LITTLE ROCK - After an extended six game road trip, Little Rock returns to the Jack Stephens Center for its first home game since November 14. The Trojans will welcome Missouri State for a 6:30 p.m. tip on Wednesday, December 8, streaming live on ESPN+. Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker will have the radio call on 106.7 FM The Buz2, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock concluded 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 Missouri State meet for the 10th time Wednesday with the Bears holding an 8-1 edge in the all-time series. This will be just the third meeting between the two teams in Little Rock with Missouri State winning the previous two - a 75-62 victory in 2009 and a 68-60 win in 2011.
• Wednesday's game against Missouri State begins an extended home stand for Little Rock, which will play five of its next six games at the Jack Stephens Center. The lone road game in that stretch is the short road trip to Conway to face Central Arkansas.
• The Trojans enter Wednesday's game with a 7-16 all-time record against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference, with nine of those 23 games against Missouri State. The Bears are the second MVC team to come to the Jack Stephens Center this season with Little Rock defeating Southern Illinois 69-66 in the season opener on November 9.
• Isaiah Palermo recorded the third double-double of the season for the Trojans this season with his 17-point, 10-rebound performance at Arkansas Saturday. CJ White and Nikola Maric are the other two Trojans to hit the milestone.
• Little Rock is 3-0 at the Jack Stephens Center this season and 30-15 at home under head coach Darrell Walker. The Trojans are 13-4 against non-conference foes at home under Walker, winning six-straight and 10 of the last 11.
• After playing with just six scholarship players, and dressing eight players total, Saturday at Arkansas, Little Rock should get a little bit of help starting this week as freshman guard Jordan Jefferson was cleared to resume practicing Monday and could see playing time Wednesday.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE BEARS
2021-22: 4-4 overall, 0-1 Missouri Valley Conference
Last Three Games: L vs. BYU (74-68), L at Illinois State (79-74, OT), W vs. George Washington (72-54)
Head Coach: Dana Ford (North Georgia, 2002). Fourth season at Missouri State (53-44); Eighth season overall (110-109)
Key Players:
• #44 Gage Prim (Sr., F): 19.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 62.8 FG%
• #1 Isiaih Mosley (Jr., G): 16.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 91.7 FT%
• #12 Jaylen Minnett (Sr., G): 13.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 50.0 3FG%
• #5 Donovan Clay (Jr., G/F): 8.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 44.3 FG%
• #4 Ja'Monta Black (Jr., G): 7.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 38.2 FG%
LAST WE MET
Little Rock and Missouri State closed out the non-conference portion of the 2020-21 schedule in Springfield, Missouri with the Bears earning the 85-77 victory on December 21, 2020. The Trojans rallied from a 14-point deficit with 3:52 to go to get within four with under a minute remaining, but couldn't complete the comeback. Four players finished in double figures, including 14 for Isaiah Palermo and 13 for Nikola Maric.
LAST TIME OUT
A shorthanded Little Rock team fought 10th-ranked Arkansas for 35 minutes, but the depth of the Razorbacks helped them pull away for a 93-78 win at Bud Walton Arena. Marko Lukic scored a career-high 23 points and Isaiah Palermo notched his first career double-double, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB
Isaiah Palermo became the third different Trojan to register a double-double this season, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds with six assists at 10th-ranked Arkansas Saturday. Palermo joins CJ White (Champion Christian) and Nikola Maric (Arkansas Baptist) in the double-double club as the junior leads the team in scoring (12.9 ppg), field goal percentage (59.3%) and three point percentage (55.6%) while ranking second in free throw percentage (80.0%).
EFFICIENT FROM THE FLOOR
Little Rock enters Wednesday's game against Missouri State with three players shooting 50% or better from the floor, led by Isaiah Palermo's 59.3% through his first eight games. Jovan Stulic (55.6%) 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 55.6%, followed by Stulic at 44.1% and Marko Andric at 41.7%.
BIG SHOWING FROM MARKO
Marko Lukic notched a new career-high at 10th-ranked Arkansas Saturday, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting while playing 33 minutes off the bench. Lukic's previous high was 22 in the win against Coastal Carolina on Jan. 30, 2020, as the junior is averaging 9.1 points while shooting 36.4% this season. The 23 points is the second-most by a Trojan this season and tops against a Division I foe in 2021-22.
BALANCED PRODUCTION
Through the first nine games of 2021-22, Little Rock has had six different leaders in both scoring and rebounding. Isaiah Palermo has led the team in scoring three times, followed by DeAntoni Gordon doing so twice. On the glass, Nikola Maric and Kevin Osawe have each paced the Trojans three different times. Saturday's game at Arkansas saw Little Rock post its sixth different leading scorer (Marko Lukic) and rebounder (Palermo).
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 33-19 (.635) 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 nine games of the season, Little Rock has used five different starting lineup combinations as nine different Trojans have started at least one game this season. Jovan Stulic is the only Trojan that has started every game this season due to the prevalence of injuries on the Trojan roster.
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 46 missed games this season. Myron Gardner, Ethan Speaker, Jordan Jefferson and Chris Walker have all missed the first nine games due to preseason injuries with Nikola Maric and CJ White missing the last four after injuries sustained in Jacksonville. DeAntoni Gordon is also out of the lineup after suffering an injury late in the game at Colorado State on December 1 as the Trojans dressed just six scholarship players at Arkansas Saturday.
HOME SWEET HOME
Little Rock is in its 17th season at the Jack Stephens Center as the Trojans have posted a 154-84 (.647) all-time record in their on-campus home. Little Rock has posted a 69-25 (.734) mark against non-conference foes at the Jack, winning six-straight and 10 of its last 11 dating back to the 2018-19 season. Little Rock has notched a winning record at its on-campus home in 14 of the 16 full seasons, winning 10 or more home games on six occasions.
TROJANS vs. THE VALLEY
Missouri State is the second Missouri Valley school the Trojans will face in 2021-22, defeating Southern Illinois 69-66 in the season opener on November 9. Head coach Darrell Walker has faced at least one Missouri Valley school in each of his four seasons, going 2-3 against the league, including a 67-66 win over Missouri State in Springfield to start the 2019-20 season. As a program, Little Rock is 7-16 (.304) against the Valley, with nine of those 23 games coming against the Bears.
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