Trojans Set for Top-Two Showdown on Tuesday

GM 28 >> Little Rock (16-11, 14-4 SBC) vs. Arkansas State (23-4, 18-0 SBC)
Tuesday, March 1 • 5:15 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
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Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) and Ron Jumper (Color) on 920 AM
 
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojans' big rivalry game comes to Little Rock on Tuesday night as the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference are set to do battle. Arkansas State, on an 18-game winning streak, will face Little Rock's 11-game winning streak at 5:15 p.m.
 
TUESDAY PROMOTIONS
Tuesday night will be Senior Night for the Trojans' two seniors – Shanity James and Alexius Dawn. The two will be honored at halftime of the men's basketball game.
 
TIP OFF

• The Trojans' winning streak is now at 11 games thanks to a double-digit victory over Texas State on Saturday night. Little Rock's last loss came on Jan. 21 against Texas State.
• Little Rock guaranteed itself second place in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with its win over the Bobcats. The Trojans will play the No. 7 seed in the tournament's first round.
• Little Rock's defense continues to shine, as the Trojans lead the Sun Belt in league-only games, allowing just 49.6 points per game. The Trojans have given up 50 points or fewer in 12 of its 18 league games and seven straight.
• Little Rock did not lose in the month of February.
• Little Rock has been clutch at the free throw line in the last three games, making 50 of 58 shots from the charity stripe.
• Shanity James picked up her fifth double-double of the year against Texas State, scoring 18 points and pulling down a season-high 13 rebounds. She has led Little Rock in scoring for three straight games.
• Arkansas State defeated Little Rock by 13 points in January when the teams last met, though the game was much closer than that with under 10 minutes to go. Arkansas State

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
After a rough start to the season that saw the team go 2-7 in non-league play against a difficult schedule, the Trojans continue their winning streak and have clinched second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a 14-4 record. The Trojans got their 11th straight win on Saturday against Texas State and saw Shanity James pick up her fifth double-double of the year with an 18-point, 13-rebound performance.
 
The Trojans are riding a huge wave of success over the last decade, making the national postseason for seven of the last eight seasons including four NCAA Tournament berths and three WNIT trips. Little Rock was picked third in the Sun Belt's preseason coaches poll but surpassed that with a second-place finish this year.
 
ABOUT ARKANSAS STATE

• The Red Wolves, based in Jonesboro, Ark., are the regular-season Sun Belt Champions for 2015-16 and are currently on an 18-game winning streak. Arkansas State demolished both Texas schools last week by 37 and 22 points.
• Arkansas State has an RPI of 41 and is one victory away from tying the school record of 25 wins in a season.
• Aundrea Gamble is the Red Wolves' two-time defending Sun Belt Player of the Year. She leads the team with 18.2 points per game. Joining her in double-figure scoring is Khadija Brown-Haywood with 17.2 points per game. The Red Wolves' offense averages 74.7 points per game, second best in the Sun Belt. The Red Wolves have the best field-goal percentage in the league and its second-best free-throw percentage.
• Brown-Haywood is Arkansas State's top rebounder, pulling down 9.3 boards per game to lead the Sun Belt. Gamble is the team's leading passer with 4.8 assists per game.
• Head coach Brian Boyer is in his 17th year with the Red Wolves and has a 295-226 record with them.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST ARKANSAS STATE
Arkansas State is Little Rock's longest active rival, and the Red Wolves have a large 45-16 advantage in the all-time series. But since Little Rock became a Division I school in 1999-2000, things are much more even. Since 2000, Little Rock is 15-19 against the Red Wolves, and since 2006 the Trojans lead the series 15-7. The teams last met in Jonesboro in January when Arkansas State won by 13. But Little Rock was within 1 point with 6:30 left in the game and fell apart late.
 
A WIN AGAINST ARKANSAS STATE WOULD…
…be the team's 12th straight win overall…be Little Rock's 11th straight home win over Arkansas State…snap the Red Wolves' 18-game winning streak…put Little Rock 11 games above .500 in league play…give the Trojans at least 15 wins in league play for the second straight year …be Joe Foley's 717th career win…be the team's ninth straight win at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SUN BELT
In the last 10 years, Little Rock has done a tremendous job in its conference games, claiming at least 12 victories in each of those years. The Trojans have not finished below .500 in the Sun Belt since the 2005-06 season, Joe Foley's third year. Little Rock also won the West Division Championship for six consecutive seasons when the league still had divisions. Over the last 10 seasons including 2015-16, the Trojans hold a record of 143-37 in the league and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
#2 SEED CLINCHED
Little Rock clinched the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament with its win against Texas State on Saturday. The Trojans are now guaranteed to play the No. 7 seed in the tournament's first day, March 8 at 5 p.m. at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Little Rock would not have to meet Arkansas State until the championship game. The No. 2 seed also assured Little Rock an automatic berth to the WNIT if the Red Wolves win the conference tournament.
 
