LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock concludes its challenging six-game road trip up in Northwest Arkansas in the first-ever official meeting against Arkansas. The Trojans and Razorbacks will tip at 3 p.m. Saturday, December 4 at Bud Walton Arena, airing on the SEC Network. Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker will handle the radio call on 106.7 FM The Buz2.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock concludes its challenging six-game road trip which took the Trojans to five different states (California, Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado and Arkansas), playing in four time zones and traveling over 7,500 miles during that span.
• Little Rock and Arkansas meet officially for the first time Saturday. The two teams got together for an exhibition scrimmage on October 20, 2019, with the Razorbacks earning the 79-64 win at Bud Walton in the game in which Nolan Richardson Court was officially dedicated.
• Saturday's game will be a homecoming for head coach
Darrell Walker, who played for Arkansas from 1980-83. Walker was a second team All-American for the Razorbacks, helping Arkansas make a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and ranking 18th in program history in scoring (1,325) and fourth in steals (230).
•
Isaiah Palermo and
Jovan Stulic continue to lead the Trojans in shooting this season as the duo has combined to shoot 59.1% from the floor, 40.8% from three and 83.8% from the free throw line, averaging a combined 22.4 points per game.
• The Trojans enter Saturday's game with a 2-15 all-time record against current members of the Southeastern Conference, facing 10 of the 14 league schools. Little Rock's last game against the conference was a 64-48 loss at Mississippi State on Dec. 20, 2017, earning wins over the Bulldogs (70-68 in 1995) and Tennessee (69-59 in 1993).
• This will be the second time
Darrell Walker and Eric Mussselman will go head-to-head, meeting in Walker's first season when Musselman's Nevada team defeated the Trojans 87-59 in Reno on November 16, 2018.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
2021-22: 7-0 overall, 0-0 Southeastern Conference
Last Three Games: W Central Arkansas (97-60), W vs. Penn (76-60), W vs. Cincinnati (73-67)
Head Coach: Eric Musselman (San Diego, 1987). Third season at UAF (52-19); 7th season overall (162-53)
Key Players:
• #1 JD Notae (Sr., G): 18.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 41.3 FG%
• #5 Au'Diese Toney (Sr., G): 13.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 66.7 FG%
• #11 Chris Lykes (Gr., G): 12.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 82.9 FT%
• #0 Stanley Umude (Gr., G): 10.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 50.8 FG%
•# 23 Connor Vanover (Jr., F): 8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 51.4 FG%
FOR THE FIRST TIME (OFFICIALLY)
Saturday's game will be the first official meeting between the Trojans and Razorbacks but the two teams did meet at Bud Walton Arena in an charity exhibition on October 20, 2019. Arkansas won the game 79-64 as the top player for Little Rock on that date was Kamani Johnson, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, as Johnson will suit up for Arkansas Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
A shorthanded Little Rock team ran into an electric Colorado State offensive attack as the preseason Mountain West favorite used an 18-0 run in the first half to take a 23-point halftime lead and cruised to the 86-55 win over the Trojans in Fort Collins Wednesday.
Isaiah Palermo led Little Rock with 16 points and
Kevin Osawe added 11 points and six rebounds, but the Rams shot 55.9% from the floor to race to the victory.
WELCOME BACK TO THE HILL
Head coach
Darrell Walker returns to Fayetteville for the first official game as a head coach having cemented himself in the Arkansas record book. Walker ranks 18th in Razorback history in points (1,325), fourth in steals (230) and sixth in free throw attempts (524), being named an All-American in 1983. He was the number 12 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, the seventh-highest Razorback selected.
EFFICIENT FROM THE FLOOR
Little Rock enters Saturday's game at Arkansas with three players shooting 50% or better from the floor, led by
Isaiah Palermo's 60.0% through his first seven games.
Jovan Stulic (58.31%) and
Nikola Maric (53.1%) are both above the 50-50 line with
DeAntoni Gordon knocking at the door at 48.6% shooting. Palermo is also the Trojans' top three-point shooter at 62.5%, followed by Stulic at 48.4% from beyond the arc.
BALANCED PRODUCTION
Through the first eight games of 2021-22, Little Rock has had five different leading scorers and leading rebounders.
Isaiah Palermo (CCC, LMU, CSU) has led the team in scoring three times, followed byÂ
DeAntoni Gordon (NIU, TUL) doing so twice. On the glass,
Nikola Maric (SIU, ABC and LMU (T))) and
Kevin Osawe (LMU (T), SHSU and CSU) have each paced the Trojans three different times thus far in 2021-22.
STRIVING FOR 70
70 points a game has been the goal for head coach
Darrell Walker since arriving at Little Rock and the Trojans have found success when reaching the mark. Under Walker, Little Rock is 33-18 (.647) when scoring 70 or more points and just 13-32 (.289) when it scores 69 points or less.
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION
Through the first eight games of the season, Little Rock has used four different starting lineup combinations as eight different Trojans have started at least one game this season.
DeAntoni Gordon and
Jovan Stulic are the two Trojans that have started every game this season as
Admir Besovic earned his first two career starts at Tulsa and Colorado State, filling in for the injured
Nikola Maric who had started the previous six games.
PRESSING THROUGH ADVERSITY
Head coach
Darrell Walker won't use it as an excuse, but injuries have played a major factor to start Little Rock's 2021-22 season. Seven different Trojans are currently out with injuries, combining for 39 missed games this season.
Myron Gardner,
Ethan Speaker,
Jordan Jefferson and
Chris Walker have all missed the first eight games due to preseason injuries with
Nikola Maric and
CJ White missing the last three after injuries sustained in Jacksonville.
DeAntoni Gordon will also be out of Saturday's game after suffering an injury late in the game at Colorado State.
WESTWARD WOES
Heading west has been a tough venture for Little Rock in recent years as the Trojans are just 1-18 in games played west of the 501 area code since the start of the 2017-18 season. Little Rock's lone win during that span was the 66-59 win at UT Arlington on January 22, 2021.
FACING THE BEST
Saturday's game against 10th-ranked Arkansas will be the 14th time Little Rock has faced a nationally-ranked opponent since the start of the 2000-01 season. The Razorbacks will be the seventh top-10 team Little Rock will have faced, the last of which was Eric Musselman's sixth-ranked Nevada team in 2018.
BACK IN THE NATURAL STATE
After Little Rock's extended road trip that took them to five different states and four different time zones, Little Rock's next seven games will be in the state of Arkansas, including five at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans won't have to venture outside the state until January 6 when they face ULM.
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