OPENING TIP
Little Rock makes its shortest road trip of the season, venturing 34 miles north to the Farris Center to take on rival Central Arkansas Wednesday, November 28, tipping at 6:30 p.m. Live video and stats are available at UCASports.com with Ray Tucker calling the action on The Point 94.1 FM.
GOVERNOR'S I-40 SHOWDOWN
The match-up between Little Rock and Central Arkansas Wednesday marks the first basketball competition in the inaugural Governor's I-40 Showdown, a new rivalry series announced by Governor Asa Hutchison at the state capitol on August 16, 2018. The two teams will meet annually in each sport mutually sponsored by the two schools with a respective point total for each match. Through the fall season, Central Arkansas holds a comfortable 14.5 lead to 3.5 lead on Little Rock with two basketball games accounting for four points each in the series.
HOME COOKING
Despite hitting the road Wednesday, Little Rock remains in a key stretch where it won't venture outside the central Arkansas region. Beginning with last weekend's games at the Jack Stephens Center, the Trojans are in a span where they play six of seven at home, with the lone road game the short trip to Conway. Following Wednesday's showdown, Little Rock returns home for four-straight home games, taking on Sam Houston State (Dec. 1), Bradley (Dec. 4), the rematch with the Bears (Dec. 8) and Miles College (Dec. 11).
RACKING UP THE MILES
While the trip to Conway is the shortest road trip this season, Little Rock's game at Central Arkansas marks the fourth different state the Trojans will play a road game in this season, joining Tennessee, Nevada and Oklahoma. Having racked up nearly 5,000 travel miles already, Little Rock will add five more states to the list this season, comprised of Washington D.C., Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Georgia.
ALL-TOURNAMENT MARIC
Freshman Nikola Maric is coming off a strong three-game stretch for the Trojans, one in which he is averaging 16.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Maric earned Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic Upper Division All-Tournament honors after finishing with 37 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks, a 71.4 % shooting percentage and an 81.0% free throw percentage over the weekend. The Bosnia-Herzegovina native registered the second double-double of the year for Little Rock, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebound against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Facing in-state rival Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the championship game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic Upper Division, Little Rock fell behind early and never recovered, dropping the 75-66 decision to the Golden Lions. Little Rock held UAPB to just 41.5% shooting from the floor, but connected on just 4-of-19 three-point attempts, compared to 10-of-28 for the Golden Lions who used a 20-2 run in the second half to put the game away for good. Three Trojans scored in double figures, led by Nikola Maric's 20-point, 12-rebound performance for his first career double-double.Â
ONE-TWO INSIDE PUNCH
One of the major factors for Little Rock's success early in the season has been the inside play of big men Kris Bankston and Nikola Maric. Combined, the two have made 48 of their 65 field goal attempts, shooting 73.8% from the floor. Bankston has been especially efficient, missing just four shots all year and shooting 86.7% (26-of-30), which would lead the Sun Belt Conference had he reached the minimum attempts. The duo, along with Rayjon Tucker's 56.9% field goal percentage, have paced Little Rock to a team field goal percentage of 50.6%, ranking 18th nationally.
SLOW AND STEADY
An area of continued struggles for Little Rock has been free throw shooting as the Trojans ranked 348th out of 351 Division I teams last season, connecting on just 61.0% of its attempts. This season, the Trojans have begun to make improvements, making 61.3% of their free throws and improving the percentage by nearly seven points over the last two games. The increase was aided with a 26-of-31 (83.9%) performance in the win over Howard with freshman Nikola Maric leading the charge, going 9-for-10 against Howard and 8-for-11 against UAPB.
TROJANS AMONG SUN BELT LEADERS
Through the opening three weeks of the 2018-19 season, a handful of Trojans rank among the Sun Belt leaders in a number of statistical categories. Rayjon Tucker is currently fifth in scoring (18.4 ppg) while ranking second in field goal percentage (56.9%) and fourth in both defensive rebounds (5.8) and minutes (35.8) per game. Markquis Nowell is third in the league in assists per game (4.3), with Jaizec Lottie right behind in sixth (4.0), while Kris Bankston (1.5) and Lottie (1.4) rank sixth and eighth, respectively, in steals per game. Bankston and Nikola Maric are tied for fifth in blocks per game (1.2) with Lottie tied for fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).
WALKER ADDS THREE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Head coach Darrell Walker announced three additions to the Trojan roster during the fall early signing period. Little Rock has announced the signings of junior college transfers Admir Besovic and Ruot Monyyong and high school signee Jovan Stulic to the 2019-20 roster. Besovic (7-0, 240, C) is currently at Santa Fe College while Monyyong (6-11, 210, F) is competing for Shelton State Community College. Stulic (6-6, 205, G) competes for Seacrest Country Day School in Naples, Florida, as all three are expected to contribute immediately for Walker's Trojans.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Little Rock and Central Arkansas both face the challenge of rebuilding with young players this season as when the Trojans and Bears tip off Wednesday, nine of the 10 projected starters are either sophomores or freshmen. Little Rock's projected starting five consists of three freshmen (Markquis Nowell, Horace Wyatt Jr. and Nikola Maric) and two sophomores (Jaizec Lottie and Kris Bankston) while Central Arkansas' has predominantly started two freshmen (Eddy Kayouloud and Khaleem Bennett) and two sophomores (DeAndre Jones and Hayden Koval). The Bears' Thatch Unruh (a senior guard) is projected to be the only upperclassmen to start the rivalry game.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
2018-19: 2-4 overall, 0-0 Southland Conference, 2-0 at home
Last Three Games: L at Saint Louis (73-61); L at Troy (82-77); L at Pittsburgh (97-71)
Series: Central Arkansas leads 24-11 (.686) | Streak: UCA won 1 | First: 1930-31 (L, 44-20) | Last: Dec. 9, 2017 (L, 69-54)
Head Coach: Russ Pennell (Central Arkansas, 1984). Fifth season at Central Arkansas (37-93); 11th season overall (130-151)
Key Players:
- #14 Eddy Kayouloud (Fr. G/F) - 14.3 ppg., 3.8 rpg.
- #55 DeAndre Jones (So. G) - 13.3 ppg., 3.5 rpg.Â
- #25 Thatch Unruh (Sr. G) - 9.8 ppg., 4.5 rpg.
- #15 Hayden Koval (So. C) - 9.5 ppg., 5.8 rpg
- #4 Khaleem Bennett (Fr. G) -Â 9.0 ppg., 2.3 rpg.
THE RIVALRY
Little Rock and Central Arkansas meet Wednesday for the 36th time in a series dating back to the 1930-31 season. The Bears dominated the early part of the rivalry, winning the first 17 meetings and 23 of the first 24 games between 1930-31 and 1973-74 with the Trojans' lone win in that span coming in 1966-67. The two teams played sporadically between 1981 and 2014 before beginning a home-and-home series in the 2014-15 season. Little Rock won 11-straight between 1981 and 2017 before the Bears ended the streak with the 69-54 win in Conway on December 9, their first victory over the Trojans since the 1973-74 season.
TROJANS AGAINST THE SOUTHLAND
Little Rock has an extensive history against the Southland Conference, posting an overall record of 82-84 (.494) against current members of the league which shares a similar footprint to the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans hold a winning record against six current Southland institutions, several of which were one-time conference foes with Little Rock. Central Arkansas is one of two Southland schools Little Rock will go head-to-head with, meeting the Bears on both November 28 and December 8, before facing Sam Houston State at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday.
