LITTLE ROCK – Behind a strong second half performance, Little Rock ensured its seniors would finish their Trojan careers with a victory in their final game at the Jack Stephens Center, racing past Louisiana 69-59 Saturday evening.
The loss snaps a seven-game losing streak for the Trojans, who finish the regular season at 11-14 overall and 7-11 in Sun Belt Conference play. Louisiana closes the regular season at 16-8 and 10-7 in league play.
Game Notes
•Little Rock shot 42.6% from the floor for the game and limited Louisiana to just 33.3% shooting, including 26.1% from three point range. Free throw shooting also played a factor as the Trojans were 82.4% from the charity stripe (14-of-17), opposed to 59.1% for the Ragin' Cajuns (59.1%).
• Three players finished in double figures, led by a 17-point performance from
Nikola Maric, who was 8-of-14 from the floor. Maric pulled down four rebounds, had three assists and a pair of blocks for Little Rock.
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Ben Coupet Jr. came up big in his final game at the Jack Stephens Center, scoring 14 points with four rebounds and a pair of blocks as well, knocking down four of his five free throws in the second half to help the Trojans pull away.
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Marko Lukic finished with 13 points, adding three rebounds as well.
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Ruot Monyyong closed out his final game at the Jack with a six-point, six-rebound performance after being limited to just 27 minutes due to foul trouble.
Admir Besovic posted his best game in a Trojan uniform in his Jack Stephens Center finale, nearly registering a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
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Marko Andric had a solid game off the bench as well for the Trojans, scoring nine points on 7-of-8 free throw shooting with six rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Both teams finished with 41 rebounds on the night with a 12-9 edge in offensive boards for the Ragin' Cajuns. Little Rock held the advantage in points in the paint (34-24) while registering six blocks on the night and committing only 11 turnovers.
• Little Rock closes the regular season with a winning record at the Jack Stephens Center for the 14th time in 16 seasons as the Trojans' home court, finishing 7-4.
• The Trojans were one of just two men's teams to complete the full 18-game Sun Belt Conference schedule in 2020-21, joined by ULM.
First Half Notes
• Louisiana knocked down eight of the first 10 points of the game, but Little Rock found its scoring touch, using a 14-2 run over a five minute span to build a six point cushion at 16-10 with 12:41 remaining in the opening half. Four different Trojans scored during the span, led by four points each for Coupet, Maric and Andric.
• Little Rock's lead would reach nine on a pair of occasions, the second of which came off a fast break layup from Lukic to make the score 27-18. The layup for Lukic was part of a 25-10 run for the Trojans as Little Rock limited Louisiana to just four field goals over 12 minutes, forcing five Ragin' Cajun turnovers.
• Down the stretch, Little Rock's shooting struggles reemerged as the Trojans connected on just two shots over the final 5:40, helping spark a 12-3 Ragin' Cajun run that tied the game at 30-30 with 1:34 remaining. A Besovic layup with 46 seconds remaining gave Little Rock the 32-30 halftime lead, finishing with six points in the opening 20 minutes.
• Little Rock shot 44.8% in the opening half, making 13 of 29 shots, while going 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Six different Trojans scored at least four points in the opening half, led by 8 from Lukic and six each from Monyyong and Besovic. Besovic also grabbed five rebounds, complemented by four from White.
Second Half Notes
• Little Rock and Louisiana exchanged baskets in the early going as the two teams combined for a tie and four lead changes through the first seven minutes, trying to establish a rhythm. Tied at 40-40, Little Rock used an 11-3 run to build an eight point lead at 51-43 at the 8:04 mark as Louisiana made just one of 15 field goal attempts over the 10 minute span.
• Maric began to take over the game in the latter stages of the second half, scoring nine of 11 for the Trojans to help extend the lead to 11 at 57-46. Four-straight free throws by Coupet and Andric gave the Trojans their largest lead of the game at 61-48, pushing the Little Rock run to 21-8 with 4:48 remaining.
• The Trojans led by as many as 15 at 69-54 off a three from Lukic with 1:11 remaining, giving Little Rock its largest lead since a 19-point cushion against ULM on January 30. A three pointer and free throws in the waning seconds by the Ragin' Cajuns narrowed the final margin to 69-59.
• Little Rock shot 41.9% in the second half, led by 13 points from Maric on 6-of-8 shooting, and 10 from Coupet to pull away down the stretch from the Ragin' Cajuns. The Trojans were 10-of-12 from the free throw line (83.3%) and committed just five turnovers over the final 20 minutes.
Up Next
• Little Rock now prepares for the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, being held in Pensacola, Florida, beginning Friday, March 5. The Trojans will be the number five seed in the west and will face the east's number four seed at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pensacola State College. The full bracket will be released Sunday.
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