Little Rock Opens Tournament Play Saturday on ESPN3

GM32: No. 1 Little Rock (27-4, 17-3 SBC) vs. No. 4 Louisiana (16-13, 12-8 SBC) / No. 8 South Alabama (14-18, 8-12 SBC)
Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship Presented by First Bank and Trust
Saturday, March 12 | 1 p.m. (CST)
New Orleans, La. | Lakefront Arena (10,000)
TV: ESPN3
TV Talent: Matt Stewart (PxP), Bob Donewald (Analyst), Kristen Bedard (Sideline)
Radio: The Point 94.1 FM / KKPT.com
Talent: Ray Tucker (PxP)
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
 
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock opens the Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship presented by First Bank and Trust at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
 
The Trojans, who earned the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament after winning its first-ever outright Sun Belt Championship in the regular season, advance to the semifinals thanks to a double-bye awarded the tournament's top two seeds. The Trojans will face either No. 4 Louisiana or No. 8 South Alabama, who go head-to-head tonight at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
 
Little Rock will enter Saturday's action on eight-plus days of rest after last playing at Appalachian State on Thursday, March 3. If the Trojans were to win, they would play in the title game on Sunday at noon in a game that will be televised on ESPN2. It would be Little Rock's fourth trip to the tournament finals since joining the league in 1991.
 
Head coach Chris Beard was named the Joe Gottfried Coach of the Year by the Sun Belt Conference on Tuesday. Josh Hagins (First Team), Marcus Johnson Jr. (Second) and Roger Woods (Third) became the first trio of Little Rock players to earn All-Sun Belt accolades in the same season.
 
The Trojans finished the regular season ranked third nationally in scoring defense (59.8 ppg) and seventh in defensive field goal percentage (.385). Little Rock's defense has held its opponents below 40 percent shooting from the floor in 19 games this season. The team's 27 wins at the end of the regular season were the most in the nation.
 
Quick Hits
• Little Rock enters the Sun Belt Championship with the overall No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season with the best record in the nation at 27-4 overall, 17-3 in league play.
• A league member since 1991, Little Rock earned its first-ever outright Sun Belt Conference Championship.
• 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-Sun Belt.
• Little Rock has already established new program records for overall wins and Sun Belt wins in a season.
• Little Rock is two victories shy of matching the Sun Belt Conference record for wins in a season (29).
• Little Rock's 14-win improvement from last season's 13-18 record is currently tied for the best turnaround in Sun Belt history.
• Little Rock went 14-0 at the JSC this year, giving the program its first unbeaten home slate since 1981-82.
• Little Rock's 12 road wins in the regular season were a program record and second-most nationally in 2015-16.
• Little Rock's scoring defense ranks third nationally (59.8 ppg) and its defensive FG% (.385) ranks seventh.
• 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.