Trojans Host Southwest Baptist in Home Opener Thursday

GAME 3 | SOUTHWEST BAPTIST
Date	Thursday, November 14
Time	6:30 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Arena	Jack Stephens Center
Records	Little Rock (1-1, 0-0 SBC) Southwest Baptist (2-1, 0-0 GLVC)
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	The Point 94.1 FM
Live Stats	TrojanStats.com
Notes	Little Rock | Southwest Baptist

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock opens its 2019-20 home schedule at the Jack Stephens Center, hosting Southwest Baptist on Thursday, November 14 at 6:30 p.m. The showdown with the Bearcats will stream online at ESPN+ with Ben Creighton returning to call this year's home games. Ray Tucker will call the games over the radio waves on The Point 94.1 FM.

"We're looking forward to being back home after a couple of tough road games," said head coach Darrell Walker. "I thought our players responded well in a pair of tough places to play last week and we did some good things. It will be good to play at the Jack Stephens Center and look forward to seeing our home fans again."

GAME STORYLINES

• Little Rock is set to open its 15th season with the Jack Stephens Center serving as its home venue, posting an overall record of 131-78 (.627). The Trojans are 12-2 (.857) in home openers at the Jack, including last year's 101-92 overtime victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State on November 8, 2018.

• Since the move to Division I, Little Rock has been tough to beat in its first home game of the season. The Trojans are 37-3 (.925) in home openers since making the transition in the 1978-79 season with their only losses coming at the hands of Oklahoma State (1999), North Florida (2013) and Ouachita Baptist (2017).

• Southwest Baptist leads the all-time series against Little Rock, winning three of the five previous meetings. The Trojans have won the last two as the teams will meet for the first time since 1986, a 96-67 win for Little Rock at Barton Coliseum.

• Little Rock split its season-opening Missouri Valley road trip, defeating Missouri State 67-66 on Nov. 5  before falling 75-70 after a furious rally at Illinois State on Nov.10.

• While this game will count in the standings for Little Rock, it will be an exhibition contest for Southwest Baptist, which has opened the season 2-1. The two teams met in an exhibition prior to the 2017-18 season, an 84-68 victory for the Trojans at the Jack Stephens Center on November 3, 2017.

• Markquis Nowell has been an iron man early in the season for Little Rock, playing all 80 minutes in the two games against the Bears and Redbirds. He ranks seventh in the country in minutes played (40.0) and is the Sun Belt's leader in assists (6.0), ranking seventh in scoring (20.0) and free throw percentage (88.9%).

NEWS AND NOTES

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
2019-20: 2-1 overall, 0-0 Great Lakes Valley
Last Three Games: W vs. Ozark Christian (95-70), L vs. Lake Superior State (77-85), W at Trevecca Nazarene (64-45)
Head Coach:  Clark Sheehy (John Brown, 1999). 6th season at SBU (64-84); 15th season overall (246-190)
Key Players:
• #12 Damian Prgomet (R-Sr., F): 14.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 58.3 FG%
• #21 Brady Smith (Jr., G): 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.0 apg
• #3 Quinn Nelson (So., G): 10.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg
• #22 Godfrey Rolle (Sr., G): 9.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 100.0 FT%
• #33 Joe Miller (R-So. G): 9.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 45.5 3FG%

ITS BEEN A WHILE
Thursday's game marks the first meeting between the Trojans and Bearcats since December 9, 1986. To put it in perspective how long ago that was: head coach Darrell Walker was in his fourth NBA season and playing for the Denver Nuggets, the number one movie in America was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the number one song was The Final Countdown by Europe and the average cost of a new car was less than $7,000.

DISHING THE ROCK
Markquis Nowell led the Trojans in assists in 2018-19 and is picking up where he left off. The sophomore dished out a season-best eight at Missouri State, then had four more at Illinois State. He leads the Sun Belt Conference in assists per game (6.0) and ranks 49th nationally.

COUPET'S HOMECOMING
Ben Coupet Jr. had an impressive homecoming in his return to the state of Illinois Sunday, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists against Illinois State. The Chicago native hit three of his four shots and was 2-of-3 from three point range, making both of his free throw attempts. Through two games, Coupet Jr. ranks second on the team in field goal percentage (75.0%) and scoring (11.5 ppg) while leading the team in three point (60.0%) and free throw (100.0%) percentages.

MAKING STRIDES
Over the first two games of the 2019-20 season, Little Rock has shown strides from the floor in a pair of key statistics. After finishing the season ranked 16th nationally in field goal percentage, the Trojans continue to rank among the nation's best at 51.4%. Little Rock has improved at the free throw line, ranking tied for 89th nationally at 74.1% after its 10-of-12 performance at Illinois State. Three point shooting has been a challenge early as the Trojans have made just nine of their 33 attempts (27.3%).

DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
Little Rock saw its most productive game of the season at Illinois State with four players finishing in double figures for points. Markquis Nowell led the way with 28 to lead the Trojans with Kris Bankston, Ben Coupet Jr. and Ruot Monyyong each adding 10 points. The four double figure scorers is a season-high, topping the three in the win at Missouri State.

BANKSTON DUNK TRACKER
Kris Bankston earned a reputation as one of the nation's top dunkers in 2018-19, finishing with 69 for the season. Bankston had his first dunk of the year Sunday at Illinois State, upping his career total to 88. He continues to be efficient from the field, making 80.0% of his shots through two games, and holds a 74.7% field goal percentage for his career, ranking first in program history.

QUICK START FOR THE NEW GUYS
With nine newcomers on the team, the Trojans knew some of the new guys would need to make an immediate impact. Five of the nine have seen game action through the first two games and have combined for 58 of Little Rock's 147 points (42.3%) and 28 of the Trojans' 60 rebounds (46.7%).

TROJANS vs. GREAT LAKES
Little Rock has a limited history against current members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, posting a 4-5 (.444) all-time mark against the league. Southwest Baptist has been the most common opponent, going against the Trojans five times. Little Rock has also registered victories over Lewis (1991) and Truman State (1996) in the Trojans' last two meetings against the Great Lakes Valley.

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
The month of November will be a challenging one for Little Rock as the Trojans will play nine games during the course of the month, including five of the first six on the road. Including the charity exhibition in Fayetteville, Little Rock will be on the road for six of its first seven and will log over 4,000 miles of travel in the month of November alone. Those nine games will be spread out across five different states, suiting up in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.

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