WINNING STREAKS
Little Rock and Arkansas State enter Tuesday's game on some of the longest winning streaks in the country. The Red Wolves' 18-game streak is the fifth-longest in the nation while the Trojans' 11-game streak is 14th-longest in the nation.
 
PERFECT FEBRUARY
With its win on Saturday over Texas State, the Trojans made it a clean sweep of the month of February. Little Rock went 8-0 in the year's shortest month and have not lost since Jan. 21.
 
11 IN A ROW
The Trojans' victory against Texas State extended its season-long winning streak to 11 games. Little Rock's longest winning streak in 2014-15 lasted for 10 games. Little Rock has not had a winning streak this long since 2012-13.
 
DEFENSIVE JUGGERNAUTS
As Little Rock continues to hold teams to incredibly low offensive outputs, the team's national ranking in scoring defensive continues to improve. As of Monday morning, the Trojans' 54.1 points per game allowed ranks 20th in the entire nation. The Trojans have not allowed an opponent to breach 50 points in the last seven games, holding teams to an average of 43.0 points per game in that span.
 
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Dating back to January 2013, the Trojans have an incredible home-court advantage at the Jack Stephens Center for Sun Belt Conference games. Little Rock has posted victories in 32 of its last 33 home league games in that span, with the only blemish being a loss to Louisiana in early January of this year. The Trojans have now won eight straight games at the Jack Stephens Center since that loss.
 
FIFTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Shanity James tied her season high with 13 rebounds against Texas State on Saturday, and she added a team-best 18 points to rack up her fifth double-double of the season. James has led the team in rebounding in six of the last seven games.
 
SEASON-BEST FREE THROWS
Little Rock had its best night of the season at the free-throw line on Thursday, sinking 20 of its 22 attempts from the line. That percentage – 90.9 percent – was the team's best of the year. During the game, Keanna Keys made 6 of 6 free throws, Alexius Dawn made 4 of 4, Kaitlyn Pratt made 2 of 2 and Shanity James made 8 of 10. Those eight made free throws are one shy of James' single-game career high. Over the last three games, the Trojans have made 50 of 58 free-throw attempts (86.2 percent).
 
KEEPING THEM OUT OF THE PAINT
UT Arlington's first quarter on Thursday night saw the Mavericks pick up 12 points in the paint. But after that, Little Rock's defense locked down UT Arlington. The Mavericks had just 2 points in the paint in the game's final 30 minutes.
 
SHOT BLOCKER
Shanity James tied a season high with three blocks against UT Arlington on Thursday. The senior now has 95 blocks in her career, the fourth-most in program history. The Trojans as a whole also had four blocks, tying a season high for the team.
 
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER 60
A trend has emerged in 15 of the Trojans' 16 victories this year: in those 15 victories, the Trojans' opponent has scored under 60 points. Little Rock is now 15-1 in games this year where the opponent has fewer than 60 points. When the Trojans' opponent scores 60 or more, Little Rock drops to 1-10.
 
JAMES ON A SCORING ROLL
Shanity James has been on an amazing scoring streak of late, reaching at least 10 points in 10 of the last 11 games and leading the Trojans in scoring in all but two of those games. She had 22 points on Feb. 20 at Georgia Southern, marking the second time in three games she reached that scoring total. James has topped the Trojans in scoring in 13 games this year and had a four-game streak during non-conference play. She has scored in double figures in 22 total games out of 23 she has played in.
 
ACCURATE SHOOTING
Little Rock players Kaitlyn Pratt and Shanity James both rank in the top five in the Sun Belt Conference in field goal percentage this season. Pratt is second in the league with a .538 shooting percentage, and James is fourth in the league with a .529 shooting percentage. In conference-only games, Pratt leads the Sun Belt with a .578 field goal percentage. James' .538 shooting percentage ranks 43rd in the nation.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Texas State:

• Sharde' Collins scored her 400th career point.

Coming soon:

• Alexius Dawn is one assist away from 200.
• Sharde' Collins needs nine more assists for 100.
• Shanity James is 22 points away from 1,300 and 4 points away from fifth all-time in Trojan history. Nine more field goals made will be 500 in her career. Eight more free throws made would be 300 in her career. Four more rebounds will be 800 for James.
• Kaitlyn Pratt needs 5 points for 600.
• Monique Townson will reach 200 points with 8 more.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock closes out the regular season with a road trip to Appalachian State for a Thursday game. The Trojans and Mountaineers will tip off at 4 p.m. central.