2023-11-29 02:04:07
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears are headed to the West Coast, and farther, for a pair of games, starting Wednesday night once morest Loyola-Marymount at Gersten Pavilion.
The Bears and Lions will tip-off in their first meeting at 9 p.m. (CST) on ESPN+, The Bear 91.3 and 92.7 Jack FM.
UCA will then head to Hawaii for a meeting with the Rainbow Warriors at 9 p.m. Sunday before returning home to host the Little Rock Trojans on Thursday, Dec. 7 at the Farris Center.
The LMU Lions are 4-3 overall with victories over Westcliff, Jackson State, Florida International and Texas-El Paso. Their three losses were to Yale, Stephen F. Austin and Oakland University.
The Lions are part of the West Coast Conference (WCC) with teams such as Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Pepperdine. UCA has played both San Francisco and Pepperdine in the past.
LMU’s last game was a 67-47 win over UTEP at home on Saturday, following playing three games in the Cayman Islands.
UCA lost two close ones at home last weekend in the Central Arkansas Classic at the Farris Center. In a 74-71 loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday, the Bears had four in double figures, led by sophomore Carl Daughtery, Jr. with 24 points, and got a career-high 13 assists from sophomore Johannes KIrsipuu.
In Sunday’s 79-74 setback to New Orleans, UCA connected a season-high 13 times from three-point range, including five from freshman Tucker Anderson and four from graduate Daniel Sofield. However, a season-high 24 turnovers were too much to overcome.
The Bears have made several recent trips to the West Coast, including a 92-90 overtime win over Seattle in the 2018 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) postseason tournament, and a 96-69 victory over California during the 2017 regular season. UCA also took UCLA to overtime before losing 106-101 in 2017.
The Lions have three players who average double figures in scoring, led by senior guard Justin Wright, who averages 13.1 points per game and shoots 51.8 percent from the field. Seven LMU players average at least 23 minutes per game.
UCA has battled injuries and illness the entire season, with only three players having competed in all eight games thus far. Daughtery is the scoring leader at 12.8 points a game, followed by freshman Javion Guy-King (12.5), freshman Tucker Anderson (12.0) and junior Elias Cato (12.0).
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