LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A slow start to both halves put Little Rock in a hole it wasn't able to climb out of, falling to Loyola Marymount 82-63 at Gersten Pavilion. It was the first loss of the season for Little Rock, falling to 3-1 on the year.
Turnovers plagued Little Rock in its first road test of the year, committing 22 on the night which helped fuel the Loyola Marymount offensive attack. The Trojans shot just 46.0% for the game and struggled from beyond the three point arc, making just four of 19 attempts (21.1%), including just one of 11 in the second half.
On the flip side, the Lions had one of their best shooting performances of the season, shooting 54.4% from the floor and hitting 10 of 25 from three point range (40.0%).
Isaiah Palermo once again came off the bench and led the Trojans in scoring, finishing with 16 on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with three rebounds.
Nikola Maric was the only other Little Rock player to finish in double figures, scoring 15 on 5-of-7 shooting with four rebounds and three assists.
Kevin Osawe also provided a spark off the bench for Little Rock as the Trojan reserves scored 38 of Little Rock's 63 points on the night. Osawe finished with nine with
DeAntoni Gordon adding eight points.
It was a slow start on the road for Little Rock as the Lions scored the game's first seven points and the Trojans were able to knock down just one of their first 11 shots of the game, helping Loyola Marymount race out to a 14-point advantage at 22-8 at the midway point of the first half.
As has been the case in the first three games, though, Little Rocks' bench was able to provide a spark, this time led by Palermo and Osawe. The duo combined for 15 points in the first half as Little Rock connected on eight of its last 10 shots of the half, shooting 52.2%.
But turnovers proved critical for Little Rock in the first half, committing 12 which helped the Lions keep its advantage and take a 42-33 lead at intermission.
Similar to the first half, LMU scored the first seven points of the half, taking full advantage of four Trojan turnovers, and that sparked the Lion offense, using a 20-7 run over the first eight minutes to push the Little Rock deficit to 24 at 64-40.
LMU would lead by as many as 29 at 75-46 with just over eight minutes to go, all but closing the door on the Trojans. Little Rock would make a run over the final few minutes to make the score somewhat more respectable, but the outcome was never in doubt as Little Rock falls 82-63.
The Trojans now will make one of the longest trips between games in program history, making the cross-country flight to Jacksonville, Florida, for the Jacksonville Classic by Fabletics. The two-game tournament begins Sunday when Little Rock takes on Sam Houston at 1:30 p.m. CT at UNF Arena on the campus of North Florida.
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