TROY, Ala – Hot three point shooting by Troy negated the fifth-straight double-double for
Ruot Monyyong and four players in double figures as Little Rock drops its first game in Sun Belt play 76-71 at Trojan Arena. The loss drops Little Rock to 5-1 in league play and 11-6 on the year as the Trojans drop their first game in over a month.
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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.
Game Notes
• The loss for Little Rock is their first since a 76-53 defeat at North Texas on December 7. In that game, the Mean Green knocked down 19 three-pointers, contrasted by the 15 Troy was able to hit against Little Rock.
• For the game, Little Rock shot just 38.2% from the floor (26-of-68) and was just 5-of-23 from three-point range (21.7%).
• Despite the cold shooting, four players finished in double figures for the Trojans, led by Monyyong's 16-point, 15-rebound performance. Monyyong was 7-of-11 from the floor and 2-for-2 at the line with a pair of assists.
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Ben Coupet Jr. finished with 14 points with three rebounds, followed by a 12-point, six-rebound, five-assist performance from
Jaizec Lottie, who earned his first start of the year.
Kamani Johnson added 11 points and seven boards, going 5-for-7 from the line.
• Playing in his first game of the season,
Nikola Maric finished with six points and four rebounds in 17 minutes, going 3-for-5 from the floor.
• Little Rock held a 48-35 rebounding edge on Troy, leading to a 20-9 edge in second chance points. Little Rock also dominated Troy in the paint 36-18, but Troy held a 20-5 lead in fast break points.
• The Trojans drop to 14-10 all-time against Troy, snapping a two game winning streak over the Alabama Trojans. Little Rock's six game winning streak is snapped, as is its five game Sun Belt winning streak to start the season.
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Markquis Nowell, the team's leading scorer, was a game time decision and did not play in the game for Little Rock, ending his streak of 16-straight starts for the Trojans. Coupet and Monyyong now hold the longest streak on the team starting all 17 games this season.
First Half Notes
• Lottie earned his first start of the season and made it count, scoring six of Little Rock's first 10 points while grabbing a rebound and forcing a steal. But Little Rock made just six of its first 15 shots, two of which were dunks from Monyyong.
• Three point shooting by Troy was the story of the first 10 minutes as the Alabama Trojans connected on 5-of-9, opposed to 0-for-5 to start the game for Little Rock. Troy registered a three on five-straight positive possessions, helping them gain a 17-16 edge at the midway point of the first half.
• Troy's three point shooting continued to be a thorn for Little Rock as seven of its eight field goals over a nine minute span were beyond the arc, using an 11-1 run to take a 25-17 lead over Little Rock with 6:44 left in the opening half.
• Little Rock's defense began to frustrate Troy late in the first half, keeping the Alabama Trojans off the board for nearly four minutes while a layup from Lottie and five-straight for Coupet helped Little Rock trim the lead to one at 25-24 with 3:34 remaining.
• After trailing by as many as eight, Little Rock fought back to tie the game at 29-29 off a pair of free throws from Johnson. But three points in the final 32 seconds for Troy gave it the 32-29 halftime lead as the two teams combined for four ties and eight lead changes.
• Little Rock shot just 12-of-33 from the floor in the first half (36.4%) and made just one of nine three points attempts (11.1%). Lottie led the way with 10 points for Little Rock while Monyyong had six points and eight boards.
• Troy shot 12-of-32 from the floor (37.5%) but connected on 7-of-19 three point attempts (36.8%), helping to build the early lead.
Second Half Notes
• Troy scored the first five points of the second half, matching its largest lead of the night of eight at 37-29 with 19:01 left in the game. Monyyong then grabbed a pair of rebounds and scored four-straight points for Little Rock, giving him 10 points and 10 rebounds and his fifth-straight double-double.
• The Troy lead reached 10 at 45-35, but a four-point play by Stulic brought the deficit back to four at 45-39 at the 14:27 mark. It was the first three pointer Little Rock connected on in nearly 10 minutes and just the second of the game for the Trojans, who were 2-for-14 at that point.
• Trailing 50-41, Little Rock put together an 8-1 run, including a pair of layups from Maric and one each from Johnson and Lottie, getting the Trojans to within two at 51-49 with 9:54 remaining. But back-to-back threes from Troy once again helped the Alabama Trojans extend their lead to eight at 57-49 with 8:47 remaining.
• Little Rock's offensive woes struck late in the half as the Trojans went without a point in nearly three minutes as threes on five-straight possessions helped Troy build its largest lead at
63-51 with 5:44 remaining.
• Down 12, Little Rock reeled off seven-straight points, pulling to within five at 63-58 with 4:13 to go. Coupet scored five of those seven point, upping his point total to 13 on the night. But an and-one for Troy broke the streak, upping Troy's lead to 66-58 with 3:55 remaining.
• A final rally by Little Rock got the Trojans to within six at 70-64 with just over a minute to go as Monyyong answered with a slam. A three pointer from Stulic with eight seconds to go got Little Rock within three at 74-71, but Troy responded with a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Up Next
• Little Rock returns back to the Jack Stephens Center for a Saturday afternoon game against preseason Sun Belt favorite South Alabama. Opening tip against the Jaguars is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be the second game of the doubleheader following the women's game against Georgia State at 2 p.m.
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