Little Rock Opens NCAA Play Thursday vs. Purdue

GM34: No. 12 Little Rock (29-4) vs. No. 5 Purdue (26-8)
Thursday, March 17 | 3:20 p.m. (CST)
Denver, Colo. | Pepsi Center (19,155)
Radio: The Point 94.1 FM / KKPT.com
Talent: Ray Tucker (PxP)
Television: TBS
Live Stream: March Madness Live
Talent: Andrew Catalon (PxP), Steve Lappas (Analyst), Jamie Erdahl (Sideline)
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
 
LITTLE ROCK – Twelfth-seeded Little Rock will take on No. 5 seed Purdue on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament first round at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. Tipoff is set for 3:20 p.m. (CST) and the game will be televised on TBS.
 
Thursday's game and all games in the 2016 NCAA Tournament will be available via March Madness Live. MML will be available across 12 platforms including desktop, Amazon Fire tablets, Amazon Fire TV, iPhone, iPad, Android handset, Android tablet, Windows handset, Windows desktop, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Roku players and Roku TV models. Additionally, MML will offer Google Cast and Airplay support.
 
The Trojans, who are making their fifth tournament appearance in program history and first since 2011, are coming off a 70-50 win over ULM in the title game of the Sun Belt Tournament. Roger Woods was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the title game. Josh Hagins and Marcus Johnson Jr. were named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Little Rock earned its first-ever Sun Belt Championship in the regular season after posting a 17-3 mark in league play. The Trojans' 29-4 overall record trails only No. 1 seed Kansas for the best record in the nation.
 
Purdue finished the regular season with a 26-8 overall record, No. 12/10 national ranking and advanced to the finals of the Big Ten Tournament where it fell to No. 2 seed Michigan State by a 66-62 final score. A.J. Hammons leads the Boilermakers in scoring at 14.9 ppg. Hammons, who was recently named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, pulls down 8.0 rebounds per game and has blocked 78 shots this season.
 
Like Little Rock, Purdue boasts one of the top defenses in the nation. The Boilermakers rank 26^th nationally in defensive field goal percentage and 26^th in scoring defense. The Trojans' scoring defense ranks second nationally and their defensive field goal percentage sits ninth.
 
Little Rock's 29 wins are currently tied for the most in a single season by a Sun Belt Conference program. The Trojans will have a chance to become the first team in league history to win 30 games in a season.
 
Little Rock is 1-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games, with its lone win coming as a No. 14 seed against No. 3 seed Notre Dame at the First Round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn.
 
Head coach Chris Beard will be making his debut as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament Thursday. While serving as an assistant under Bobby Knight at Texas Tech, Beard went to four NCAA Tournaments, including the Red Raiders' Sweet Sixteen run in 2005.
 
Last season, Beard led Angelo State to its first-ever NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen appearance in his second year with the team.
 
Quick Hits
• Little Rock is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and first since 2011.
• Little Rock's only NCAA Tournament win came in 1986 when the No. 14 seed Trojans topped No. 3 seed Notre Dame, 90-83.
• Little Rock recently captured its first-ever regular-season Sun Belt Championship and second Sun Belt Tournament title.
• Chris Beard was voted the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, while Josh Hagins (First Team), Marcus Johnson Jr. (Second) and Roger Woods (Third) were voted All-SBC.
• Little Rock has established new program records for overall wins (29) and Sun Belt wins (17) in a season.
• Little Rock has matched the Sun Belt Conference record for wins in a season (29).
• Little Rock's 12 road wins in the regular season were a program record and 2nd-most nationally in 2015-16.
• Little Rock's scoring defense ranks second nationally (59.6 ppg) and its defensive FG% (.388) ranks ninth.
• Beard is in his first season at Little Rock after two years at Angelo State, where he went 47-15 and led ASU to the 2015 NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen and No. 19 national ranking in 2014-15.