Despite consistent efforts in its defense, the UCA men’s basketball team (9-19, 4-11 ASUN) lost possession of its win against Eastern Kentucky (18-10, 11-4 ASUN), relinquishing the game 74-58 to the Colonels. 

The Bears went paw-to-toe against the Colonels in their turf at Baptist Health Arena in Richmond, KY on Thursday, Feb. 16. 

Coming off last week’s win against Austin Peay, the Bears returned from Kentucky with their 19th loss of the season, an outcome Interim Coach Brock Widders attributes to the team’s high turnover rate.

Widders said, “Our teamwork was just ok during the game, we turned the ball over at a very high rate.” 

Collectively, the Bears totaled 23 turnovers at the hands of the Colonels. “Many times we were not on the same page. You simply cannot win games when you turn the ball over at that rate,” Widders said. 

Widders was satisfied with the defense from the team, but wanted completion of the plays. 

“The defense was good,” Widders said. “Finishing the play was not. Offense did not value the ball well enough. When we did good, things happened, but we have to value the ball more.”

Of the 58 points scored by the Bears, 14 belonged to senior guard/forward Eddy Kayouloud, which comes as no surprise to anyone keeping up with the Bear’s season thus far. 

Following closely behind was junior guard Collin Cooper with 11 points and Camren Hunter, a sophomore guard, with nine. 

Though he believes the team maintained its position in the game, Hunter recalled areas in which improvement could be made. 

“The first half we turned it over a ton,” Hunter said. “Second half, we didn’t execute on things we wanted to change.”

“We have to team rebound, defend better and limit turnovers,” Hunter said. “I feel like we didn’t work effectively and it showed tonight. We got exposed in areas we thought we had worked on and filled holes in. We have a lot more work to do.”

While his opinion on team efficiency mirrored that of his Widders’, Hunter believed his personal game could have seen some improvement, as well. 

“To be honest, I’m very disappointed in my play lately,” Hunter said. “It has been subpar. It’s been very frustrating, but I don’t have long to figure it out and try to make the tournament.”

Only three games remain in the conference season, with familiar faces on the horizon ahead of the ASUN conference tournament. The Bears anticipate games against Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State.

Widders remains positive about the remainder of the season. “Based on the results of the rest of the league, we are in a similar situation as we were before the game. There is still a window of opportunity, but we have to take advantage of that opportunity,” Widders said. 

The games are available for streaming on ESPN+ and radio stations The Bear 91.3 and JACK FM 92.7.