LITTLE ROCK - The men's basketball installment of the Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Governor's I-40 Showdown resumes Sunday in Conway when Little Rock travels to the Farris Center to take on Central Arkansas. The lone meeting of the year between the two tips at 2 p.m.Â
"It will be another tough road game for us in the early part of the season," said head coach
Darrell Walker. "We have played well on the road in our first two games this season and hopefully we can learn from our mistakes Thursday night and be prepared to play. (The Bears) are a talented team with a lot of size and length, and we're going to need to play much more consistent than we did the other night."
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock begins a three-game road trip with the shortest road game of the season, making the 34 mile trek to Conway for the showdown with rival Central Arkansas. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m. at the Farris Center Sunday, November 17.
• Central Arkansas holds a 26-12 edge in the all-time series and has won the last three games, including sweeping the pair of games last season. Prior to the Bears' run, the Trojans won 11-straight, dating back to 1981.Â
• The game against the Bears marks the Governor's I-40 Showdown contest for men's basketball for the 2019-20 season with four points in the rivalry series at stake. It is part of an I-40 double dip as the women play each other Saturday in Little Rock.
• Little Rock has lost its last two games at the Farris Center, a 69-54 loss in 2017 and a 78-65 defeat in 2018. The last time the Trojans lost three-straight in Conway was during the early stretch of the series when the Bears won 23 of the first 24 games.
• The Trojans are 1-1 on the road through the early part of the 2019-20 season. Little Rock won its season opener at Missouri State 67-66 on November 5, then dropped a hard-fought 75-50 decision at Illinois State on November 10.
• Markquis Nowell remains an iron man for the Trojans through the early part of the season. The Little Rock point guard has played 119 of the Trojans' 120 minutes through the first three games, ranking fourth nationally at 39.7 minutes per game.
• Sunday's game may feature one of the nation's tallest lineups as the Trojans and Bears have a combined seven players at 6-10 or taller. Little Rock's roster includes 6-10 Ruot Monyyong, 6-10 Nikola Maric, 6-11 Sam Dunkum and 7-0 Admir Besovic while UCA has three seven footers in Hayden Koval, Jonas Munson and Brandon Vanover.Â
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE BEARS
2019-20: 1-3 overall, 0-0 Southland Conference
Last Three Games: L at Duke (105-54), L at Georgetown (89-78), W vs. Hendrix (71-51)
Head Coach:Â Russ Pennell (Central Arkansas, 1984). 6th season at UCA (50-111); 12th season overall (144-169)
Key Players:
• #13 Eddy Kayouloud (So., G): 12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 36.2 FG%
• #1 Rylan Bergersen (Jr., G); 12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 43.9 FG%
• #15 Hayden Koval (Jr., C): 11.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 15 blks
• #55 DeAndre Jones (Jr., G): 8.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 76.9 FT%
• #34 Jaxson Baker (R-Fr., G): 6.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 50.0 FG%
LAST TIMEÂ vs. BEARS
The last meeting between the two rivals was one for the record book as DeAndre Jones hit a 30-foot shot at the buzzer, leading Central Arkansas to the 85-82 victory over Little Rock at the Jack Stephens Center on December 8, 2012. Rayjon Tucker scored 27 points to lead the Trojans with Kris Bankston registering his career-high with 20 points as Little Rock fell despite shooting 63.8% from the floor and 85.7% from the free throw line.
IRON MAN MARKQUIS
One constant through the first three games of Little Rock's 2019-20 season has been Markquis Nowell on the court for the Trojans. Nowell has played 119 of Little Rock's 120 minutes this season, ranking fourth nationally in minutes per game (39.7). The sophomore scored 20 points against the Bearcats Thursday, the sixth 20-point performance of his Little Rock career.
AMONG SUN BELT LEADERS
Markquis Nowell ranks among the Sun Belt leaders in a number of categories through the first three games of 2019-20. The sophomore point guard is third in scoring (20.0 ppg), second in assists (5.3), steals (3.3) and free throw percentage (93.3%) while leading the league in minutes per game (39.7). Nowell also tied a career-best with five steals against the Bearcats to complement his five rebounds.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Little Rock dominated in rebounding against Southwest Baptist Thursday night, outrebounding the Bearcats 44-23 and leading to a 22-3 edge in second chance points. That charge was led by Kamani Johnson tying his career high with 12 boards, including five offensive. Johnson leads the team with 23 rebounds on the season, ranking fifth in the Sun Belt (7.7 rpg), just ahead of Ben Coupet Jr.'s 7.3 average, ranking seventh.
CONSISTENT COUPET
Ben Coupet Jr. notched a career-best Thursday night against the Bearcats with 18 points while adding seven rebounds. Through his first three games as a Trojan, Coupet Jr. ranks second on the team in both scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) while shooting 60.7% from the floor, 66.7% from three point range and is a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line. ​​​​​​​
BANKSTON DUNK TRACKER
Kris Bankston registered five dunks in the win over Southwest Baptist Thursday, finishing with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Bankston has tallied six dunks on the year, upping his career total to 93, while shooting 75.0% from the floor, which is first all-time in program history.Â
DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
Five Trojans finished in double figures in the win over Southwest Baptist Thursday, marking the most double figure scorers in a single game this season. Markquis Nowell led the way with 20, followed by 18 from Ben Coupet Jr., 13 from Kris Bankston and 10 each from Jaizec Lottie and Ruot Monyyong. The five double figure scorers bests the previous high of four at Illinois State on November 10.
STRUGGLES FROM THE ARC
Three point shooting has been a struggle for Little Rock in 2019-20 as the Trojans are making just 24.5% of its shots from beyond the arc (12-of-49), ranking tied for 316th nationally. They will be in familiar company with Central Arkansas who is shooting just 25.5% from three (24-94), tied for 303rd in the nation.
AGAINST THE SOUTHLAND
Little Rock has an extended history against the Southland Conference, posting an 84-86 (.494) all-time record against current members of the league. Central Arkansas is the lone Southland school the Trojans will face in 2019-20 and has been the most frequent opponent, meeting 38 times. Little Rock's most victories have come against New Orleans (15) with 12 wins against Houston Baptist and 11 against Southeastern Louisiana.
HITTING THE ROAD
The first part of Little Rock's 2019-20 schedule, especially the month of November, will test the Trojans. Including the scrimmage in Fayetteville, six of Little Rock's first seven games will be on the road, competing in five different states. The Trojans open the year with back-to-back road games in Missouri and Illinois, then have three-straight road contests in Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina, traveling just shy of 4,000 miles in the month of November.
REACHING 400
With his 13 points Thursday night, Kris Bankston became the second player on the Trojan roster to eclipse the 400-point plateau, sitting at 403 for his career. Bankston, who has played in a team-best 64 games in his career, is one of four current Trojans to have scored over 300 points in a Little Rock uniform, led by 412 from Jaizec Lottie, who also leads the team in minutes played (1,577) and second in games played (58).
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