GM22: Little Rock (19-2, 9-1 SBC) vs. Troy (6-15, 1-9 SBC)
Thursday, Feb. 4 | 7:15 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. | Jack Stephens Center (5,600)
Radio: The Point 94.1 FM / KKPT.com
Talent: Ray Tucker (PxP), Bobby Vint (Analyst)
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock goes for its 20
th win of the season when it hosts Troy at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m.
Thursday is International night at the JSC. Bring your passport and you can receive a $2 discount on admission to the games. To support the new Trojan Food Pantry, fans are encouraged to bring peanut butter and jelly to the games as donations. Those donations will also earn a $2 admission discount. (One offer valid per ticket purchased)
A win would give Little Rock its first 20-win season since 2008-09 and its 10
th in program history. Dating back to the league's inception in 1976-77, just two other Sun Belt Conference programs (1992-93 New Orleans and 2011-12 Middle Tennessee) have started a season by winning 19 of 21 games.
As of Wednesday, the Trojans are tied with four others for the best record in the nation. No team nationally has more than 19 wins, while no team has fewer than two losses.
Troy will enter Thursday night's matchup at the JSC as losers of nine of its last 10. The Trojans are 6-15 overall and 1-9 in Sun Belt play.
Playing with a young lineup, the Trojans are led by sophomore Wesley Person (16.7 ppg), freshman Jordon Varnado (15.1 ppg) and junior Jeremy Hollimon (12.0 ppg). Troy is averaging 73.3 ppg on the season and knocks down 7.1 3-pointers per game. Person ranks second in the Sun Belt at 3.1 made 3s per game.
Head coach Phil Cunningham is in his third season as head coach.
In the first meeting between the teams this season, Little Rock overcame a five-point halftime deficit to win 67-61 at Trojan Arena on Jan. 2. Little Rock limited Troy to 6-of-23 shooting after intermission (.261) and scored 38 points on 12-of-22 shots after the break.
Marcus Johnson Jr. (22 points) and
Jalen Jackson (18 points) led Little Rock on offense.
Little Rock leads 9-6 in the all-time series, including four straight entering Thursday's matchup.
Quick Hits• Little Rock is off to its best start in program history and is one of just three teams in Sun Belt history to win 19 of 21 games to start a season.
• Little Rock is tied with four others for the best record in the nation at 19-2 (.905).
• A win would give Little Rock its first 20-win season since 2008-09, and 10th in its Division I history.
• Little Rock is 9-0 at home and has won an arena-record 11 straight games at the Jack Stephens Center.
• Little Rock is off to its first-ever 9-1 start to Sun Belt play and is in sole possession of first place in the SBC standings.
• Little Rock's scoring defense ranks first nationally (58.3 ppg) and its defensive FG% (.374) ranks fifth.
• Little Rock is 10th nationally in turnover margin (4.1) and ranks 21st in turnovers per game (10.7).
• Little Rock leads the SBC in scoring defense, defensive FG%, turnovers per game, turnover margin, and free throw percentage.
• Head coach
Chris Beard comes to Little Rock after two seasons 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.
