LITTLE ROCK – Behind 32 points from
Markquis Nowell and
Ruot Monyyong's 15th double-double of the season, Little Rock build a commanding first half lead and never looked back, clinching at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season title with a 79-63 win over ULM Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
Little Rock improves to 20-9 on the year and 14-4 in league play, recording its first 20-win season since 2015-16 and the 12th in program history. The win gives the Trojans an automatic bye to the semifinals of the Sun Belt tournament in New Orleans and leaves them one win shy of clinching the conference title outright.
"I'm proud of the way my team responded to pick up a big win against a very good ULM team," said head coach
Darrell Walker. "They didn't flinch in the second half when ULM made the run that we knew they would, and we took care of business at home. Now its time to turn our attention to Saturday."
Game Notes
• Little Rock never trailed in the game, leading for 38:32. The game was tied just once as the Trojans build a double digit first half lead and never looked back.
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Markquis Nowell finished with 32 points on 10-of-25 shooting, making seven three pointers for the fourth 30-point game of his career. He added three rebounds, two assists and two steals on the night.
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Ruot Monyyong upped his Sun Belt-leading double-double total to 15, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebonds on 5-of-7 shooting. Monyyong also was 6-of-7 from the free throw line with a block.
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Kamani Johnson had another solid performance for Little Rock, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds while going 3-of-5 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
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Nikola Maric finished with eight points and seven rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting while
Marko Lukic added five points and
Jaizec Lottie recorded four points and four assists with a block.
• For the game, Little Rock shot 26-of-60 (43.4%) and 20-of-23 from the free throw line (87.0%). The Trojans also committed a season-low six turnovers and held the Warhawks to just 36.1% from the floor.
• Little Rock reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2015-16 and reached the milestone for the 12th time in program history. The Trojans swept the season series against ULM for the first time since 2012-13 and improved to 20-17 all-time against the Warhawks.
First Half Notes
• Seven early points from Nowell helped Little Rock open an 18-6 lead at the 13:20 mark, sparked by an 11-2 run. The Trojans made five of six field goal attempts during the span while the Warhawks started the game 4-of-15.
• The Trojans upped their lead to 14 at 24-10 at the 9:36 mark, keeping ULM without a field goal for nearly six minutes. Six-straight points by ULM's Michael Ertel got the Warhawks to within eight before an and-one for Monyyong pushed the lead back to 11 at 27-16 with 6:31 remaining in the half.
• The and-one sparked an 11-2 run for Little Rock, which upped its lead to 35-18 at the 3:35 mark. Maric registered back-to-back layups after a Monyyong dunk as the Trojans found their scoring touch in the paint.
• ULM closed the half on a 9-4 run, getting to within 12 at 39-27 at the break. Nowell had a shot for a three as time expired but couldn't get it to fall.
• The Trojans shot 47.2% in the first half while holding ULM to just 29.4%. Four of the Warhawks' 10 first half baskets came from beyond the three point arc while Little Rock made just one of nine. Monyyong's 13 points and eight rebounds paced the Trojans in the opening 20 minutes.
Second Half Notes
• ULM's 9-4 run to close the first half extended to 18-7 through the first three minutes of the second half as the Warhawks closed the Trojan lead to six at 42-36. Nowell ended an 8-1 ULM spurt with a three, pushing the Little Rock lead back to nine at 45-36.
• The Trojan lead got dwindled down to five off a three pointer from Ertel, but Nowell knocked down three-straight threes, followed by a steal and free throws from Coupet to give the Trojans some breathing room at 58-45 with 12:30 remaining.
• ULM pulled to within nine at 61-52 with 10:37, but then the Trojans began to take over. Little Rock used a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes, turning that nine point cushion to a 19-point lead at 71-52. Nowell hit a three from just inside half court for his second 30-point game of the season.
• From that point on, the lead was never threatened by the Warhawks as the Trojans cruised to the 16-point win. Nowell finished with 32, at one point sitting at 7-of-12 from three point range.
Up Next
• Little Rock goes for an outright Sun Belt Conference title Saturday when it welcomes Louisiana to the Jack Stephens Center. Opening tip against the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 2 p.m.
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