Trency Jackson delivered the knockout blow that nobody else could Saturday night.
With Western Kentucky trailing UALR by two points with 3.7 seconds left, Jackson took an inbound pass at half court, dribbled around a screen to the wing in front of his team’s bench and hit a 25-foot three-pointer at the buzzer that gave Western Kentucky a 79-78 come-from-behind victory in front of a crowd of 3,053 at the Jack Stephens Center.
“I just wanted to be cool with it,” Jackson said. “I knew it was good when it left my hand.”
Jackson’s shot, which was taken in front of UALR’s Mareik Isom, who slipped, gave the Hilltoppers their sixth consecutive victory after UALR had led 68-55 with 8:16 to go.
Western Kentucky spent the final minutes chipping away at UALR’s lead, getting within 71-65 with 4:10 left. The Hilltoppers tied it at 73-73 on Payton Hulsey’s free throw with 1:48 left.
The Trojans (12-12, 7-5 Sun Belt Conference) had a chance to seal a victory and get within one game of the second-place Hilltoppers (16-7, 8-2) by making their free throws in the final minute. But Isom missed two free throws while trying to extend a 76-73 lead with 26 seconds left, and Josh Hagins twice made 1 of 2, the last time coming right before Jackson’s shot.
UALR missed 5 of its final 8 free throws and made 23 of 32 for the game, which helped nullify an effort in which it shot 52.2 percent from the floor and used a 15-0 run midway through the second half to take a 13-point lead with eight minutes left.
“We’ve got to finish games off,” said Hagins, who had a career-high 20points. “It wasn’t just free throws. We’ve got to play both ends of the floor.”
UALR Coach Steve Shields said the Trojans’ more serious transgressions occurred well before Jackson’s game-winner.
Yes, the missed free throws didn’t help. But after a one-handed James White dunk, a Hagins layup and two free throws by Leroy Isler capped a 15-0 run to make it 68-55, UALR didn’t make a shot from the floor for more than four minutes.
By the time Isom hit a jumper with 4:10 left, UALR’s lead had shrunk to 71-65. Plus, the Trojans defense that got seven consecutive stops during the lengthy run, regularly sent Western Kentucky players to the free-throw line.
“If we finish the game off the right way, we’re not in that situation where those free throws are what they are,” Shields said. “We’re not a team that has had great success at keeping the throttle down. That’s an area where we need to get better.”
The two teams played to overtime last month in Bowling Green, Ky., before UALR won 87-83, and they traded blows through much of Saturday’s game.
Western Kentucky’s 10-2 run in the first half gave it a 21-14 lead. But UALR closed to within 36-32 at halftime and used a 12-2 run that spanned both halves to take a 37-36 lead, capped by a White dunk, early in the second half.
The Hilltoppers then scored eight consecutive points to go up 43-37 on a George Fant layup with 17:05 left. Then White, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, Isom and Hagins contributed seven points in a row for UALR to take a 48-46 lead.
What looked to be a game-changing run was done without UALR’s leading scorer, Will Neighbour, who played five minutes into the second half before his injured right ankle started bothering him again. He finished with six points in 23 minutes.
Western Kentucky got 20 points from Jackson, while Brandon Harris had 14 and the Hilltoppers made 12 of 30 three-pointers to pull two full games ahead of UALR for second place in the league standings. The top two teams get a bye into the semifinals of next month’s Sun Belt Tournament in New Orleans.
“I think we did relax a little bit,” said Isler, who had 13 points. “We came into this game to win. We needed to win this game.
“At the end, they outplayed us.”
TUESDAY’S GAME Lyon at Arkansas State, ppd., weather
Rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 25
THURSDAY’S GAMES Georgia State 68, UALR 57 Texas State 65, La.-Monroe 57 La.-Lafayette 92, Texas-Arlington 89 Troy 79, South Alabama 74
SATURDAY’S GAMES W. Kentucky 79, UALR 78 La.-Lafayette 67, Texas St. 66
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/09/2014