MONROE, La. – A second half surge by ULM broke the game open as Little Rock stumbled for the fifth-straight game in a 78-66 loss at Fant-Ewing Coliseum Sunday afternoon. The loss drops Little Rock to 10-12 on the season and 6-9 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Game Notes
• Once again, Little Rock saw a team shoot one of its best games of the season as ULM finished 53.4% from the floor (31-of-58) and 42.1% from three-point range (8-of-19), compared to the Trojans shooting 43.1% (22-of-51) and 26.3% from three (5-of-19), respectively.
•
Nikola Maric registered a season-high 24 points for the Trojans, going 8-of-13 from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, grabbing six rebounds with four assists.
•
Ruot Monyyong notched his 29th career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 14 rebounds. It is his 13th double-double of the year as he surpasses Rashad Jones-Jennings for the most double-doubles in program history.
•
Marko Lukic had another strong showing, scoring 19 points, including 14 in the first half, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line with five rebounds.
• The remainder of Little Rock's roster combined for just 12 points, led by seven from
CJ White with three steals and three rebounds.
• The two teams each pulled down 30 rebounds on the afternoon, but ULM took advantage of points on the fast break, outscoring the Trojans 18-4, dishing out 18 assists compared to just nine for Little Rock.
• The loss snaps a four-game winning streak over ULM as Little Rock has now failed to score 70 points in 11-straight games. The five-straight losses for the Trojans are the most since the five-game streak to end the 2018-19 season.
First Half Notes
• After scoring the first three points of the game, ULM rattled off 10-straight points to take the 10-3 lead at the 15:00 mark. The Trojans' first field goal of the game came off a jumper from Lukic at the 14:39 mark, followed by a layup to trim the Warhawk lead to three at 10-7.
• ULM responded with the first of a handful of extended runs on the night, outscoring Little Rock 11-2 to build a 12-point lead at 21-9 at the 9:42 mark. The Warhawks would match that lead at 23-11 as the Trojans made just one field goal in a five-minute stretch.
• Little Rock would chip away at the ULM lead, outscoring the Warhawks 22-12 over the ensuing six minutes to pull to within two at 33-31, then again at 35-33 behind six-straight points from Maric with 2:01 remaining. But Little Rock was unable to get over the hump as ULM rattled off the final five points of the half to take a 40-33 lead into the locker room.
• The Trojans were 44.0% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and 9-of-10 from the free throw line, but just 2-of-6 from three point range with nine turnovers. Lukic led all players with 14 points in the first half with Maric adding eight points and Monyyong scoring seven points with eight rebounds.
Second Half Notes
• After exchanging jumpers to open the second half, ULM broke the game open with a 15-2 run spanning four minutes, building a 20-point lead at 57-37 at the 15:02 mark. A lone jumper by Maric was Little Rock's only points during the run, which ended with a
Jovan Stulic three pointer at the 14:35 mark, trimming the deficit to 57-40.
• After Little Rock pulled to within 15 at 62-47 following a three from Lukic, a 6-0 Warhawk run gave ULM its largest lead of the game at 68-47 with 7:56 remaining. It marked the third time in the last four games the Trojans found themselves trailing by 20 or more points I the second half.
• The final eight minutes saw Little Rock claw to within 12 on four different occasions, but never seriously threatened the ULM lead. Maric scored 12 of the final 19 points for Little Rock as a rebound and layup from Monyyong in the waning seconds secured his program-best 29th career double-double.
• Maric finished with 16 of Little Rock's 33 second half points, complemented by five each from Lukic and White. The Trojans shot 42.3% from the floor in the second half (11-of-26) but just 23.1% from three (3-of-13), going 8-for-9 from the line (88.9%).
Up Next
• Little Rock and ULM close out the weekend series with a 4 p.m. tip at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Monday, Feb. 22. It will be the final road game of the regular season for the Trojans as they look to capture the season series against the Warhawks.
#LittleRocksTeam
