The Central Arkansas Bears played a ranked team last week and it wasn’t close. They lost to then-No. 25 Baylor by 41 points.
That same Central Arkansas team (1-2) played No. 23 UCLA men’s basketball (2-0) Wednesday night, only this time it was close. Close enough for overtime.
But the Bruins found a way to stave off the potential upset, beating a team that had been picked to finish 12th out of 13 teams in the Southland Conference tournament with a score of 106-101.
“I think that was a great game to watch if you were a UCLA fan or you didn’t care who won,” said Central Arkansas coach Russ Pennell.
UCLA had to play the game without the three freshmen who were suspended Wednesday morning: LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, meaning the team had to play with eight instead of 11 members. No UCLA player or coach named fatigue as an excuse, especially since the team played under the same circumstances in its win in China.
“Well we started off with this against Georgia Tech,” said junior guard Aaron Holiday. “So it’s pretty much the same.”
A huge part of the reason the game was so close was Central Arkansas’ three-point shooting. The Bears shot 18-of-35 from beyond the arc Saturday night, including a 13-of-25 performance from guard Jordan Howard.
“The Howard kid is special,” Alford said.
Alford gave the Bears credit for cutting hard and making some tough shots, but he did attribute some of the blame to UCLA’s inability to apply information from scouting reports.
“It’s about understanding why we have notebooks,” Alford said. “Why we give you guys personnel, why guys are shooters versus drivers, or can they do both.”
Alford added that the extent of the film available at the college level is much greater than at the high school or Amateur Athletic Union level – making the transition difficult – but hinted that his players might start to understand the importance of the reports.
“When you start getting lit up in Pauley Pavilion,” Alford said, “those things will sink in.”
Thomas Welsh made a few key jumpers in overtime, but had an otherwise shaky night, making just 42 percent of his 19 shots – well below his .625 shooting percentage from last season. Alford even teased Welsh after the game for missing a 3-pointer and cutting his career 3-point field goal percentage in half.
The senior center did not attribute the subpar night to jet lag.
“I felt good coming into the game, I just missed some shots,” Welsh said. “It’s going to happen. I’m going to keep shooting them, I think I’ll make more than I miss in the long run.”
UCLA will get a day off before starting up a stretch of three games in five days. The team got home from China on Saturday.
“It hasn’t been an easy schedule, and it’s not going to get any easier,” Alford said.