Road Trip Continues at East Tennessee State Thursday

GAME 4 - EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Date/Time	Thursday, Nov. 14 - 6 p.m. CT
Location	Johnson City, Tenn.
Arena	Freedom Hall
Records	Little Rock (1-2, 0-0 OVC) East Tennessee St. (2-1, 0-0 SoCon)
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	106.7 FM The Buz2
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Notes	Little Rock | East Tennessee St.

• Little Rock and East Tennessee State conclude the home-and-home agreement that began in the 2019-20 season when the Buccaneers rallied late to hand the Trojans a 67-63 loss on November 30, 2019 at the Jack Stephens Center.

• Little Rock's Jovan Stulic is the only player who saw action in the first meeting between these two teams that is expected to dress for Thursday's game. Stulic scored nine points with four rebounds in just shy of 32 minutes in 2019.

• Head coach Darrell Walker won his 98th career game as a collegiate coach in the 71-60 win over Arkansas Baptist, sitting at 98-85 for his career and 52-67 in year five in Little Rock.

• Six different Trojans have scored in double figures this season, led by a three from DeAntoni Gordon, as Gordon (12.3), Nigel John (11.3) and Myron Gardner (10.7) are averaging in double figures on the season.

• Myron Gardner registered his second-straight double-double Monday night, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and is averaging a double-double on the year (10.7 points, 11.0 rebounds). He has finished in double figures in 11 of his 18 games as a Trojan.

• Thursday night's game continues a tough stretch for Little Rock as the Trojans will play the second game of a span of six of seven on the road, playing three 2022 NCAA tournament teams in five different states and traveling approximately 7,000 miles during that span.

NEWS AND NOTES

SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
2022-23: 2-1 overall, 0-0 Southern
Last Three Games: L vs. Louisiana (81-77), W vs. Elon (77-64), W vs. Emory & Henry (88-66)
Head Coach: Desmond Oliver (Dominican, 1992). Second season at ETSU and overall (17-18)
Key Players:
• #11 Jalen Haynes (So., F): 16.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 66.7 FG%
• #2 Jordan King (Jr., G): 12.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 28.3 FG%
• #3 DeAnthony Tipler (Sr., G): 11.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 40.7 FG%
• #13 Brock Jancek (Gr., F): 9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 80.0 FG%
• #22 Jaden Seymour (So., F): 9.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 40.0 FG%

ITS BEEN A WHILE
Little Rock and East Tennessee State meet for the second time with the Trojans making the return trip to Johnson City following the 67-63 loss at the Jack Stephens Center on Nov. 30, 2019. The Trojans rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to take a seven-point lead with six minutes to play, but the Bucs hit key threes down the stretch to take the win. Little Rock's Jovan Stulic  is the only player on both rosters that played in that game that is expected to suit up Thursday night.

LAST TIME OUT
Five Trojans finished in double figures, led by Myron Gardner's 12-point, 14-rebound double-double, but turnovers and extended Central Arkansas runs proved costly in an 82-71 loss to the Bears Monday in Conway. After falling behind early, the Trojans fought back to within two on a number of occasions late in the first half, including trailing 29-28, but could never take the lead as the Bears continued to put together runs to separate themselves.

CLOSING IN ON 100
Head coach Darrell Walker begins year number five in Little Rock with an overall record of 52-67 at the helm of the Trojans. He registered his 98th win as a collegiate head coach Thursday night, sitting at 98-85 for his career. Walker boasts a pair of impressive accomplishments as he is the only coach in the nation that has served as a head coach at the NBA, WNBA, Division II and Division I ranks and is one of just five active head coaches that won an NBA title as a player.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MYRON
Myron Gardner had a strong showing in Conway, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds for his second-consecutive double-double and the fourth of his Little Rock career, along with a triple-double last season. Gardner was a force all over the court for the Trojans at Central Arkansas, leading the team with six assists and five steals as well as he has finished in double figures in 11 of his 18 career games as a Trojan.

POWER INSIDE
Sophomore Nigel John had another strong performance for the Trojans Monday, just missing his first career double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds in shy of 20 minutes against Central Arkansas. John is second on the team in both scoring (11.3 points) and rebounding (6.7 rebounds) while shooting 50.0%.

FINDING HIS GROOVE
Senior forward DeAntoni Gordon is finding his groove after missing the majority of last season with a knee injury. Gordon leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and is third in rebounds at 5.0 rebounds per game, shooting 45.7% from the floor. He is the lone Trojan to score in double figures in all three games this year and has now done so six times in his 11 games played as a Trojan.

STRONG OFF THE BENCH
Redshirt freshman Chris Walker has provided a spark off the bench for the Trojans in the last two games, scoring in double figures in both. He has gone 3-for-7 from three point range in each of the last two games, accounting for half of Little Rock's 12 made threes on the year while leading the team from beyond the arc hitting 34.3% of his attempts.

TROJAN DEBUT
Redshirt freshman Ethan Speaker made his Little Rock debut Monday at Central Arkansas, scoring six points with a pair of rebounds and an assist in 15 minutes off the bench. Speaker missed all of last season with an injury and was hampered by a back sprain the first two games of this season.

FLIP THE SCRIPT?
Through the first three games of the season, Little Rock has yet to experience a lead change. The Trojans never led in the losses at Southern Illinois and Central Arkansas while never giving up the lead in the win over Arkansas Baptist.

BACK TO THE VOLUNTEER STATE
Little Rock will make its first trip to the state of Tennessee since 2019 when it played at Memphis and is seeking its first win in the Volunteer state since November 13, 2018 when Little Rock defeated Tennessee State 83-67 in Nashville. Thursday's game will be the first of five in the state of Tennessee for the Trojans this season, traveling to Memphis on December 6 before starting new conference rivalries at Tennessee State (Dec. 31), Tennessee Tech (Jan. 28) and UT Martin (Feb. 11).   

RACK UP THE MILES
Little Rock will travel approximately 7,300 miles from November 7 through December 6, playing nine games in six different states during that span. The Trojans will travel to Illinois (Southern Illinois), Tennessee twice (East Tennessee State and Memphis), Indiana (Indiana), Ohio (Miami) and California (San Francisco) along with the short road trip to Conway.

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