Little Rock Road Swing Continues To Cajundome Saturday

GAME 15 - LOUISIANA
Date/Time	Saturday, January 8 - 7:05 p.m.
Location	Lafayette, La.
Arena	Cajundome
Records	Little Rock (6-8, 1-1 SBC) Louisiana (8-5, 3-0 SBC)
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	106.7 FM The Buz2
Live Stats	TrojanStats.com
Notes	Little Rock | Louisiana

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock continues its three-game Sun Belt road trip, making its final trip to Lafayette, Louisiana, as a member of the Sun Belt to take on Louisiana Saturday at the Cajundome. The game against the Ragin' Cajuns will stream live on ESPN+ with Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker handling the radio call on 106.7 FM The Buz2, getting underway at 6:45 p.m.

GAME STORYLINES

• Little Rock is in its 31st, and final, season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, posting an all-time record of 264-252 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 Louisiana have met 59 times previously, marking the second-longest active rivalry for the Trojans. Louisiana holds a 32-27 edge in the all-time series but Little Rock has won four of the last six meetings.

• The Trojans are 10-17 all-time in Lafayette, winning three of the last five games at the Cajundome.

• Nikola Maric matched his season-high 24 points at ULM Thursday, upping his career point total to 963 and leaving him 37 points shy of becoming the 21st member of the Little Rock 1,000-point club.

• Maric has scored in double figures in his last seven games, giving him 55 games scoring 10 or more points out of his 81 games played (67.9%). He is joined by Isaiah Palermo and Marko Lukic with eight double-figure point totals this season.

• CJ White flirted with a triple-double at ULM Thursday, finishing with eight rebounds, eight assists and six points.

• The Trojans are 0-5 in true road games this season and are seeking their first win on the road since a 66-59 win at UT Arlington on January 22, 2021 - a span of 11 road games.

• Little Rock trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half at ULM, marking the 11th time this season out of 14 games the Trojans have faced a double-digit deficit.

NEWS AND NOTES

SCOUTING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
2021-22: 8-5 overall, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference
Last Three Games: W vs. Arkansas State (83-77, OT), W at Coastal Carolina (65-64), W at App State (71-55)
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1982). 12th season at LA (213-157); 29th season overall (561-323)
Key Players:
• #21 Jordan Brown (So., F): 14.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 48.6 FG%
• #10 Theo Akwuba (Jr. F): 10.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 53.6 FG%
• #4 Kobe Julien (R-Fr,., F): 9.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 38.3 FG%
• #22 Kentrell Garnett (Fr., G): 8.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 50.9 3FG%
• #13 Greg Williams (Jr., G): 7.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 37.7 FG%

SERIES HISTORY
Little Rock and Louisiana meet for the 60th time Saturday evening with the Ragin'  Cajuns holding a 32-27 all-time lead in the series. The 59 previous meetings between the Trojans and Cajuns makes the series the second-longest rivalry in program history, trailing Arkansas State (93 games). Little Rock has won four of the last six meetings between the two and is 10-17 all-time in Lafayette, winning three of the last five.

LAST TIME OUT
Once again, Little Rock rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to pull even with ULM, but this time the Trojans couldn't make the shots down the stretch as the Warhawks pulled away for an 80-72 win Thursday night in Monroe. Nikola Maric matched his season-high with 24 points and Isaiah Palermo added 19, but couldn't withstand ULM shooting 57.1% from the floor - the highest opponent shooting average of the season.

CHASING 1,000
Senior Nikola Maric had another strong showing to start Sun Belt play, matching his season-high with 24 points in the loss at ULM Thursday. It was the second-straight conference game in which Maric has scored 24 for Little Rock, upping his career point total to 963. Maric now sits just 37 points shy of becoming the 21st member of the Trojan 1,000 point club and would be the first to join the club since Will Neighbour in 2014.

STRONG START FOR CJ
Junior CJ White has been a strong contributor off the bench for Little Rock since returning from an ankle injury. White flirted with a triple-double Thursday at ULM, finishing with eight rebounds, a career-high eight assists and six points. White leads the Trojans in assists per game at 3.7 and is fourth on the team in rebounding (4.6 rpg) while leading the team in free throw shooting at 88.9% (8-of-9).

CONSISTENT PALERMO
Junior Isaiah Palermo scored 19 points against ULM Thursday night, going 7-of-12 from the floor with five rebounds. Palermo ranks second on the Trojans in scoring (12.9 ppg), field goal percentage (55.4%) and rebounding (4.8 rpg), leading the team in steals per game (1.2 spg).

DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
10 different Trojans have combined for 43 double figure performances in 2021-22. Nikola Maric and Isaiah Palermo both scored in double figures for the eighth time this season against ULM Thursday, joining Marko Lukic for the team lead after Lukic's five-game streak ended following his seven-point outing.

PLAYING FROM BEHIND
Little Rock has had to play from behind for the majority of the season, facing a double-digit deficit in 11 of its 14 games this season. Nine of those games have seen the Trojans trailing by 10 or more in the second half as Little Rock has rallied to win three of those games this season.

PRESSING THROUGH ADVERSITY
Injuries have played a major factor for the Trojans as 10 different players have combined for 73 missed games this season. Chris Walker, DeAntoni Gordon, Marko Andric, Ethan Speaker and Admir Besovic did not make the trip to Louisiana this week as Little Rock has used nine 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 34-20 (.630) when scoring 70 or more points and just 14-34 (.292) when it scores 69 points or less.

ROAD WOES
Little Rock is still in search of its first true road win of the season, sitting at 0-5 on the year. The Trojans have dropped 11-straight road games, dating back to the 66-59 win at UT Arlington on January 22, 2021, giving up an average of 83.6 points per game on the road this season while scoring just 66.2 points per outing.

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 264-252 (.512) all-time record as members of the Sun Belt, including a 32-26 mark against Louisiana as league opponents. The Trojans recently announced they will join the Ohio Valley Conference, effective July 1, 2022.

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