SUN BELT FIRST ROUND -
APPALACHIAN STATE |
| Date |
Friday, Mar. 5 - 7:30 p.m. |
| Location |
Pensacola, Fla. |
| Arena |
Hartsell Arena (Pensacola State College) |
| Records |
Little Rock (11-14, 7-11Â SBC)
Appalachian State (13-11, 7-8 SBC) |
| Watch |
ESPN+ |
| Listen |
106.7 FM The Buz2 |
| Live Stats |
StatBroadcast |
| Notes |
Little Rock | Appalachian State |
LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock begins its quest for a Sun Belt tournament title Friday evening in Pensacola, Florida, facing Appalachian State in the opening round. The Trojans and Mountaineers will tip at 7:30 p.m. at Hartsell Arena on the campus of Pensacola State College with the game streaming on ESPN+, called by Matt Schumacker and Ben Brust. Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker will call the action on 106.7 FM The Buz2, getting underway at 7:10 p.m.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock competes in its first postseason game since 2018, a 93-64 loss to Appalachian State in the first round in New Orleans. Little Rock's active roster has combined for one conference tournament appearance - CJ White played eight seconds in the 2019 Conference USA quarterfinals in SMU's loss to Cincinnati.
• Little Rock is 22-25 all-time in Sun Belt tournaments since joining the league in the 1991-92 season. The Trojans have won a pair of tournament titles - winning as an eight seed in 2011 before taking the 2016 title off its regular season crown.
• Little Rock and Appalachian State meet for the 15th time with the Trojans holding an 8-6 lead in the all-time series. The Trojans have won two-straight against the Mountaineers, sweeping the regular season series in 2019-20.
• Ruot Monyyong is the Sun Belt's active leader in rebounding (577), blocks (100) and double-doubles (30). He is the only active Sun Belt player with 600 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks for his career and is tied for third nationally with 14 double-doubles this season.
• As a team, Little Rock boasts 20 double-doubles on the year, ranking third nationally behind Illinois' 24 and Austin Peay's 21. Three Sun Belt schools are among the top-10 with Louisiana tied for sixth (18) and Arkansas State tied for ninth (17).
• Since January 9, Little Rock has failed to reach 70 points - a span of 14 games in which it has averaged 62.4 points. Conversely, Little Rock's opponents are averaging just 65.1 points during that stretch with only three reaching the 70-point mark.
• Little Rock was joined by ULM as the only two Sun Belt schools that played all 18 of its scheduled conference games in 2020-21.
• Friday's game will be Little Rock's first game in the state of Florida since December 21, 2016 - a 94-71 loss to the Gators in Gainesville. The Trojan's last win in the Sunshine State was a 78-70 win over Florida International on January 20, 2011.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
2020-21: 13-11 overall, 7-8 Sun Belt (4th East)
Last Three Games: L at Georgia Southern (65-57), W at Georgia Southern (84-78, 2OT), L at Georgia State (85-71)
Head Coach: Dustin Kern (Clemson, 2002). 11th season at APPST (31-26)
Key Players:
• #20 Adrian Delph (Jr., G): 12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 42.0 FG%
• #1 Justin Forrest (Sr., G): 11.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 37.5 FG%
• #11 Donovan Gregory (So., F): 11.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 52.5 FG%
• #5 Michael Almonacy (Gr., G): 11.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 39.2 FG%
• #25 James Lewis (Jr., F): 9.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 58.9 FG%
SERIES HISTORY
Little Rock and Appalachian State meet for the first time since the 2019-20 season as the Trojans earned the series sweep. The Trojans won 73-57 in Boone, N.C. on Jan. 18, followed by a 93-86 decision in Little Rock on Feb. 1. Little Rock is 8-6 all-time against Appalachian State and is 0-1 in neutral site games, falling 93-64 in the 2018 Sun Belt first round in New Orleans.
TOURNAMENT INEXPERIENCE
The 2021 Sun Belt Championship will be a new experience for Little Rock as the current roster has a combined eight seconds of Division I conference tournament experience (CJ White at SMU). Little Rock's last Sun Belt Championship appearance came in 2018, a 93-64 loss to Appalachian State in New Orleans. The Trojans failed to qualify in 2019 and were the number one seed in last year's bracket, but had their chance at a league title and NCAA tournament appearance bid canceled due to the pandemic.
LAST TIME OUT
Little Rock split its final series of the year, rebounding from a 66-61 loss to Louisiana on Friday, Feb. 26 to best the Ragin' Cajuns 69-59 on Saturday, Feb. 27. Friday, Little Rock shot a season-worst 32.7% from the floor to stumble to the loss, but recovered to use a 25-10 run in the second half Saturday to propel the Trojans to the Senior Day win.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE KING
Ruot Monyyong established himself as the program's all-time double-double king this season, notching the 30th of his Trojan career with 10 points and 19 rebounds against Louisiana Friday. He surpassed Rashad Jones-Jennings (2005-07) on the all-time list and is tied for 15th among the active national leaders, pulling down a Sun Belt-best 14 this season.
600-500-100 MAN
Ruot Monyyong reached another impressive career milestone of 600 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks over the weekend, the only active Sun Belt player to reach that mark. Monyyong currently sits at 663 points, 577 rebounds and 100 career blocks, entering the week as the Sun Belt's active leader in rebounds, blocks and double-doubles (30) heading to Pensacola.
CONSISTENT MARIC
Nikola Maric has been arguably Little Rock's most consistent player in 2020-21, scoring in double figures in 22 of 25 games and leading the team with a 14.4 scoring average. He has scored in double figures a team-best 47 times during his Trojan career, reaching a streak of 13-straight games with 10 or more points earlier this season, the sixth-longest streak for the Trojans since the 2000-01 season.
CLEANING THE GLASS
Ruot Monyyong continues to establish himself as one of the nation's top rebounders, ranking third nationally in total rebounds with 275 after pulling down 25 in two games at ULM. The Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, Monyyong is eighth in rebounds per game (11.0) and 15th in defensive rebounds (7.60).
TROJAN BLOCK PARTY
Ruot Monyyong upped his career block total to 100 over the weekend, moving into a tie for third all-time in program history. He has registered at least one block in all but three games this season and the first since Darius Eason in 2005 to reach 100.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Nikola Maric is the closest Trojan player to 1,000 career points, sitting at 819 for his Little Rock career. He is one of three players on the Trojan roster to have reached 500 career points, joined by Ruot Monyyong (663) and Ben Coupet Jr. (597).
DOUBLE FIGURE CLUB
Eight Trojans have combined for 78 double-figure performances in 2020-21, led by 22 for Nikola Maric, 18 for Ruot Monyyong and nine for Ben Coupet Jr., who leads the Trojans with four 20+-point performances this season, including his 22-point output at Arkansas State on Feb. 12.
#LittleRocksTeam
