LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock and Central Arkansas staged another classic in the Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Governor's I-40 Showdown Sunday afternoon with the Trojans holding off a late Bear surge for an 86-83 win at the Jack Stephens Center.
The dynamic duo of
Markquis Nowell and
Ruot Monyyong each posted a double-double against the Bears with Nowell finishing with a team-high 19 points and 13 assists, tying his career-high. Monyyong posted 12 points and 13 rebounds with three blocks.
Game Notes
• This was the third-straight game for Nowell to finish with a double-double and the fourth of the season for Monyyong, who upped his Trojan career total to 20.
• Four Trojans finished in double figures with
Nikola Maric adding 18 points and seven rebounds and
Ben Coupet Jr. scoring a season-high 14 points for the Trojans, complementing the efforts from Nowell and Monyyong.
•
Isaiah Palermo added nine points, all of which came in the second half, with three rebounds while
Marko Lukic posted six points and four assists, knocking down three clutch free throws down the stretch to help secure the win for the Trojans.
• Little Rock shot 45.2% from the floor (28-of-62) and was 8-of-18 from three point range (44.4%), knocking down 22 of its 33 free throws (66.7%).
• Central Arkansas held a 37-36 edge in rebounding and outscored Little Rock in the paint 40-38. The Trojans forced 17 Bear turnovers, contrasted with 15 of their own, leading to a 22-17 edge in points off turnovers.
• The win for Little Rock is the second-straight in the Governor's I-40 Showdown as the Trojans improve to 10-1 against the Bears in Little Rock since moving to the Division I level. Little Rock gained four points in the showdown series, one in which UCA still leads 14-6.
First Half Notes
• Little Rock raced out to a fast start through the opening four minutes, paced by eight points from Coupet. A three from the elbow upped the Trojan lead to 13-4 at 16:31, forcing a Central Arkansas timeout. Little Rock knocked down five of its first eight shots, including going 3-for-3 from three point range.
• Turnovers returned to plague Little Rock over the next six minutes as the Trojans turned the ball over five possessions in a row, allowing UCA to claw back into the game. Leading the Bears 17-9, UCA outscored Little Rock 13-3, taking its first lead of the game at 22-20.
• The Bear run extended to 17-4 over a seven minute stretch, upping their lead to 26-21 at the 7:53 mark. The Trojans were held without a field goal for nearly five minutes and just one during the extended Bear scoring surge.
• UCA's lead reached seven at 30-23, but Little Rock responded with a 10-0 run over a 1:41 span, reclaiming the lead at 33-30. The Trojans flipped the script on the Bears, forcing five UCA turnovers to help spark the surge.
• A three pointer from Nowell at the 1:35 mark gave the Trojans the 38-33 lead, but Central Arkansas closed the first half on a 6-0 run, taking a 39-38 lead into the half. Both teams shot 50% from the floor in the opening half while the Trojans were 6-of-9 from three point range.
• Maric was Little Rock's leading scorer in the opening half with 10, followed by eight from Coupet. Nowell added seven points and nine rebounds while Monyyong posted two points with six rebounds.
Second Half Notes
• Similar to the first half, Little Rock used a surge to start the second half, outscoring the Bears 15-4 over the opening five minutes to build a 10 point lead at 53-43. Nowell registered five points during the run with a pair of baskets from Palermo, making five of its first seven shots to start the second.
• Little Rock's lead reached as many as 11 off a technical free throw from Nowell following UCA's second flop warning of the game. Back-to-back threes form Central Arkansas pulled the Bears to within six at 58-52, thwarted by a Nowell jumper from the free throw line, pushing the Trojan lead back to six at 60-52 at the 11:34 mark.
• Central Arkansas once again chipped away at the lead, outscoring Little Rock 9-2 to pull to within one at 64-63 at the 8:01 mark before a successful and-one from Monyyong pushed the lead back to four at 67-63. UCA was able to tie the game at 68-68 off a 5-1 run of its own with just under six minutes to play.
• Tied 68-68, Little Rock began to pull away over the final four minutes, making five out of seven from the floor. The Trojans mounted a 14-5 run to up its lead to 82-73 off a layup from Monyyong, forcing a Bear timeout with 1:33 remaining.
• The final 1:33 played out in typical Little Rock-UCA rivalry style with the Bears clawing to within two at 83-81 with 23 seconds remaining off an 8-1 run. Lukic knocked down three of his four free throws in the final 16 seconds, including two clutch ones with eight seconds left, as DeAndre Jordan's game-tying three was short as time expired.
• Nowell and Monyyong combined for 22 points in the second half for the Trojans while Palermo added nine as Little Rock was 15-of-36 from the floor (41.7%) and 2-of-9 from three point range (22.2%). The Trojans committed just five turnovers, but three of those came within the final 1:33 to allow Central Arkansas to narrow the deficit.
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