LITTLE ROCK – Paced by career-high performances by
Deondre Burns and
Nikola Maric, Little Rock raced out to a big lead in the first half and never looked back, running past Howard 97-76 at the Jack Stephens Center Friday afternoon.
The win moves Little Rock to 3-2 on the year and 2-0 at home under first year head coach
Darrell Walker while Howard falls to 4-2 overall.
Burns scored 21 of his career-high 29 points in the second half to help Little Rock pull away from the Bison as he was one of five Trojans to finish in double figures. Burns finished 9-for-10 from the floor, 4-for-5 from three-point range and 7-for-8 from the free throw line, pulling down five rebounds.
Burns' 29 was complemented by 18 points and seven rebounds from
Rayjon Tucker with
Nikola Maric also registering a career-best, finishing with 17 points on 4-of-4 shooting and 9-of-10 from the free throw line with a pair of blocks.
Ryan Pippins added a season-best 16 points, three off his career-high, with
Markquis Nowell posting 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists. As a team, the Trojans shot 58.5 percent from the floor (31-of-53), including knocking down 64.3 percent of their shots in the first half (18-of-28).
But one area which saw a marked improvement for the Trojans came at the free throw line. Little Rock connected on 26 of its 31 attempts, knocking down 83.9 percent of its attempts – well beyond the Trojans' 55.2 percent average entering the game.
In a battle between two teams with an offensive mindset, the opening 10 minutes of the game played out just as expected with both teams running the floor. Tied 10-10 five minutes in, Little Rock began to flex its offensive muscle, outscoring Howard 18-6 over the next five to build a 28-16 advantage.
The Bison brought the deficit under 10 at 30-21 with 9:02 remaining, but Little Rock then broke the game open, using a 14-0 run to extend its lead to 23 at 44-21, tying the Trojans' largest advantage of the season.
Little Rock's lead hovered around the 20-point mark for the remainder of the half, taking a 51-30 lead into the break thanks to a three from Pippins as time expired. In the opening 20 minutes, the Trojans shot 64.3 percent from the floor (18-of-28), limiting Howard to just 35.5 percent shooting (11-of-31). Pippins notched 14 points in the opening half with Maric registering 13.
The Trojans expected a run from the Bison to start the second half and Howard held true to script, working inside for four-straight lay-ups. But Little Rock maintained the pace, keeping its lead in the high teens through the opening 10 minutes and leading 76-57 at the midway point of the second, holding Howard without a field goal for nearly three minutes.
A mini Howard run pulled the Bison to within 15 at 76-61 with just over nine minutes to play, but the Trojans answered with a 7-1 run of its own, pushing the lead back to 21 at 83-62. The proverbial dagger came with seven minutes remaining as Burns drilled a three from the corner as the shot clock expired, giving the Trojans its largest lead of the season at 86-62.
From that point on, Little Rock remained in control as the Trojans led for 39:14 of the 40 minute contest, winning its first-ever meeting with the Bison.
Howard shot 40.6 percent from the floor and were just 8-of-27 from beyond the three-point line. R.J. Cole paced the Bison with 26 points with Chad Lott adding 16 and Charles Williams finishing with 13.
The victory for the Trojans, coupled with the results of the triple overtime thriller in the first game, sets up an Arkansas showdown in the championship game of the Little Rock bracket Saturday afternoon. Little Rock and Arkansas-Pine Bluff will renew their rivalry, squaring off at 3:30 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.
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