| GAME 14 - ULM |
| Date/Time |
Thursday, January 6Â - 6:30 p.m. |
| Location |
Monroe, La. |
| Arena |
Fant-Ewing Coliseum |
| Records |
Little Rock (6-7, 1-0 SBC)
ULM (8-6, 0-2 SBC) |
| Watch |
ESPN+ |
| Listen |
106.7 FM The Buz2 |
| Live Stats |
TrojanStats.com |
| Notes |
Little Rock | ULM |
LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock begins a three-game Sun Belt road trip, heading south to Monroe, Louisiana, to take on ULM Thursday, January 6 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The game against the Warhawks will stream live on ESPN+ with Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker handling the radio call on 106.7 FM The Buz2, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock is in its 31st, and final, season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference Thursday, posting an all-time record of 264-251 as a member of the league. The Trojans are tied with Arkansas State and Louisiana as the second-longest tenured members of the conference.
• Little Rock and ULM meet for the meet for the 42nd time Thursday with the Trojans holding a 22-19 all-time lead. The two teams split the four games they played against each other last season as Little Rock is 7-13 all-time at Fant-Ewing.
•
Nikola Maric scored a season-high 24 points with eight rebounds in the win over Georgia Southern, upping his career point total to 939 and leaving him 61 points shy of becoming the 21st member of the Little Rock 1,000-point club.
•
Marko Lukic scored 15 points in the win over Georgia Southern for his fifth-straight game in double figures and his eighth of the season, leading all Trojans.
Nikola Maric and
Isaiah Palermo have each done it seven times.
• Little Rock's win over Georgia Southern marked the third time this season the Trojans have won a game in which they have trailed by double digits.
• The Trojans' 19-0 run in the second half against the Eagles was Little Rock's largest run of the season and the longest since a 23-0 run against Champion Christian on December 18, 2020.
• The game at ULM marks the first game the Trojans will play outside the state of Arkansas since taking on Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colorado on December 1, a span of 36 days.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS
2021-22: 8-6 overall, 0-2 Sun Belt Conference
Last Three Games: L at App State (77-69), L at Coastal Carolina (94-64), W vs. Centenary (104-67)
Head Coach: Keith Richard (ULM, 1982). 12th season at ULM (136-219); 21st season overall (286-336)
Key Players:
• #1 Andre Jones (Gr., G): 13.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 46.2 FG%
• #2 Koreem Ozier (Jr., G): 12.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 46.0 FG%
• #24 Russell Harrison (Sr., G/F): 11.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 46.9 FG%
• #13 Thomas Howell (Fr., F): 10.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 62.5 FG%
• #4 Nika Metskhvarishvili (So., F): 8.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 48.1 3FG%
SERIES HISTORY
Little Rock and ULM meet for the 42nd time Thursday with the Trojans holding a 22-19 all-time lead. The two teams split the four games they played against each other in 2021-22 with the Trojans winning both games in Little Rock and the Warhawks winning both in Monroe. The Trojans are 7-13 all-time in Monroe as ULM has won eight of the last nine at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
LAST TIME OUT
Little Rock trailed Georgia Southern by 10 with 9:16 to play, but the Trojans used a 23-1 run, including 19 unanswered over an eight-minute span, to rally past the Eagles for a 78-66 win to open Sun Belt play.
Nikola Maric notched a season-high 24 points with eight rebounds while
CJ White scored all 15 of his points in the second half to spark the Trojan rally.
DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
10 different Trojans have combined for 41 double figure performances in 2021-22, led by
Marko Lukic doing so a team-high eight times and
Isaiah Palermo and
Nikola Maric each reaching double-digits on seven occasions. Little Rock is one of 10 schools nationally that has had at least 10 different players reach double digits in a game this season.
WELCOME BACK NIKOLA
Senior
Nikola Maric made his second appearance in a month against Georgia Southern, scoring a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting while grabbing a team-best eight rebounds. Maric upped his career point total to 939 against the Eagles, leaving him 61 points shy of becoming the 21st member of the Little Rock 1,000-point club. He would become the first to reach the career milestone since Will Neighbour in 2014.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Junior
Myron Gardner made his Little Rock debut Thursday against Georgia Southern after missing the first 12 games with a lower leg injury. Gardner scored seven points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes, becoming the 12th different Trojan to start a game this season.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Little Rock's offense has come in spurts at times this season, putting together seven different runs of 12-or-more straight points. The longest of those came Thursday when the Trojans used a 19-0 run in the second half to turn a seven-point deficit into 12-point lead against Georgia Southern. That 19-0 run was the longest of the season and the most extensive run since a 23-0 run against Champion Christian on December 18, 2020.
RALLYING BACK
Little Rock rallied from a 10-points down in the second half to defeat Georgia Southern 78-66 last Thursday, marking the third time this season the Trojans have come back from a double-digit deficit to earn a win. Little Rock was down 14 in the first half to Southern Illinois and trailed by 10 in the first half against Arkansas Baptist before rallying for victories.
PRESSING THROUGH ADVERSITY
Injuries have played a major factor for the Trojans as nine different players have combined for 68 missed games this season.
Ethan Speaker and
Chris Walker have missed the first 13 games due to preseason injuries as
Myron Gardner made his Trojan debut after missing the first 12 games.
DeAntoni Gordon is out for the season after an injury suffered at Colorado State as Little Rock has used eight different starting lineup combinations with 12 different Trojans earning starts due to those injuries.
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 34-19 (.642) when scoring 70 or more points and just 14-34 (.292) when it scores 69 points or less.
FAMILIAR FACES
Thursday's game at ULM will mark the third game this season Little Rock will face a former player. Andre Jones played for the Trojans from 2016-18 before transferring to Nicholls and then to ULM. Little Rock has also reunited with
Ben Coupet Jr. (Southern Illinois) and Kamani Johnson (Arkansas).
LAST TRIP AROUND THE SUN
Little Rock continues its 31st, and final, season in the Sun Belt this weekend in Louisiana. The Trojans joined the league in the 1991-92 season and is tied with Arkansas State and Louisiana as the second-longest tenured members of the conference. Little Rock has compiled a 264-251 (.513) all-time record as members of the Sun Belt, including an 18-15 mark against ULM as league opponents. The Trojans recently announced they will join the Ohio Valley Conference, effective July 1, 2022.
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