CENTRAL ARKANSAS BEARS BASKETBALL SID Contact: Steve East • Phone: (501) 450-5743 • Cell: (501) 339-8215 [email protected] UCA BEARS 2016-17 SCHEDULE GAME UCA BEARS (0-2, 0-0 SLC) Oct. 29 vs. Southwest Baptist (exh.) W, 90-55 Nov. 11 @ Wisconsin L, 79-47 vs. Chattanooga Mocs (2-1, 0-0) Nov. 14 @ Oklahoma State L, 90-102 Saturday, Nov. 19 • 7:30 p.m. • West Point, NY Maui Jim Invitational 3 Maui Jim Invitational Nov. 19 vs. Chattanooga (West Point NY) 7:30 Nov. 20 vs. ASU/Army (West Point NY) 11/1:30 Nov. 26 @ Western Michigan 1:00 Nov. 29 vs. Little Rock 7:30 • ProJECTED UCA STArTErS • Dec. 1 @ Southeast Missouri 6:30 Dec. 3 @ Butler 3:00 #1 JORDAN HOWARD Dec. 10 @ Little Rock 3:00 JR • G • 5-11, 180 • Chandler, Ariz. • Perry HS Dec. 13 @ Michigan 8:00 Dec. 16 vs. Arkansas State 7:00 GP/GS 2/2 • PPG 19.0 • RPG 1.5 • APG 1.5 • SPG 3.0 Dec. 19 @ Morehead State 7:30 Dec. 22 @ Arizona State 2:00 Dec. 31 vs. Sam Houston State* 4:00 #4 ALBERT CHRISTENSSON Jan. 2 vs. Lamar* 8:00 JR • F • 6-9, 225 • Lund, Sweden • South Kent (Conn.) Prep Jan. 5 @ Abilene Christian* 7:00 GP/GS 2/2 • PPG 0.0 • RPG 2.0 • APG 0.0 • SPG 0.0 Jan. 12 @ Houston Baptist* 7:00 Jan. 14 @ Texas A&M-CC* 7:00 Jan. 18 @ McNeese State* 7:00 #10 MATHIEU KAMBA Jan. 21 vs. New Orleans* 4:00 Jan. 25 @ Stephen F. Austin* 8:00 JR • G • 6-5, 210 • Calgary, Alberta • Bishop McNally HS Jan. 28 vs. Incarnate Word* 4:00 GP/GS 2/2 • PPG 13.0 • RPG 7.5 • APG 1.5 • SPG 0.0 Feb. 2 vs. Northwestern State* 7:00 Feb. 4 vs. SE Louisiana* 4:00 Feb. 9 vs. Abilene Christian* 7:00 #25 THATCH UNRUH Feb. 11 vs. Nicholls State* 4:00 SO • G • 6-5, 190 • Brandon, Mo. • Quakerdale Prep Feb. 16 @ Nicholls State* 6:30 Feb. 18 @ New Orleans* 4:00 GP/GS 2/1 • PPG 3.0 • RPG 2.5 • APG 0.5 • SPG 0.0 Feb. 22 @ SE Louisiana* 7:30 Feb. 25 vs. Stephen F. Austin* 6:00 Mar. 3 @ Northwestern State* 3:00 #32 DERRECK BROOKS Mar. 7-12 Southland Conference Tournament JR • G • 6-6, 185 • Portland, Ore. • Phoenix College GP/GS 2/2 • PPG 14.5 • RPG 5.0 • APG 1.5 • SPG 1.5 GAME INFORMATION TIME: ................ Tipoff 7:30 p.m. RADIO: ............. KUCA 91.3 FM with Justin Acri INTERNET: ....... ucasports.com/KUCA BEAR TRACKS... TELEVISION: .... none SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: @ucasports / @UCAscoreboard √ LAST YEAR: The Bears finished 7-12 overall last season, with a 6-12 mark in Facebook: University of Central Arkansas Athletics the Southland Conference in Coach Russ Pennell’s second season at the school. SERIES: ............. First meeting between the teams UCA finished tied for ninth place in the SLC. The six conference victories was COACHES: one short of tying their high since moving into the league in 2006-07. UCA - Russ Pennell is 9-50 in his third season at UCA. His overall record is 121-121 (8 years) CHATT - Matt McCall is 31-7 in his second season at √ THE SERIES: The Bears and Mocs have never met in basketball. UTC. His overall mark is the same. √ LAST OUTING: The Bears put a scare in the Oklahoma State Cowboys last Monday night before falling 102-90 at Gallagher-Iba Arena. UCA trailed by season. just eight points (50-42) at halftime after being within one point with 2:00 left Howard, who was also an SLC All-Academic team selection in the first half. The Bears closed the gap to one (63-62) again in the second (3.74 in Marketing), was named a preseason first-team All- half before the Cowboys (2-0) pulled away down the stretch. SLC pick this year. UCA junior guard Jordan Howard led the Bears with 28 points, hitting 4 of 5 from three-point range and 10 of 11 at the line. Junior Mathieu Kamba added √ IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Sophomore guard Jordan a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Derreck Brooks Howard became the 22nd player in UCA history to reach scored 17 points. The Bears shot 60 percent (6 of 10) from beyond the arc 1,000 career points last season and now has 1,061, which and 46.7 percent overall. OSU, which had three players with at least 20 points, is 17th in career scoring at UCA in only two+ seasons. shot 55.7 overall. UCA’s defense forced the Cowboys into 17 turnovers. Howard also set the single-season school record for three-pointers with 95, breaking the mark of 94 set by √ SLC HONORS: Then-sophomore guard Jordan Howard was named a first- Rodney Dean in 1998-99. Howard is also now second in team All-Southland Conference selection last season after finishing second in career three-pointers with 178, just 28 short of tying the the league in scoring (20.2), third in free-throw percentage (87.6) and fourth in career record held by Marcus Pillow (206, 2006-09). Dean three-point percentage (42.8). He also led the league with 3.39 three-pointers is third with 173. per game. Howard is also 6th in career three-point percentage Then-junior Derreck Brooks was named the SLC Newcomer of the Year after (41.6) and 2nd in career free-throw percentage (84.0). He averaging 12.