LITTLE ROCK — Numbers don’t lie, and that’s what a box score basically is, just numbers.
OK, I’m not sure about those attendance figures for the Arkansas Razorbacks’ basketball games, but there is a reason coaches always want a halftime box as they go into the locker room and another box after the game:
The numbers don’t lie.
Granted, leading 45-11 Wednesday against the Florida A&M Rattlers - and apparently those were the type of rattlers you wrap in pink or blue and not rattlesnakes - at the half, there wasn’t much to worry about.
Yet, here is a key stat in Arkansas’ season: When the Hogs win, Rotnei Clarke averages more than 16 points a game. When they lose, he averages eight.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how important Clarke is to the success of this team.
He should shoot more, and some folks should shoot less.
In the walkover against Florida A&M, every starter shot better than .500 from the floor. The starting five made 78 percent of their shots.
The reserves were 11 of 35,and everyone but Glenn Bryant was below .500. Bryant was 3 for 5.
In other words, give the ball to Rotnei. If he needs hard screens, set them. No one is blocking out anyway.
The last five conference games are all winnable, especially if Rotnei is getting his shots.
Another example of how the numbers don’t lie could be found in the UALR women’s team’s box score.
Joe Foley, who does a magnificent job with his motion offense, had led the Trojans to an 11-0 Sun Belt record going into Wednesday night’s game with Western Kentucky.
Senior Chastity Reed took23 shots but made only seven. She is the leading scorer and did have six assists and nine rebounds, but if she’s going to put up 36 percent of the shots she needs to make more than 30 percent.
Arguing with her teammates probably hurt even more than an off night shooting.
Incidentally, the Trojans host archrival Middle Tennessee at the Jack Stephens Center at 1 p.m. Sunday. Both teams have one conference loss, and if this is anything like their past games, it will be a great matchup.
At 3 p.m. Saturday, the UALR men play Middle Tennessee, which is coached by former LSU assistant Kermit Davis, who is married to an Arkansas native.
A gold star to the St. Louis Cardinals, who refused to sign Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $300 million contract.
Pujols is 32 and under contract for next season, meaning if he hopes to sign another huge deal, he has to still go out and play hard every game.
He is one of the best players in the major leagues, and any decline in his play would cost him when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Yet, the Cardinals were smart enough to not want a contract that pays a guy $30 million when he is 42.
Barry Bonds is the only baseball player who ever seemed to start getting better at 38, and there has been a lot of speculation about why.
One of the all-time Razorback basketball greats, Sidney Moncrief, will be the speaker Monday at the Downtown Tip-Off Club.
The lunch will be at the Wyndham Riverfront-Little Rock in North Little Rock. Doors will open at 11:15 a.m. for food, and the program will start at noon.
Moncrief teamed with Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph to become known as the Triplets and, along with Jim Counce and Steve Schall, took the Hogs to the Final Four.
Sports, Pages 17 on 02/18/2011