LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock opens the 2021-22 basketball season with a three-game home stand at the Jack Stephens Center, beginning with Missouri Valley foe Southern Illinois Tuesday at 5 p.m. The game will stream live on ESPN+ with Hayden Balgavy and Patrick Newton on the call with Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker carrying the radio call on 106.7 FM Buz2.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock begins its 84th season of basketball and 44th season at the Division I level Tuesday, November 9, on the opening day of the 2021-22 NCAA basketball season.
• Little Rock is 43-40 all-time in season-openers, winning seven of its last nine. Head coach Darrell Walker has won all three of his season openers at the helm of the Trojans, defeating Southeastern Oklahoma 101-92 in overtime in 2018, besting Missouri State 67-66 in Springfield, Missouri in 2019 and earning a 71-66 victory over Prairie View A&M in Louisville in 2020.
• Little Rock begins its 17th season at the Jack Stephens Center where the Trojans are 151-84 (.643), coming off a 7-4 record in 2020-21. Little Rock has posted a winning record in 14 of its 16 seasons at the Jack as the Trojans are 14-2 in home openers.
• The Trojans were picked eighth in the preseason Sun Belt poll, voted on by the league's head coaches. Little Rock garnered 46 total points, finishing six points better than both Troy and UT Arlington, tied for ninth, and 20 points behind Coastal Carolina.
• Little Rock returns three starters from the 2020-21 campaign, led by preseason third team All-Sun Belt selection Nikola Maric. Maric is the Trojans' returning statistical leader in six categories, including scoring (14.0 ppg), rebounding (5.6 rpg), assists (1.7 apg) and blocks (0.9 bpg).
• Little Rock and Southern Illinois meet for the third time with the home team earning a win in the series. The Trojans defeated the Salukis 70-53 at then-Alltel Arena in 2005 before Southern Illinois returned the favor with a 67-42 in Carbondale in 2006.
• There will be one familiar face on the Saluki sideline with the return of Ben Coupet Jr., who transferred to Southern Illinois in the offseason. Coupet's first-ever game for the Salukis will be at the Jack Stephens Center where he played two years for the Trojans, averaging 10.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, starting 57 games in a Little Rock uniform.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS
2020-21: 12-14 overall, 5-13 Missouri Valley (9th)
First Three Games: at Little Rock (Nov. 9), vs. Austin Peay (Nov. 12), vs. Colorado (Nov. 19)
Head Coach: Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois, 2008). 3rd season at SIU (28-30)
Key Players:
• #1 Marcus Domask (Jr., F): 16.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 48.4 FG%
• #5 Lance Jones (Jr., G): 13.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 42.6 3FG%
• #10 Ben Harvey (Jr., G): 9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 44.6 FG%
• #33 Anthony D'Avanzo (Gr., F): 7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 46.3 FG%
• #22 Steven Verplancken (Jr., G): 7.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 41.5 FG%
SERIES HISTORY
Little Rock and Southern Illinois meet for the third time Tuesday with the home team earning the win in the previous two meetings. Little Rock took the 70-53 at then-Alltel Arena on December 7, 2004, before falling to the Salukis 67-42 at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois, on December 22, 2005.
TROJANS IN HOME OPENERS
Since the move to Division I, Little Rock has been tough to beat in its first home game of the season. The Trojans are 39-3 (.929)in home openers since making the transition in the 1978-79 season with their only losses coming at the hands of Oklahoma State (1999), North Florida (2013) and Ouachita Baptist (2017).
YEAR FOUR FOR WALKER
Head coach Darrell Walker enters his fourth seasons at the helm of the Little Rock basketball program with a 42-46 (.477) mark on the Trojan sidelines. The Trojans have been efficient at home under Walker, boasting a 27-15 (.643) record at the Jack Stephens Center. Walker brings a unique background to the college ranks as he is one of just six Division I head coaches who won an NBA championship as a player.
PRESEASON HONORS FOR MARIC
Senior forward Nikola Maric earned preseason accolades from the league's head coaches, being named a preseason third team All-Sun Belt selection heading into the 2021-22 season. Maric enters the 2021-22 season having played in 72 games during his Little Rock career with 56 starts and a career average of 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Maric has scored in double figures in 47 of his 72 games and enters the season with 823 career points, 177 shy of becoming the 21st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
TROJANS vs. THE VALLEY
Southern Illinois will be the first of two Missouri Valley schools the Trojans will face in 2021-22, hosting Missouri State at the Jack Stephens Center on December 8. Head coach Darrell Walker has faced at least one Missouri Valley school in each of his previous three seasons, going 1-3 against the league. As a program, Little Rock is 6-16 (.273) against the Valley, splitting its two games against Southern Illinois.
SPANNING THE GLOBE
Little Rock's 2021-22 roster has come from far and wide to put together a diverse team for head coach Darrell Walker. This year's Trojan squad is represented by six different states (Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada) and three countries (Canada, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia) as the Trojans have six international players on their roster (Marko Lukic, Marko Andric, Jovan Stulic (Serbia); Nikola Maric, Admir Besovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Kevin Osawa (Canada)).
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