prepared and organized. They tried hard defensively and they caused us some major problems. ”
What Arkansas coach John Calipari told John Shulman
The Bears, playing again without four key players, made seven three-pointers, including three from freshman Layne Taylor and two each from redshirt freshman Ben Fox and sophomore Brayden Fagbemi, but shot just 33.3 percent from the field in both halves. UCA did connect on 14 of 18 (77.8 percent) at the foul line, with Cato going 7-of-8 and Fox 6-of-8.
Cato led the Bears with 15 points, while Taylor added 13 and Fox had 12.
UCA was playing its fourth of five Power 4 schools in Arkansas, with Oklahoma coming up next Sunday in Norman, Okla., to finish out that gauntlet.
“I just told our kids, this is not reality,” Shulman said. “Playing 7-foot-2, they’ve got (Jonas) Adioo, Trevon Brazile, they have amazing talent. That’s not reality for us. Reality for us right now is having the memory of a goldfish, to be honest. We have to have a 10-second memory and we got to take what we need to take (from this game) and we need to move on and forget about some of this.
UCA Bears coach John Shulman with guard Brayden Fagbemi against the Arkansas Razorbacks. / Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
“Because these games, they are really fun to talk about in July, but they’re not as much fun when you play them in December. They are really hard physically, they’re really hard mentally. You get beat up and then you lose your confidence. It’s a little depressing to play against that length and that size.”
After Fland, Karter Knox scored 14 points, D.J. Wagner and Aidoo had 13 each and Brazile and Johnell Davis added 11 apiece. The Hogs started a lineup with a 6-11 and 6-10 player, with a 7-2 and 6-8 coming off the bench.
“I’m not discouraged,” said Shulman. “I’m not panicking because we didn’t compete with the University of Arkansas today. They are really good, and we’re learning and we’re growing.”
The Bears (2-8) return home for just their fourth home game of the season on Monday when they host The Citadel at 6 p.m. at the Farris Center.
Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.
