LITTLE ROCK – Behind double-doubles from
Nikola Maric and
Ruot Monyyong, Little Rock pulled away in the second half to secure a 65-49 victory over ULM at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday afternoon. The win gives the Trojans a weekend sweep over the Warhawks, improving to 10-7 overall and 6-4 in Sun Belt play.
"I was proud of our defensive effort tonight, and thought we had some players that really stepped up when they needed to," said head coach
Darrell Walker. "We held serve this weekend to keep ourselves in the Sun Belt race. Now we have a big challenge down at Texas State next weekend. But I liked how our team played this afternoon, especially in the second half."
Game Notes
• The Trojan quartet of
Nikola Maric,
Ruot Monyyong,
Markquis Nowell and
Ben Coupet Jr. combined for 61 of Little Rock's 65 points on the night as each finished in double figures. The foursome was a combined 22-of-39 (56.4%) from the floor and 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the free throw line.
• Monyyong notched his 11th double-double of the season, and 27th of his career, with a 16-point, 12-rebound performance while going 7-of-9 from the floor with three blocks.
• Maric posted his second double-double of the season with an 18-point, 11-rebound outing, going 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
• Nowell added 16 points with six assists, four rebounds and four steals, helping spark the Trojans in the second half. He upped his career point total to 967, leaving him 33 points shy of joining the Little Rock 1,000-point club.
• Coupet added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting with three assists and a rebound.
• As a team, Little Rock shoot 42.6% from the floor (23-of-54) and 87.5% from the free throw line (14-of-16). But the Trojans struggled once again from three point range, making just five of their 25 attempts (20.0%).
• The Trojans had a 36-33 rebounding edge, but the Warhawks held an 11-10 advantage on the offensive glass. The game was fairly even except for points off turnovers where Little Rock was 23-14 after forcing 16 Warhawk turnovers, committing just 13 itself.
• The two teams combined for two ties and 14 lead changes, nine of which came in the first half.
• Little Rock has now won four-straight over ULM, improving to 22-17 all-time between the two teams. The Trojans are 14-6 against the Warhawks in Little Rock, winning six of the last seven at the Jack Stephens Center.
First Half Notes
• It was a back and forth affair in the early going for both the Trojans and Warhawks as neither team was able to build a lead larger than four through the opening 13 minutes. Little Rock built a four point advantage at 7-3 and again at 16-12, but a 10-2 run for ULM helped the Warhawks claim a 22-18 lead at the 7:31 mark. The two teams combined for one tie and nine lead changes through the first 13 minutes.
• Trailing 22-18, Little Rock strung together an 8-0 run spanning just 1:03, turning that four point deficit into a 26-22 Trojan lead behind threes from Maric and Coupet. The Little Rock run extended to 10-0 off a lay-up from Monyyong, giving him four during the stretch and pushing the lead to six at 28-22 with 5:10 to play in the opening half.
• Little Rock struggled to find its scoring touch over the waning moments, making just one of its final eight shots as ULM was able to get to within two at 28-26 with 3:44 remaining. The two teams combined for just one point over the final 3:44, that coming off a free throw from Maric as the Trojans took a 29-26 lead into the half.
• For the opening 20 minutes, the Trojans were 37.9% from the floor (11-of-29) while ULM was 41.7% (10-of-24). Little Rock struggled from three point range once again, knocking down just three of its 15 three point attempts (20.0%) as ULM held a 17-15 rebounding edge.
• Maric was the key contributor for Little Rock through the first half, scoring 10 points with six rebounds on 3-of-5 shooting. Monyyong posted eight points with four rebounds as Coupet added six points.
Second Half Notes
• Similar to Friday night's game, ULM had the hot hand to begin the second half, scoring eight of the first 10 points to turn the three point deficit in to a three point lead at 34-31 with 15:58 to play. But the Trojans responded with a 9-2 run of its own, six of which came from Monyyong, building its lead back to four at 40-36 at the 11:01 mark off a three from Nowell.
• The Trojan scoring surge extended to 13-3 as Little Rock built its largest lead of the game at 44-37 off a jumper from Maric and a pair of free throws from Nowell with 9:02 remaining. The basket from Maric, followed by a rebound on the defensive end, gave Maric his second double-double of the season.
• After a Warhawk layup with 8:36 remaining narrowed the gap to five at 44-39, Little Rock rattled off an 11-0 run, essentially putting the game away to build a 55-39 lead with 4:58 remaining. Nowell had six points during the run along with an assist as Coupet drilled a three off a Nowell assist.
• The Trojans kept the Warhawks at bay for the duration of the game, leading by as many as 19 off a jumper from Nowell with 20 seconds remaining before a late ULM three pointer narrowed the final tally to 65-49.
• Nowell paced the Trojans in the second half with 13 points and five assists, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Monyyong and Maric each added eight points with a combined 13 rebounds as the Trojans shot 48.0% (12-of-25) over the final 20 minutes, hitting 10 of 11 free throw attempts (90.9%) in the second half.
Up Next
• Little Rock begins a challenging stretch of the season, playing five of the next six games on the road. That stretch begins next weekend in San Marcos against Texas State, starting Friday at 4 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum.
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