Feb 6th, 2007 09:25PM
by:

By STEVE EAST
UCA SID

CONWAY _ After dropping five of their last six Southland Conference games, the University of Central Arkansas Bears return to the Farris Center Wednesday night looking to get back on track with one of their four remaining home games.

If the Bears (8-15, 2-7 SLC) are to regain their winning form at 7 p.m. against the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin (13-8, 6-3), they’ll need two of their main cogs to play up to their early season form.

Freshman point guard Marcus Pillow and sophomore swingman Mitch Rueter were on a tear earlier in the season. Pillow came up with a pair of final-minute 3-pointers in an upset over Bucknell and posted 27 points in a win over Texas College. Rueter consistently scored in double figures and, at one point, ranked in the Southland’s top 10 in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage.

As the season has worn on, however, the tandem has fallen on tough times. Against Northwestern State last Saturday, Pillow was held scoreless and Rueter mustered just six points and was held to a pair of free throws and missed on his only 3-point attempt. Prior to that, against University of the Ozarks, the two combined for 11 points and went 1 for 7 on 3-pointers.

Getting those two jump-started is a must for the Bears as they hope to get going down the final stretch of the season.

“Mitch and Marcus have both had really good years,” UCA head coach Rand Chappell said. “Marcus, as a freshman, has made the huge adjustment from the high school level to seeing bigger, more physical, more athletic guards on a nightly basis. Mitch came in as a freshman last year and got his feet wet, and has really been thrown into the fire this year. And, he’s probably progressed even faster than we thought he would this year.”

After being named the Most Valuable Player of the 2005 Arkansas high school all-star game, Rueter spent most of his freshman year watching from the bench as he played just seven minutes and scored 1.1 points per game — all the while watching his confidence plummet.

“Last year was really just motivation for me,” he said. “Toward the end of the season I really lost my confidence not playing as much. If I could go back and do it all over, I wish I could have redshirted instead of playing seven minutes a game; but at the same time, it helps watching those guys, playing with those guys and traveling with them. I was the only guy under 20 years old on last year’s team, and being around a bunch of men really helped me with my maturity.”

That maturity, coupled with increased opportunities, has led to a much more productive season for Rueter, whose scoring has increased more than seven points per game.

“I think with Mitch, in recruiting freshmen you expect to see steady development over four years,” Chappell said. “You expect them to steadily become a better player than they were the year before. Mitch had a good freshman year as far as getting experience, and he’s really made a huge jump this year, going from a part-time guy to our starting 3-man.

"He’s shot the ball with a lot of confidence, done very well with his shot selection and he’s worked hard with his shooting. He’s still improving, and he’s doing a nice job for us.”

For the season, Rueter is shooting 49.2 percent from the floor, 38.7 percent beyond the arc, and 83 percent from the free-throw line as his scoring has increased to 8.5 points per game and his minutes to 23.7.

“It’s been great,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard for it. I’ve come out and made shots and proved I can play.”

Pillow, a prolific scorer at Russellville High School, has also stepped in and immediately proven he can produce at the Division I level.

“Marcus has come in and taken probably the most important role on our team as the point guard,” Chappell said. “I think he’s done a good job of that, and he’ll get better as his career goes on. He’s been our most explosive scorer and his 3-point shooting is a great weapon. He’s the type of guy who can put 8-10 points on the board quickly, and blow a game open.”

But that hasn’t been the case lately for Pillow, who is 1 for 11 in his last two games.

“Mentally it’s a strain,” he said. “But everybody has bad games, you’ve just got to put them behind you and come in the gym and work harder every day in practice. I haven’t played as well the last few games, but if I have an off night shooting I’m still feeling more comfortable in other aspects — defense or getting assists. You just have to keep high spirits and put it behind you.”

What’s ahead for Pillow, Rueter and the Bears is seven more Southland Conference games, and two more years of teaming up to build UCA’s program as it transitions to Division I.

“I think the future’s going to be really good,” Pillow said. “This is the first year for any of us to play Division I, and next year will be another step for us to do something better.”

“We’re going to get to win a lot of games with one another,” Rueter said. “I wish we could’ve won more games this year, and we feel like we should have. You look back at all the close games like St. Bonaventure where they hit a luck shot to force OT and beat us. A lot of games haven’t gone our way — we could just as easily be 15-8 instead of 8-15.

“Marcus and I have hit a little bit of a slump,” he said. “Especially me. I can’t remember the last time I scored double figures. But we know we can win four of our last seven games and get 12 wins for the year which is more than any other transitional team. Of course we’d like to win all seven and go out .500, but that’s going to be a tough challenge.”