Trojans Close Road Schedule Saturday in Atlanta

OPENING TIP
Little Rock's final road game of the 2018-19 regular season takes the Trojans to Atlanta for a showdown with Georgia State, one of three teams within one game of first place in the Sun Belt standings. Opening tip against the Panthers will be at noon CT Saturday from the GSU Sports Arena on ESPN+ with Ray Tucker handling the radio call for the Trojans on The Point 94.1 FM.

STARTING FIVE
• Little Rock and Georgia State meet for the 27th time Saturday with the Trojans holding a 19-7 edge. The Panthers have had the edge since joining the Sun Belt, going 6-3 against the Trojans since 2014-15 and have won three-straight over Little Rock.
• Little Rock is seeking its first victory in the Peach State since sweeping the Georgia Southern/Georgia State series in February of 2016, as well as its first victory in the Eastern time zone since a 76-68 win at Appalachian State on Jan. 7, 2017.
• The Trojans haven't made it easy on themselves in the second half this season as Little Rock has trailed by double digits in the second half in 17 games this year, including 10 Sun Belt tilts.
• Injuries have taken its toll on Little Rock this season as the Trojans have not had one game this season in which all 11 scholarship players have been healthy. To date, the Trojans have missed  a combined 44 games due to injuries.
• Rayjon Tucker scored his 1,000th career point Thursday against Georgia Southern and moved into seventh all-time on the Trojan single-season scoring list with 548 points in 991 minutes played.

THE RACE FOR NEW ORLEANS
With two weekends to go in the regular season, Little Rock has its work cut out for it if it wants to qualify for the 2019 Sun Belt Conference tournament. At 5-10, the Trojans are currently the number 10 seed, meaning if the tournament started today, Little Rock would hit the road for a play-in game at the site of the number seven overall seed, which is currently Coastal Carolina. Little Rock is a game behind both South Alabama and Arkansas State (6-9) in a tie for the number eight seed.

HOMECOMING IN THE ATL
A number of Trojans will be back in familiar territory Saturday when the Trojans and Panthers tip-off. Freshman Horace Wyatt Jr. will make his Atlanta comecoming, playing his high school ball at Mays, located about 10 miles from the GSU Sports Arena. Additionally, it will be familiar ground for head coach Darrell Walker, assistant coach Alfred Jordan and video coordinator Dee Frazier, who all spent time as coaches and players at Clark Atlanta with Jordan playing his college ball for the Panthers.

BACK IN THE BELT
The 2018-19 season marks Little Rock's 28th year as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, joining the league in the 1991-92 season. During that stretch, the Trojans have posted a 241-232 (.510) record in conference play. Little Rock and Georgia State have competed as Sun Belt rivals since the 2014-15 season with the Panthers holding a slim 4-3 edge against the Trojans since joining the league.

IRON MAN
Rayjon Tucker has been a mainstay on the court for Little Rock this season, compiling 991 minutes in his 27 games played this season, ranking 25th nationally in minutes played (36:40 per game). Tucker has been on the floor for 88.5% of the time for the Trojans this season, despite missing the entire game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff due to an injury. The Charlotte, North Carolina native has played 35 or more minutes in 20 games this year, playing 40 or more minutes on six occasions.

TUCKER REACHES 1,000...
Rayjon Tucker reached a career milestone against Georgia Southern Thursday, surpassing 1,000 points for his Division I career. Tucker scored 471 points in two years at Florida Gulf Coast and currently has 548 in his first year with the Trojans, putting him at 1,019 for his collegiate career. Tucker has finished in double figures in 26 of his 27 games played this year, surpassing the 20-point plateau on 14 occasions, and ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in scoring at 20.3 points per game.

...AS DOES BANKSTON
Kris Bankston also hit a 1,000 milestone Thursday evening, surpassing 1,000 career minutes played. Bankston has played 1,030 minutes, logging a career-high 36 minutes against the Eagles. He becomes the third member of the current roster to reach 1,000 career minutes, joining Jaizec Lottie (1,417) and Deondre Burns (1,252). The trio should have company soon as Rayjon Tucker is currently at 991 minutes played, needing just nine against Georgia State to join the club.

