LITTLE ROCK — Seven days ago, UALR was on its way to its worst home loss of the season.
The Trojans had let Florida Atlantic score 19 consecutive points to take a 22-point lead in the first half and trailed by 16 points with 15 minutes left.
It took Will Neighbour’s best game since arriving in Little Rock two years ago for the Trojans to avoid a loss.
Neighbour, a junior forward who has been slowed by injuries the past two seasons, scored 13 of his career high 24 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds as UALR (14-9, 8-4 Sun Belt) put together its biggest comeback since Steve Shields took over as coach 10 seasons ago.
It was the kind of statistical line that some expected from Neighbour this year when he was named preseason first team All-Sun Belt Conference after averaging 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game a year ago.
Shields has always preached offensive balance - seven players have led the Trojans in scoring and five average between 7.2 and 11.6 points per game - but Neighbour is willing to become the closest thing to a go-to player the Trojans have heading into tonight’s game against South Alabama (11-9, 8-4) at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
“That’s my role right now,” he said. “It depends on how the game is going. ... But, yeah, if it’s a point in the game where we need something, yeah, it comes to me.”
Neighbour’s continued progression in the post has seen his season average in points (11.6 per game), rebounds (6.9) and minutes (28.8) all go up from a year ago. His shooting percentage (48.3 percent) is also up, and he has more steals (31) and assists (34), too.
The uptick in production was expected, but it was also made possible by Neighbour’s ability to stay healthy - he’s started every game this season - and his growing comfort playing inside the lane.
Neighbour was a lanky guard with a quality shot growing up in Grayshot, England, but a late growth spurt about four years ago turned him into a 6-10 forward and changed the direction of his development.
A slew of injuries didn’t help the transition.
He missed his second season at Daytona (Fla.) State College with a torn labrum and bicep, then sustained a similar injury during a midseason game at Denver last year. He missed two games because of that injury, then played the rest of the season with a bulky brace wrapped around his right shoulder and shied away from contact.
“All those injuries are setbacks for him,” Shields said.
But Shields admits that last year’s surgery could prove to be a benefit as well. Neighbour spent the summer lifting weights rather than playing pickup games, and he started the season weighing more than 220 pounds for the first time in his career. The added bulk and a healthy shoulder have allowed him to bang inside with other post players and boost his rebounds.
“You’ve got added weight and added strength, so more confidence in there playing in the paint,” Shields said. “That’s a more physical area, and I think that’s helped him.”
Neighbour is averaging a team-high 12.5 points and 8 rebounds in 12 Sun Belt games and is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor.
That rebounding statistic is more important than any of the others, Shields said. No other UALR player is averaging more than 2.8 rebounds per game in conference games, and the Trojans’ minus-1.3 rebounding margin in all games ranks seventh in the league.
“I think being a little bit stronger, I’m able to get a few more rebounds,” Neighbour said. “Coach [Joe] Kleine has been working with me. ... Everything is a little bit better, specifically rebounding the ball and being stronger on the block.”
Kleine’s work with Neighbour has centered on developing offensive moves other than a fade away he had developed by the time he arrived UALR. Neither Shields nor Kleine minds that Neighbour uses it - Kleine likes for his players to build off of a go-to move - but Neighbour has added a right-handed hook shot as well.
It’s enough to make Neighbour begin to feel more comfortable down low..
“My post game is starting to feel real comfortable,” he said. “I like it down there now.”
Today’s game
UALR vs. South Alabama
WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock RECORDS UALR: 14-9, 8-4 Sun Belt Conference; South Alabama: 11-9, 8-4 RADIO KABZ-FM, 103.7, Little Rock
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Arkansas State 74, South Alabama 62 Florida Atlantic 76, La.-Monroe 71 Middle Tennessee 66, Fla. International 64 La.-Lafayette 105, North Texas 74 W. Kentucky 65, Troy 61
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Middle Tennessee at Florida Atlantic, 6 p.m.
La.-Monroe at Fla. International, 6:30 p.m.
South Alabama at UALR, 7 p.m.
North Texas at Arkansas State, 7:05 p.m.
La.-Lafayette at Troy, 7:30 p.m.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/02/2013