LITTLE ROCK – Arguably Little Rock's most complete effort of the season helped the Trojans close out its non-conference schedule with a convincing 86-62 victory over Tennessee State Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
"This was our most complete game of the season, and I was pleased with our defensive effort tonight," said head coach
Darrell Walker. "I know the story will be that we scored 86 points, but that was a very athletic team we played and we held them to 62 points. I'm proud of our team, our shorthanded team, and it feels good to head into conference play with a winning record."
Game Notes
• Three nights after scoring its fewest amount of points of the season at North Texas (53), Little Rock responded with its best offensive performance of the season, scoring a season-high 86 points, which is the most for the team since the 91-62 win over South Alabama on January 12.
• A season-high five Trojans scored in double figures on the night, led by 25 points from
Markquis Nowell – his seventh 20-point performance of the season. Nowell was 9-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three point range.
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Ruot Monyyong posted his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds against his hometown team. He reached the double-double late in the first half while tallying four blocks on the night.
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Kamani Johnson tied his career high with 17 points for Little Rock on 5-of-7 shooting and just missed his third double-double of the season, finishing with nine rebounds with a pair of blocks. Johnson also went 7-of-9 from the free throw line.
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Ben Coupet Jr. added 14 points with four rebounds while going 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
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Isaiah Palermo set a new career high with 11 points off the bench, going 4-for-8 from the floor while playing 28 minutes, also a new career-best for the freshman.
• As a team, Little Rock shot 53.7% from the floor, its best shooting performance of the season. The Trojans made 29 of their 54 shots while going 7-of-14 from three point range, also their best performance from beyond the arc this season.
• Once again, Little Rock held an opponent well below their season scoring average, holding Tennessee State to 62 points after the Tigers came in averaging 76.7 points per game.
• The Trojans were outrebounded 41-37, but were nearly even in second chance points, outscored by two at 12-10. Little Rock dominated in the paint, outscoring Tennessee State 42-22, while forcing 20 Tiger turnovers.
• Little Rock is now 2-1 all-time against Tennessee State, winning both games of the home-and-home series over the past two seasons. The Trojans are 1-0 all-time against the Tigers in Little Rock.
• Little Rock closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule at 6-5, marking the first time the Trojans head into conference play above .500 since going 9-4 in non-Sun Belt play in 2016-17.
First Half Notes
• Little Rock raced out to a 7-0 lead in the opening 100 seconds with three-straight layups from Johnson, Monyyong and Coupet adding an and-one. Tennesse State would then notch eight-straight points off back-to-back threes, taking its first lead of the game at 8-7 at the 17:01 mark.
• The Trojan's defense kicked in, holding Tennessee State without a field goal for seven minutes and opened up a six-point lead at 19-13. Little Rock limited the Tigers to five free throws during that span.
• Monyyong came up productive in the first 10 minutes of the opening half against his hometown team, scoring 10 points with five rebounds and a block as the Trojans opened up an 11-point cushion at 27-16 with 8:43 to go in the opening half.
• Little Rock's lead extended to 13 at 35-22 thanks to a pair of threes from Nowell, upping his total to 11 on the game. The Trojans then matched that advantage at 39-26, courtesy of back-to-back layups from Nowell and Coupet.
• Monyyong reached his fourth double-double of the season in the first 18 minutes, pulling down his 10th rebound to lead into an and-one for Johnson to push Little Rock's lead to 16 at 42-26 with 1:37 remaining in the half.
• Little Rock shot 53.3% from the floor in the opening half, connecting on 16-of-30 shots, while limiting Tennessee State to 33.3% shooting. Nowell registered 13 points in the opening 20 minutes with Monyyong posting 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Second Half Notes
• After exchanging baskets through the first five minutes, a jumper in the paint from Monyyong, followed by threes from Coupet and Palermo helped Little Rock push the lead back to 16 at 54-38 with 13:47 remaining.
• An 8-1 run near the midway point of the second half helped Little Rock gain control, upping its lead to 19 at 59-40. Palermo hit a three to up his total to a career-high eight points, followed by a three and a transition layup from Nowell that split a pair of Tiger defenders.
• A layup from Johnson with 8:18 remaining pushed Little Rock over the 70-point plateau for the first time in seven games. It pushed the Trojan lead to 21 at 71-50, matching its largest lead of the evening.
• An 8-0 run all but put the game away for Little Rock at the six minute mark, extending its lead to 26 at 79-53. The advantage was the largest of the year for the Trojans and the 79 points eclipsed the 77 scored against Southwest Baptist for program's high.
• The Trojans shot 54.2% from the floor over the final 20 minutes and were 4-of-7 from three point range (57.1%), knocking down 14 of their 20 free throw attempts.
Up Next
• Little Rock will now have nine days off before beginning its 2019-20 Sun Belt Conference schedule on the road against the Louisiana schools. The Trojans first travel to Monroe to take on ULM on Thursday, December 19, tipping at 7 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
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