BANKSTON ATOP RECORD BOOK
Kris Bankston has officially entered the Trojan record book as he now sits atop the program's single season field goal percentage list. Bankston has made 97 of his 120 field goal attempts for 80.8%, shattering the previous record of 65.0% set by Ryan Moss in the 1997-98 season. For his career, Bankston is shooting 73.6% from the floor (145-of-197), which would be nearly 90 percentage points higher than Moss' 64.7% clip, needing 55 more made field goals to reach the minimum.

CLOSING IN ON 600
With another 20-point performance against Georgia Southern, Rayjon Tucker continues to move up the single season record list. With 548 points, Tucker ranks seventh on the Trojans' single season list, needing 28 points to match Curtis Kidd's 576 in 1986-87 for sixth. If Tucker continues his 20.3 point per game average over the final three games, he is projected to finish with 609 points, which would rank fourth all-time.

MAKE WAY FOR MARIC
Freshman Nikola Maric has been a solid presence inside for the Trojans this season. Maric ranks third on the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game and has finished in double figures 18 times this season, including in each of the last six games. He is third on the team in field goal percentage (51.9%) and is shooting 50.0% from three-point range, making 15 of his 30 attempts.

DUNK CENTURY CLUB
Little Rock is earning a reputation as one of the nation's top dunking teams as the Trojans registered their 100th dunk of the season at Georgia Southern Thursday, sitting at 101 on the year compared to just 50 for the opposition. Kris Bankston has led the charge for the Trojans with 62 this season, ranking third in the NCAA heading into the week behind Arkansas' Daniel Gafford (71) and Texas' Jaxon Hayes (67) with Rayjon Tucker adding 24 for Little Rock.

2018-19 TROJAN DUNKS                                                
• 62 - Kris Bankston (High of 6 at Tennessee State, 11/13/18)
• 24 - Rayjon Tucker (High of 4 vs. Two Teams)
• 9 - Kamani Johnson (High of 2 vs. South Alabama, 1/12/19)
• 4 - Horace Wyatt Jr. (High of 2 vs. Central Arkansas, 12/8/18)
• 1 - Deondre Burns (High of 1 vs. South Alabama, 1/12/19)
• 1 - Nikola Maric (High of 1 at Georgia Southern, 2/28/19)

LAST TIME OUT
Once again, an extended run in both the first and second half put Little Rock in a hole it could never recover from as the Trojans dropped an 81-66 decision to Georgia Southern Thursday at Hanner Fieldhouse. Rayjon Tucker led all players with 21 points and Nikola Maric added 18 points and eight rebounds as the Trojans shot 50.9% from the floor but made just two of eight three point attempts. 

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
2018-19: 20-9 overall, 11-5 Sun Belt (T-2nd), 12-1 at home
Last Three Games: W vs. Arkansas State (76-60); L at Coastal Carolina (95-82); W at Appalachian State (80-75)
Series: Little Rock leads, 19-7 (.731) | Streak: Georgia State won 3 | First: Jan. 19, 1987 (W, 89-86) | Last: Feb. 3, 2018 (L, 81-51) 
Head Coach: Ron Hunter (Miami, Ohio, 1986). Eighth season at Georgia State (167-94); 23rd season overall (441-313)
Key Players:
• #15 D'Marcus Simonds (Jr., G): 19.2 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 42.9 FG%
• #24 Devin Mitchell (Sr., G): 13.1 ppg., 2.0 rpg., 46.7 FG%
• #2 Malik Benlevi (Sr., F): 11.7 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 47.3 FG%
• #30 Jeff Thomas (Sr., F): 11.7 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 43.5 FG%
• #12 Kane Williams (So., G): 10.8 ppg., 3.1 rpg., 50.8 FG%

LAST TIME vs. THE PANTHERS
Little Rock scored the first five points of the game, but Georgia State quickly took control, dominating the Trojans in an 81-51 victory February 3, 2018 at the Jack Stephens Center. Little Rock shot just 36.7 percent from the floor and 38.9 percent from the free throw line and had no answer for the Panthers' Devin Mitchell, who set Jack Stephens Center records with 10 three-pointers and 38 points on the evening. 

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