LITTLE ROCK - Year two of the
Darrell Walker era begins Tuesday for Little Rock basketball as the Trojans head north to face Missouri State at JHQ Arena on Tuesday, November 5, tipping at 7 p.m. The game against the Bears will be available online on ESPN3 with Ray Tucker resuming his role as the "Voice of the Trojans" on The Point 94.1 FM.Â
"We're ready to get going and get the season underway," Walker said. "We've had some good practices over the last few weeks and saw some good things in our scrimmage up in Fayetteville as well as our other intersquad scrimmage. They are a great team, picked to finish among the top of the Missouri Valley Conference, so this will be a great early season test on the road for our team."
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock will take to the court for the first time in 2019-20, making the trip north to Springfield, Missouri, to take on Missouri State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5.
• The Trojans are seeking their first-ever win against the Bears as Missouri State holds a 7-0 lead in the all-time series. Little Rock is 0-4 against Missouri State in Springfield, 0-2 in Little Rock and 0-1 in neutral sites. The last meeting came in 2014 when the Bears defeated the Trojans 73-68 at JHQ Arena.
• Little Rock will begin its 82nd year of basketball Tuesday evening as the Trojans are 41-40 (.507) in season openers in program history. Little Rock has won five of its last seven season openers and is opening up on the road for the first time since the 2011-12 season. The Trojans' last road win in the season-opener came in 2010, a 57-47 win at SMU.
• The Bears are the first of two Missouri Valley Conference schools Little Rock will see to start the year. The Trojans will continue on to Normal, Illinois, to take on Illinois State Sunday, November 10.
• The Trojans are set to return a young lineup that saw four true freshmen earn significant playing time while combining for 152 starts in 2018-19. The quartet was responsible for 37.8% of the Trojans' minutes, 35.6% of the points and 35.7% of the rebounds last season.
• Little Rock added nine newcomers in the offseason to bolster the roster. That group consists of five transfers, three freshmen and a former Trojan manager being elevated to the roster.
• Little Rock saw its first action of the season in a charity exhibition on Sunday, October 20, facing Arkansas in Fayetteville for the first time in program history. The Trojans fell to the Razorbacks 79-64, led by a 13-point, 11-rebound performance from
Kamani Johnson.
• The Trojans played their second scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday, October 26, defeating Northwestern State of the Southland Conference 97-75 at the Jack Stephens Center. Five different Trojans scored in double figures, led by 20 points from
Kris Bankston, who went 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
NEWS AND NOTES
NUMBER CHANGES
Three Trojan returners will be sporting new uniform numbers as the 2019-20 season gets underway.Â
Nikola Maric is switching to number 25 (from 55),
Ryan Pippins will wear 21 (from 0) and
Horace Wyatt Jr. will suit up in number 15 (from 25).
DUNK CENTURY CLUB
Little Rock earned a reputation as one of the nation's top dunking teams in 2018-19 as the Trojans finished with 117 last season. Little Rock out-dunked its opponents 117-67, led by 69 on the year from Kris Bankston, who enters his junior season with 87 career slams.Â
EFFICIENT FROM THE FLOOR
The Trojans were one of the nation's best shooting teams from the floor in 2018-19, ranking 16th nationally at 48.4%. Three Trojans finished the year shooting better than 50% from the floor, led by the program-record 81.3% from Kris Bankston. Kamani Johnson shot 55.2% from the floor with Nikola Maric adding a 51.7% field goal percentage.
HEIGHT ADVANTAGE
Little Rock will look noticeably taller this season as the Trojans boast four players on the roster that are 6-10 or taller: Nikola Maric (6-10), Ruot Monyyong (6-10), Sam Dunkum (6-11) and Admir Besovic (7-0). It marks the first time since the 2012-13 season Little Rock will feature four players who are 6-10 or taller as Besovic becomes the first Trojan to crack the seven foot mark since Alexei Korolev in 2004-05.
TESTED EARLY
The first part of Little Rock's 2019-20 schedule, especially the month of November, will test the Trojans as, including the scrimmage in Fayetteville against the Razorbacks on October 20, 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 at Missouri State and Illinois State, then have three-straight road contests at Central Arkansas, Memphis and North Carolina State, as Little Rock will travel just shy of 4,000 miles in the month of November.
TROJANS vs. THE VALLEY
Little Rock has posted a 5-14 (.278) all-time record against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference. This is the third-straight year the Trojans have faced a member of the conference, taking on Bradley in both 2017 and 2018. Little Rock's last win against the conference came against the Braves in 2014, defeating Bradley 64-54 at the South Point Hoops Holiday Classic in Las Vegas. The Trojans have also notched wins over Illinois State (2010), Loyola Chicago (1988), Southern Illinois (2004) and Valparaiso (1980).
NOT WHERE YOU START ...
It should come as no surprise that Little Rock finds itself near the bottom of the preseason Sun Belt Conference polls. The Trojans were voted 11th out of 12 teams, receiving 32 total points, matching the finish from the 2018-19 season. Little Rock finished 10 points ahead of 12th-place Appalachian State and one point behind 10th-place Arkansas State.
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