Little Rock Posts Furious Rally to Defeat Jackson State, 94-91

LITTLE ROCK – After falling behind by 18 in the opening half, Little Rock mounted a furious comeback to take a double digit second half lead, then held off Jackson State down the stretch for a 94-91 victory at the Jack Stephens Center. Little Rock improves to 2-3 on the year, including a 2-0 mark at home this season.
 
Five different Trojans finished in double figures, led by a 23-point, 9-rebound performance from Myron Gardner, who finished 7-of-8 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from three point range, and 4-of-4 from the free throw line to help propel the Trojans to the win. The 18-point rally was the largest for the Trojans under head coach Darrell Walker as the Trojans scored 78 points over the final 28 minutes. 
 
D.J. Smith added 18 points, all of which came in the second half in the Trojan rally, shooing 6-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, adding a team-high five assists with a pair of rebounds. That was complemented by a 17-point performance by DeAntoni Gordon, tying his career-high, adding six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Chris Walker finished with 12 points off the bench, shooting 4-of-6 from three-point range, with Ethan Speaker adding 11 points and six rebounds. Jordan Jefferson just missed reaching double figures, adding nine points with three rebounds, with Nigel John rounding out the scoring with four points and four boards.
 
For the game, Little Rock shot a season-high 56.7% from the floor, going 11-of-21 from three point range (52.4%) and knocking down 15-of-20 from the free throw line (75.0%).  
 
But Jackson State matched nearly matched the Trojans offensively, making 50.7% of its shots from the floor (34-of-67), going 13-of-29 from beyond the arc (44.8%) but struggled from the free throw line, making just 10-of-21 attempts (47.6%).
 
Little Rock held a 39-32 rebounding edge and forced 16 Tiger turnovers, but Jackson State held a 23-15 edge in points off turnovers after the Trojans committed 20 on the night. The Tigers held an advantage in both points in the paint (38-36) and fast break points (16-8), with the Trojans taking advantage of second chance opportunities at 21-16.
 
Jackson State came out firing in the early going, especially the Tigers' Trace Young, who knocked down four threes and scored the first 12 points of the game for Jackson State, which built a 12-5 lead through the opening two and a half minutes.
 
The Tigers added to their lead early in the first half, extending the advantage to 18 at 34-16 at the 8:29 mark, including a 9-0 run and a 6-0 run during that stretch. Little Rock began to chip away at the advantage over the final eight minutes, using a 15-2 run to close the first half, including 10-straight to close it out and trim the halftime deficit to four at 41-37.
 
Little Rock shot 48.3% in the opening half, led by 11 points from Gardner and seven from Gordon, as the Trojans were 5-of-12 (41.7%) from three point range. Jackson State shot 53.6% in the opening half, including 8-of-11 from three point range to jump out to the early lead.
 
Little Rock's surge to end the first half continued into the second as the Trojans outscored the Tigers 14-6 to start the second half, taking the lead off a three from Jefferson at the 16:07 mark and building a four point lead at 51-47 with 15:18 remaining.
 
The Trojans would extend its second half lead to as many as 11 off a layup from Gardner and a jumper from Smith, leading 71-60 with 8:46 to play. Jackson State pulled to within four on three separate occasions, but was answered by Little Rock baskets, including an and-one for Jefferson with 4:10 to play to extend the Little Rock lead to eight at 80-72.
 
But Little Rock would have to hold off a late rally from the Tigers, and did so at the free throw line. Smith scored the last eight points of the game for the Trojans, including going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, equalizing 11 points in the final 1:30 for the Tigers, including three three-pointers.
 
The Trojans shot 64.5% in the second half and were 6-of-9 from three point range (66.7%) over the final 20 minutes, knocking down 11-of-13 free throw attempts (84.6%). Smith's 18 points led the way as Gardner added 12 and Gordon scored 10 to help propel the Trojans to the win.
 
Little Rock won its first game over Jackson State since the 1979-80 season as the Tigers still hold a 7-2 edge in the all-time series. This was the first meeting between the two since a 69-66 loss in 1990 as the Tigers fall to 0-3 on the year.
 
The Trojans now embark on a challenging four-game road trip which will take Little Rock to four different states against three NCAA tournament teams from 2022 over the next two weeks. That stretch begins Wednesday in Bloomington, Indiana when Little Rock battles 12th-ranked Indiana at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, tipping at 5:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
 
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