LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock held a five point lead at halftime, but South Alabama outlasted the Trojans in a 52-43 defensive slugfest at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Trojans to 5-2 in Sun Belt play and 11-7 overall as Little Rock moves into a three-way tie for first place in the league.
"It's hard to win any games when you turn the ball over 24 times," said head coach
Darrell Walker. "We had our chances to win, but we didn't do what we needed to do in the second half. We didn't have someone step up in key moments, and it cost us tonight."
Game Notes
• Little Rock shot a season-low 34.0% from the floor (16-of-47) and was 5-of-16 from three point range, all of which came from
Marko Lukic. The 24 turnovers by the Trojans was their second most of the season behind the 26 at Memphis.
• Lukic had quite a home debut for the Trojans, finishing with a game-high 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from three point range. He also added four rebounds for the Trojans who outrebounded South Alabama 34-27.
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Ruot Monyyong finished with his sixth-straight double-double, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting with a pair of assists.
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Jaizec Lottie had another productive outing in his second start of the season, finishing with eight points and a pair of rebounds with a game-high six assists.
• The rest of the Trojan roster managed just eight points combined as the 43 points is a season low, 10 points less than the previous low of 53 at North Texas.
• South Alabama shot 42.2% from the floor and made just one three pointer, but dominated Little Rock 32-18 in the paint, a statistic that has predominantly favored the Trojans this season.
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Markquis Nowell missed his second-straight game battling an injury.
First Half Notes
• Little Rock's offensive woes from Thursday night continued early against South Alabama as the Trojans were held scoreless for the first five minutes as the Jaguars built an early 7-0 lead. Monyyong's 34th dunk of the season was Little Rocks' first points of the game at the 14:58 mark.
• The dunk from Monyyong sparked a 9-2 run for Little Rock, pulling even at 9-9 off Lukic's first basket as a Trojan, draining a three from the left corner to tie things up with 12:37 remaining in the opening half. The Trojans took their first lead of the game at 12-11 off a free throw from Johnson, holding South Alabama scoreless for nearly five minutes.
• Both teams struggled from the floor over the ensuing four minutes, combining to shoot just 2-of-16. Monyyong's dunk and a free throw helped the Trojans pull even at 15-15 at the 5:10 mark. A steal by Lottie led to a Monyyong transition dunk as the Trojans used a 10-0 lead, building a 22-15 lead at the 3:46 mark.
• Little Rock held South Alabama to just two field goals over the final 12:22 of the first half, taking a 22-17 lead into halftime. Monyyong led the way with seven points and six rebounds with Lukic adding six points off a pair of threes.
• The 17 points allowed by the Trojans is the fewest this season by Little Rock as the Trojans limited South Alabama to just 28.0% shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
Second Half Notes
• South Alabama started the second half in similar fashion to the first, scoring the first five points to get to within one at 22-21. Little Rock answered with a 7-2 run of its own, building a 29-23 lead at the 16:18 mark, thanks to a pair of buckets from Monyyong and a three from Lukic.
• An 11-0 run by South Alabama in 2:30 gave the Jaguars the lead once again at 34-29. South Alabama forced four Trojan turnovers during the spurt.
• South Alabama's run extended to 16-3 as the Jaguars built their largest lead of the game at 39-32 off an and-one with 8:09 remaining. Lottie ended the run with a driving layup, getting the Trojans to within five at 39-34 with 7:47 remaining, then Lukic drilled his fourth three of the game to get Little Rock to within two at 39-37.
• Lukic remained hot from beyond the arc, hitting his fifth three of the game at the 5:59 mark, pulling the Trojans to within one at 41-40. A pair of free throws from Johnson got the Trojans to within one at 43-42 at the final media timeout.
• South Alabama outscored Little Rock 9-1 down the stretch, making five of its last six field goals and holding the Trojans without a basket for the final six minutes. Little Rock made just one of its last nine shots in the final minutes of the game.
Up Next
• Little Rock begins a challenging stretch, playing three of its next four games on the road. That stretch begins this weekend in Conway, South Carolina, facing Coastal Carolina Thursday at 6 p.m. CT.
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