MOBILE, Ala. – A sluggish second half did in Little Rock once again as the Trojans drop another road contest, falling at South Alabama 73-56 Thursday evening. The Trojans came up on the short end for the seventh-straight game, falling to 5-20 on the year and 2-10 in Sun Belt Conference play.
It was a tale of two halves for the Trojans, who shot 48.0 percent from the floor and made five of six free throws in the opening 20 minutes. That, however, was contrasted by Little Rock making just nine of its 25 shots in the second half (36.0%) and going 6-of-15 (40.0%) from the free throw line.
For the game, Little Rock shot 42.0 percent from the floor (21-of-50), 21.4 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-14) and 52.4 percent from the free throw line (11-of-21). That was contrasted by South Alabama's 50.9 percent shooting, but the Trojans did hold the Jaguars to just 7-of-22 from three-point range (31.8%).
Nine different Trojans scored on the night, led by 12 points from
Cameron Corcoran off the bench as the freshman went 4-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. Fellow freshman
Kris Bankston finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with three rebounds as
Oliver Black posted seven points and eight rebounds.
Ben Marcus added six points on 2-of-4 shooting, sitting at 74.1 percent from the floor as he is now just 12 shots shy of meeting the minimum to qualify for the single-season field goal percentage record.
Anthony Black finished with five points with
Jaizec Lottie notching four points and four assists with two steals.
The Trojans were outscored 38-30 in the paint as South Alabama held a 34-27 rebounding edge.
South Alabama benefitted from the quick start Little Rock had become accustomed to, scoring the game's first five points and building an early 9-6 lead. The Trojans then rattled off 12-straight, taking its first lead of the game at 18-9 as seven different Trojans scored during the run for Little Rock.
But that run was matched by a 10-0 run for the Jaguars, evening the game at 18-18 at the 8:05 mark. For the final eight minutes, Little Rock and South Alabama battled back and forth with neither team able to take more than a one possession lead until the Jaguars drilled a three at the first half buzzer, taking a 34-30 lead into intermission. The shot by South Alabama marked the 10th time this season an opponent has made a shot against the Trojans in the final three seconds of a half.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, that buzzer-beater energized the Jaguars as South Alabama registering the first eight points of the second half, pushing its lead to 12 at 42-30 over the first three minutes. The lead would reach 14 at 46-32 at the 16:22 mark as the Trojans made just one of its first six shots in the second half.
Three-pointers by Corcoran and A. Black helped Little Rock get to within eight at 48-40 with 13:45 remaining, but that was as close as Little Rock was able to claw as the Jaguars pulled away over the final 15 minutes, handing Little Rock its 13th-straight road loss.
The seven-straight losses is the most for Little Rock since an eight-game streak in 2009-10 as the Trojans have now lost 14-straight games away from the Jack Stephens Center, winning just once in its last 22 road games.
Little Rock hopes to end both of those extended streaks Saturday when it makes the 170-mile trek to face Troy on Saturday. The Trojan War gets underway at 4:15 p.m., broadcasting live on ESPN3.
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