'Underdog' Hilltoppers get fired up
Perhaps Western Kentucky Coach Ken McDonald is a master motivator. Somehow, he convinced his players they were the underdog in Saturday's game against UALR.
"I do know they were picked first. I do know we were picked third. The guys were pretty jacked about the game," McDonald said after Western Kentucky's 79-47 blowout victory over UALR at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.
It's true. UALR was picked in a first-place tie with North Texas in the Sun Belt Conference preseason West Division coaches' poll. Western Kentucky was picked third in the East Division behind Middle Tennessee and South Alabama.
But the ratings numbers told a different story going into the game. Las Vegas betting lines favored Western Kentucky by as many as seven points, and the Hilltoppers entered the game with a Ratings Percentage Index ranking more than 100 spots better than UALR.
The Ratings Percentage Index is a scale used by the NCAA Selection Committee to rank Division I basketball teams by their performance in light of strength of schedule. Low RPI ranking numbers denote strong teams; and high numbers, weaker ones.
National pundits like Jeff Sagarin and Ken Pomeroy also heavily favored Western Kentucky.
But the Hilltoppers bought in, holding UALR without a point for more than 10 minutes to start the game for an easy victory.
"Coach stressed before the game that they were picked to win the West side and we were picked third in our league," said Western Kentucky guard A.J. Slaughter. "We had a little chip on our shoulder just knowing that, just going out to make a statement to the rest of the Sun Belt that we're here."
And Western Kentucky now joins Middle Tennessee as the only unbeaten teams in Sun Belt Conference play.
"We talked about it. We have high aspirations for our team, our program. We always want to be where we're used to being in this conference, at the top," McDonald said. "You can kind of call it what you want to call it, but there's a confidence we want our team to play with. And in these types of games, we want to be considered the team that's going to win the game and not the underdog."
Stat padding
There was no padding of individual statistics by UALR players in Saturday's 69-47 loss at Western Kentucky.
The players in the regular rotation were sent to the bench midway through the second half, leaving senior LaMarvon Jackson, freshmen Lionel Foster, Courtney Jackson and Curtis Jackson and sophomores Matt Mouzy and Derrick Bails to play most of the final 10 minutes.
As a result, no Trojans player reached at least 10 points for the first time this season.
Three 20s
When UALR had three players score 20 or more points in a game last week against Louisiana-Monroe, it marked the first time the Trojans had done that since the 1997-1998 season.
In UALR's 95-87 victory last Wednesday, senior guard John Fowler and senior forward Shane Edwards each had 22 points, while junior guard Steve Moore had 20 points. The last time it happened was Jan. 24, 1998, when UALR beat Jacksonville 88-73 at Barton Coliseum. In that game, Ryan Moss had 25 points while Sherman Lusk and Chris Green each had 23 points.
Rebound
UALR (9-5, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) has been in a similar position to what it is in now twice previously in Sun Belt Conference play.
In 2005, the Trojans were badly beaten 85-50 at Middle Tennessee. Later that same week, UALR beat Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee at home en route to a Sun Belt Conference West Division title.
UALR Coach Steve Shields said his team would be in "soul- searching" mode this week.
The same thing happened last year. UALR lost 63-46 at Middle Tennessee in a game that wasn't nearly that close most of the way. The Trojans rebounded to beat North Texas 84-82 at home in the next game and won another West Division championship.
UALR is 6-6 under Shields in the game following a 20-point loss. But when the next game is at home, UALR is 5-0 in those situations. UALR lost 79-47 at Western Kentucky on Saturday and hosts North Texas on Thursday.
No word yet
There's still no word out of Denton, Texas, on the status of North Texas guard Collin Dennis, who did not make the trip for Saturday's 86-75 loss to Arkansas at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock.
Dennis, who averages 10.1 points per game, missed New Year's Day practice and did not make the trip with the team.
All indications are that he is still part of the team and could be available on Thursday when the Mean Green take on UALR at the Jack Stephens Center.
Dennis had 14 points last season vs. UALR.
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