RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — DeChriston McKinney came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points, Andrew Guillory added 13 points and Bryson Fletcher scored 11, but the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (9-8, 4-7 Great American Conference) were unable to overcome a hot shooting night by the University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils (6-10, 4-6 GAC), falling 72-63 on Saturday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tech and UAM traded leads over the first three minutes of the game, but a quick 6-0 run gave UAM an early four-point (8-4) advantage with 16:43 to play in the opening half.
• Tech was able to come back and knot the game at 10-10 with 15:30 to play, but UAM outscored the Wonder Boys 18-8 over the next seven minutes to claim a ten-point (28-18) advantage.
• Tech narrowed the gap and was able to pull to within one (34-33) at half as Fletcher hit a buzzer-beating layup.
• UAM opened the second half on an 8-0 run to claim a nine-point (42-33) lead with 18 minutes to play.
• Tech responded with an 8-0 run of its own to pull to within one (42-41) just over a minute later.
• UAM would maintain a modest lead, but when Tech pulled to within three (56-53) with 9:07 to play, the Weevils used an 11-0 run to stretch the lead to 14 (67-53) with 5:27 left.
• The Wonder Boys got within six (69-63) with 1:46 to play, but UAM held Tech off the board the rest of the way.

NOTABLES

• Tech held a 14-10 advantage in points off turnovers, an 11-8 advantage in second-chance points, a 35-14 advantage in bench points, a 34-24 advantage in points in the paint, and a 12-2 advantage in fast-break points.
• UAM outrebounded Tech 34-24, and outshot the Wonder Boys 58.7 percent to 45.6 percent.
• The Boll Weevils hit nine 3-pointers to Tech's five.
• Neither team was particularly effective from the free-throw line, with UAM shooting 40.9 percent (9-of-22) and Tech shooting 54.5 percent (6-of-11).

COACH KLINE SAYS

• On the difference in the game - "Rebounding, without even looking at the statistics. And now that I look at the sheet, there's no way we should get outrebounded like that. I thought we played hard – I don't think that was an issue at all. Our defense – even though the percentages don't show it, the total points show it. We forced 15 turnovers and I thought defensively we switched it up on them a little bit, so there were some positives there. We struggled to score a bit. We had some big plays where we'd cut it to four, five, or six and we'd get an offensive foul… or they'd go to the free-throw line and miss and we'd give up an offensive rebound. I thought we fought, I didn't think we had bad attitudes or anything like that. I think we stayed together and I still think we're coming together. To be honest with you, I know we're in a skid right now but I think we can get it fixed. I truly believe that and these guys know that. They know I believe in them and I'm not going to quit on them by any means. Sooner or later – and hopefully sooner – we'll get it figured out, and we'll just go back to the drawing board. For us it's good – we have three games to practice for a Thursday game. With the Thursday-Saturday-Monday rotation we've only had one day of prep. We'll give them off tomorrow and come back and get after it for three straight days. The effort has been there. The results haven't. Hopefully these guys will keep buying in and the results will come sooner than later."
• On the play of DeChriston McKinney – "He's totally bought in. He understands the reason he's on the floor is because he rebounds, and now he's giving us a bonus with his scoring. He's a great kid and I'm happy for him. He'll graduate this spring – I'm happy to have him back for sure."

WHO'S NEXT

• The Wonder Boys will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 28, continuing their three-game homestand against Southwestern Oklahoma. A 7:30 p.m. tip is scheduled.