# 2018–19 Central Arkansas Bears basketball team

The 2018–19 Central Arkansas Bears basketball team represented the University of Central Arkansas during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by fifth-year head coach Russ Pennell and played their home games at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas as members of the Southland Conference.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2017–18 season 18–17, 10–8 in Southland play, to finish in seventh place. They defeated Lamar in the first round of the Southland tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Stephen F. Austin. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Seattle before losing in the quarterfinals to Jacksonville State.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 29, 2018* 6:30 p.m. | | Arkansas–Fort Smith | W 98–87 | | Farris Center Conway, AR |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 p.m., SECN | | at Missouri | L 55–68 | 0–1 | Mizzou Arena (9,436) Columbia, MO |
| November 8, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | Hendrix College | W 99–73 | 1–1 | Farris Center (887) Conway, AR |
| November 12, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | University of the Ozarks | W 93–52 | 2–1 | Farris Center (415) Conway, AR |
| November 15, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ACC+ | | at Pittsburgh Barclays Classic | L 71–97 | 2–2 | Petersen Events Center (2,578) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 18, 2018* 2:00 p.m. | | at Troy Barclays Classic | L 77–82 | 2–3 | Trojan Arena (1,312) Troy, AL |
| November 24, 2018* 3:00 p.m., FSNMW | | at Saint Louis Barclays Classic | L 61–73 | 2–4 | Chaifetz Arena (6,512) St. Louis, MO |
| November 28, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | Little Rock | W 78–65 | 3–4 | Farris Center (2,755) Conway, AR |
| December 5, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ACC+ | | at Louisville | L 41–86 | 3–5 | KFC Yum! Center (14,920) Louisville, KY |
| December 8, 2018* 5:30 p.m. | | at Little Rock | W 85–82 | 4–5 | Jack Stephens Center (1,805) Little Rock, AR |
| December 16, 2018* 3:00 p.m., AT&TSN | | at New Mexico | L 70–82 | 4–6 | Dreamstyle Arena (10,082) Albuquerque, NM |
| December 19, 2018* 6:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 22 Indiana | L 53–86 | 4–7 | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (13,915) Bloomington, IL |
| December 21, 2018* 12:00 p.m., FSNOK | | at Oklahoma State | L 73–82 | 4–8 | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| December 30, 2018* 4:00 p.m. | | Lyon College | W 62–47 | 5–8 | Farris Center (342) Conway, AR |
| Southland regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | L 75–87 | 5–9 (0–1) | American Bank Center (936) Corpus Christi, TX |
| January 5, 2019 4:00 p.m. | | at Southeastern Louisiana | W 73–71 | 6–9 (1–1) | University Center (710) Hammond, LA |
| January 9, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Sam Houston State | L 68–78 | 6–10 (1–2) | Farris Center (575) Conway, AR |
| January 12, 2019 4:00 p.m., ELVN / SLC Digital | | Lamar | W 75–68 | 7–10 (2–2) | Farris Center (714) Conway, AR |
| January 16, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | at Incarnate Word | W 77–60 | 8–10 (3–2) | McDermott Convocation Center San Antonio, TX |
| January 19, 2019 4:00 p.m. | | Nicholls State | W 74–68 | 9–10 (4–2) | Farris Center (758) Conway, AR |
| January 23, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | New Orleans | W 76–71 | 10–10 (5–2) | Farris Center (848) Conway, AR |
| January 26, 2019 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Abilene Christian | L 56–79 | 10–11 (5–3) | Moody Coliseum (1,669) Abilene, TX |
| January 30, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Stephen F. Austin | L 99–105 $^{OT}$ | 10–12 (5–4) | William R. Johnson Coliseum (3,334) Nacogdoches, TX |
| February 2, 2019 4:00 p.m. | | Northwestern State | L 75–80 | 10–13 (5–5) | Farris Center (912) Conway, AR |
| February 9, 2019 4:00 p.m. | | Southeastern Louisiana | L 67–75 | 10–14 (5–6) | Farris Center (1,825) Conway, AR |
| February 13, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Houston Baptist | L 71–75 | 10–15 (5–7) | Farris Center (515) Conway, AR |
| February 20, 2019 6:30 p.m. | | at McNeese State | L 75–83 | 10–16 (5–8) | H&HP Complex (2,021) Lake Charles, LA |
| February 23, 2019 6:30 p.m. | | at Nicholls State | L 57–100 | 10–17 (5–9) | Stopher Gymnasium (478) Thibodaux, LA |
| February 27, 2019 7:00 p.m., ELVN / SLC Digital | | Stephen F. Austin | W 92–74 | 11–17 (6–9) | Farris Center (445) Conway, AR |
| March 2, 2019 4:00 p.m. | | Abilene Christian | L 55–67 | 11–18 (6–10) | Farris Center (825) Conway, AR |
| March 6, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Sam Houston State | W 91–87 | 12–18 (7–10) | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,167) Huntsville, TX |
| March 9, 2019 3:00 p.m. | | at Northwestern State | W 70–63 | 13–18 (8–10) | Prather Coliseum (1,410) Natchitoches, LA |
| Southland tournament ||||||
| March 13, 2019 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (6) Texas A&M–Corpus Christi First round | W 73–53 | 14–18 | Leonard E. Merrill Center (1,650) Katy, TX |
| March 14, 2019 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (3) Southeastern Louisiana Second round | L 65–79 | 14–19 | Leonard E. Merrill Center (960) Katy, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Sources: