Favorable Home Stretch Begins With Troy Wednesday

GAME 21 | TROY
Date	Wednesday, January 22
Time	6:30 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Arena	Jack Stephens Center
Records	Little Rock (13-7, 7-2 SBC) Troy (8-12, 4-5 SBC)
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	The Point 94.1 FM
Live Stats	TrojanStats.com
Notes	Little Rock | Troy

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock begins a favorable stretch of the season, playing four of its next five at the Jack Stephens Center. That stretch begins with the second game of the season against Troy on a rare Wednesday night game at the Jack. Tip off against the Alabama Trojans is set for 6:30 p.m. with the game streaming live on ESPN+.

"I'm proud of my team for how we responded on the road last week," said head coach Darrell Walker. "These next three weeks are big for us as we get to play four out of five at home. It's nice to be sitting in first place, but we know that can change quickly, especially with as competitive of a league as we have right now, so we need to take care of business at home."

GAME STORYLINES

• Little Rock and Troy meet for the 25th time overall with Little Rock holding a 14-10 edge in the series. Troy took the first meeting this season, a 76-71 win in Alabama on January 9, with Little Rock 6-5 all-time against Troy in the Jack Stephens Center.

• Little Rock enters Wednesday's game in sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference at 7-2, its best mark through the first nine league games since the 8-1 start in 2015-16.

• The Trojans swept the Carolina road trip for the first time in program history last week, earning wins at Coastal Carolina (71-55) and Appalachian State (73-57). Little Rock has six road victories thus far in 2019-20, its most since the 12-4 road performance in 2015-16.

• Not only did Little Rock sweep the Carolina road trip last week, the Trojans never trailed in either game. Little Rock led for 78:32 of the 80 minutes as there was just one tie between the two matchups, a 2-2 score at Coastal Carolina Thursday.

• Ruot Monyyong had his streak of seven-straight double-doubles snapped at Appalachian State, but pulled down 11 rebounds for his eighth-straight game with double figure rebounds. He ranks fifth nationally with 11 double-doubles and is one off the program's single season record of 12, set by Rashad Jones-Jennings in 2006-07.

• Defense has become Little Rock's trademark as the Trojans rank second in the Sun Belt in scoring defense at 65.8 ppg. Little Rock has held 16 of its first 20 opponents under their season scoring average, including five games in which the opposition has scored at least 20 points under their season average.

NEWS AND NOTES

SCOUTING THE (ALABAMA) TROJANS
2019-20: 8-12 overall, 4-5 Sun Belt (T-7th)
Last Three Games: W vs. Georgia State (75-65); L vs. Georgia Southern (82-66); L at Arkansas State (76-68, OT)
Head Coach: Scott Cross (UT Arlington, 1998). First season at Troy (8-12); 13th season overall (233-173)
Key Players:
• #3 Darian Adams (Jr., G): 13.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 82.4 FT%
• #0 Ty Gordon (Jr., G): 11.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 40.4 FG%
• #10 Zay Williams (So., F): 11.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 51.5 FG%
• #11 Desmond Williams (Fr., G): 10.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 82.6 FT%
• #14 Jakevan Leftridge (Fr., G): 6.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 49.1 FG%

LAST WE MET
Hot three point shooting by Troy negated the fifth-straight double-double for Ruot Monyyong and four players in double figures as Little Rock dropped its first game in Sun Belt play 76-71 at Trojan Arena on January 9. Little Rock nearly pulled off another dramatic comeback, trailing by 12 in the second half and getting to within three with under 10 seconds to go, but key shots from Troy kept the Little Rock rally at bay.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Ruot Monyyong 's streak of seven-straight double-doubles ended at Appalachian State Saturday, finishing with 11 rebounds but just three points. Monyyong, who has 11 double-doubles on the year, leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks fifth nationally and is one off the pace of the Trojan single-season record of 12, set by Rashad Jones-Jennings in 2006-07.

MONYYONG MAKING A STATEMENT
Making a strong case for Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year, Monyyong ranks in the top-30 nationally in four statistical categories. He is fifth in double-doubles (11), sixth in defensive rebounds (8.20), 10th in total rebounds (209), 29th in total minutes played (678:35) and 31st in total blocks (39), leading the Sun Belt in each of those respective categories.

SOLID LOTTIE
Jaizec Lottie has been solid in the last five games for the Trojans, filling in for the injured Markquis Nowell. Lottie is averaging 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists over that span while shooting a team-best 64.3% from the floor while playing 36.2 minutes per game. Lottie is the Trojans' active leader in both games and minutes, ranking second in points behind Nowell, as he is 122 minutes shy of cracking the program's all-time top-20 in minutes played.

OFF THE GLASS
The duo of Ruot Monyyong and Kamani Johnson have helped Little Rock establish a presence on the boards in 2019-20. Monyyong (10.5 rpg) and Johnson (7.0 rpg) rank first and fifth, respectively, in the Sun Belt in rebounding average. In Sun Belt play, Little Rock is third in rebounding offense (36.7 rpg) and is the league leader in rebounding defense (30.2 rpg), sitting second in the league in rebounding margin (+6.4). 

EUROPEAN EXPRESS
Saturday's win at Appalachian State was highlighted by impressive performances from Little Rock's European duo of Jovan Stulic and Nikola Maric. Stulic set a career-best with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, knocking down three threes with six rebounds. Maric registered a season-high 17 points, including 11 in the second half, with five rebounds and three assists.

FOR THE FIRST TIME
Entering the 2019-20 season, head coach Darrell Walker had defeated just three of the 11 Sun Belt opponents, but that total has been bumped to nine thanks to Little Rock's 7-2 start in league play. He notched his first wins over Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State over the weekend as Arkansas State and Georgia State are the last two remaining teams Walker has not beaten.​​​​​​

NOWELL ON LOU HENSON WATCH LIST
Markquis Nowell continues to gain national attention during his sophomore season as he was recently added to the Lou Henson Player of the Year Watch List, given annually to the top Division I mid-major player. Nowell ranks third in the Sun Belt in scoring at 17.7 points per game and ranks among the top-100 nationally in 15 statistical categories.

HOME SWEET HOME
The 2019-20 season marks Little Rock's 15th at the Jack Stephens Center since the facility opened in 2005, as the Trojans have posted an overall record of 138-80 (.633) at the Jack. Little Rock is 7-2 at home this year, its best start at the Jack since the perfect 14-0 mark during the 2015-16 season.

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