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game last has now scored in double figures in 57 of his 59 games 2016-17 UCA BEARS BASKETBALL • PAGE 2 at UCA, and has also had at least one three-pointer in 57 of 59 games. He has had at least one three-pointer in 42 straight games dating to Jan. 13, 2015 vs. SFA (0 for 2). Howard is fifth in the nation in threes made per game (3.44) and the top returnee in the nation. He was also one of only five Division I players who have scored at least 36 points three times last season. √ SLC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore guard Jordan Howard was named the SLC Player of the Week and the American Sports Network (ASN) National Player of the Week on Feb. 8, 2016. Howard averaged 36.5 points in two games, made 12 three-pointers and was 15 of 16 from the free-throw line. He had a career-high 37 points at Northwestern State and followed that up with 36 at home in a 112-77 win over New Orleans. √ NEW FACES: Head coach Russ Pennell welcomes five newcomers to the UCA program this season, as well as four players who redshirted last season. The new freshmen are Aaron Weidenaar from Bozeman (Mont.) High School, Darraja Parnell from Andover, Kan. (Central HS), Jared Chatham from Los Angeles, Calif. (George Washington Prep), Jordan Grant from Harrison (Ark.) High School and Brandon Vanover from Little Rock, Ark. (Arkansas Baptist HS). Chatham is slated to redshirt this season. UCA also signed three newcomers on Siging Day last week. Power forward SK Shittu from Rogers, Ark. (Providence Academy), center Hayden Koval from Prosper, Texas (Link Year Prep in Branson, Mo.) and guard Matthew Mondesir from Torrance, Calif. (Link Year Prep). Mondesir and Jared Chatham were teammates at George Washington Prep last year. √ THE ART OF REDSHIRTING: Coach Pennell has redshirted a total of seven players over the past two seasons while the Bears dealt with APR penalties under the previous staff. In 2014-15, Derreck Brooks, Jeff Lowery and Justin Foreman redshirted after transferring to UCA. Last sesaon, Pennell chose to redshirt sophomore junior Ethan Lee and sophomores Thatch Unruh, Otas Iyekekpolor and Tyler Simmons. UCA will have a full complement of 13 players this season, with only incoming freshman Jared Chatham slated to redshirt in 2016-17. Unruh averaged 6.3 points and made 42 three-pointers (second on the team) as a true freshman, starting 19 of 25 games. Lee averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 26 games, while Iyekekpolor averaged 0.8 points and 0.7 rebounds in 23 games. Simmons, a walk-on, played in 10 games in 2014-15. Pennell retained only Lee from the previous squad when he took over in 2014-15. His first two teams at UCA have sported well over a 3.0 cumalitve grade-point average and the APR penalties have been lifted beginning with the 2016-17 season. Those penalties included reduced practice time and no postseason eligibility the past two seasons. √ THE SCHEDULE: As has become the norm, UCA will play no non-Division I teams again this season, per head coach Russ Pennell’s preference. The Bears have one of th toughest non-conference schedules in school history, featuring games at No. 9 Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Western Michigan, Butler, Michigan, Morehead State and Arizona State, along with in-state matchups with Arkansas State and Little Rock. UCA will play only two home games the first semester against Little Rock (an NCAA Tournament team a year ago) on Nov. 29 and against Arkansas State on Dec. 16. The Bears will face teams from 10 different conferences, including the Southland, Big Ten, Big 12, SoCon, Patriot League, Mid-American Conference, Ohio Valley, Big East, Sun Belt and Pac-12. The Bears kick off the Southland Conference schedule on Dec.