ARLINGTON, Texas – Turnovers proved to be Little Rock's Achilles heel all afternoon, allowing UT Arlington to build an early first half lead. The Trojans fought back to tie the game three times in the second half but were never able to take the lead as a late 13-2 Maverick run sealed the 76-65 loss for Little Rock.
The Trojans fall to 12-4 in Sun Belt play and are 18-9 overall and watch as its lead in the conference has dwindled to one game following Georgia State's 92-80 win over Coastal Carolina.
Game Notes
• Little Rock outshot UT Arlington on the day, making 43% of its shots compared to 41% for the Mavericks. But 17 Little Rock turnovers gifted the Mavericks 20 points and aided a handful of UT Arlington runs.
• Four Trojans finish in double figures, led by 13 points from
Nikola Maric off the bench. Maric was 6-of-10 from the floor with five rebounds.
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Ben Coupet Jr. finished with 12 points and three rebounds while
Markquis Nowell added 11 points and eight assists. Nowell knocked down seven of his eight free throws but the Trojans shot just 65.2% from the line, contrasted by 77.8% for the Mavericks.
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Ruot Monyyong just missed his 15th double-double of the year, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Kamani Johnson added seven points and nine boards but the Trojans were outrebounded 42-34, including 14-8 on the offensive glass.
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Jovan Stulic finished with seven points as well while Marko Luckic added three points to round out the scoring for the Trojans.
• Monyyong and Johnson both had two blocks on the afternoon for the Trojans while Monyyong also had a pair of steals, but UT Arlington held a 13-5 edge in steals to help frustrate the Trojan offensive attack.
First Half Notes
• UT Arlington was another opponent that opened up a quick lead on the Trojans, scoring the game's first five points. The Trojans fought back to tie the game at 9-9 off a three from Lukic at the 13:37 mark. Little Rock committed seven turnovers in the opening eight minutes as UT Arlington used a 6-0 run to jump in front 15-9 with 11:53 remaining.
• Little Rock responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 15-15, thanks to back-to-back baskets from Johnson. UT Arlington then used a 9-0 run in the span of two minutes, reclaiming the lead at 24-15. 10 turnovers for the Trojans gifted 13 points to UT Arlington in the opening 14 minutes.
• UT Arlington extended its lead to 10 at 27-17 off a three-pointer, but four quick points by Little Rock, including a dunk from Coupet, narrowed the deficit to 27-21 and forced a Maverick timeout at 4:22.
• Little Rock was able to trim the UT Arlington lead to one at 28-27 off a put-back dunk from Monyyong with 45 seconds remaining, but the Mavericks scored five of the last six points down the stretch.
• The Trojans shot 44.0% in the first half but were just 1-of-8 from three point range. 12 first half turnovers by Little Rock led to 13 points off turnovers for the Mavericks. Monyyong led the way with seven points and four rebounds, followed by six points and three rebounds for Johnson.
Second Half Notes
• Back-to-back turnovers for Little Rock to start the second half led to a pair of transition baskets for UT Arlington as the Mavericks upped its lead to 37-29. A drive to the lane by Coupet helped limit the run, getting the Trojans to within six at 37-31 with 17:09 to play.
• Trailing 39-31, Little Rock registered six-straight, highlighted by a three from the corner for Ben, getting the Trojans to within two at 39-37 with 12:07 remaining. The Trojan defense stepped up during the five minute span, limiting UTA to just one made field goal on nine attempts.
• A dead ball technical foul occurred on
Markquis Nowell, which helped spark a 6-0 to get the Trojans to within one at 50-49 at the 7:35 mark. A three from the corner from Stulic with 7:17 remaining evened the game up for the third time at 52-52.
• Little Rock tied the game three times in the final seven minutes but could never get over the hump. Tied 63-63 with 4:18 remaining, an 11-0 run for the Mavericks put UT Arlington back in front for good at 74-63.
• Free throw shooting proved to be crucial over the final 20 minutes as UT Arlington made 18 of its first 19 attempts from the charity stripe to help pull away in the waning minutes.
Up Next
• Little Rock will have a week off before closing out its three game road swing up in Jonesboro against Arkansas State on Saturday, February 22. Opening tip against the rival Red Wolves is set for 4 p.m. from First National Bank Arena.
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