SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Another extended run in the first half put Little Rock in a deep hole early and the Trojans were unable to recover, falling 90-68 to San Francisco at War Memorial Gym at the Sobrato Center Wednesday night.
Myron Gardner registered his third double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and
Ethan Speaker set a career-high with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench.
D.J. Smith once again led the Trojans with 16 points, adding six rebounds.
Little Rock finished the game shooting 42.1% from the floor, recovering from a 33.3% performance in the first half, but again struggled from three point range, making just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc. Little Rock had its best performance at the line, making 16-of-20 attempts for 80.0%.
San Francisco held the advantage shooting 46.9% as the Dons were able to knock down 13 three pointers on 32 attempts, using the long ball to help pull away from the Trojans in the first half. San Francisco held a 36-34 rebounding edge and forced the Trojans into 16 turnovers, outscoring Little Rock 21-14 on those giveaways.
CJ White and
Nigel John each added nine points for Little Rock with White grabbing five rebounds.
Isaiah Palermo finished with seven points as well with Smith and Gordon each adding a pair of steals and
DeAntoni Gordon added a pair of blocks.
Once again, a fast start by the opposition put Little Rock in an early hole as the Dons scored the game's first eight points and led by 10 at 14-4 at the 14:36 mark, making four of their first six threes. Little rock answered with a 9-2 run of its own, including an and-one from Speaker and back-to-back threes from White and Smith to pull within three at 16-13 with 12:55 to go in the first half.
A layup from Speaker off a feed from White brought the Trojans within three once again at 18-15, but San Francisco responded with a 10-0 run to build a 13-point lead at 28-15 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. That run extended to a 21-2 advantage for the Dons, spanning just over five minutes, as San Francisco built a 39-17 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Little Rock went cold from the floor over the final 10 minutes of the first half, making just two of their final 10 shots of the half, while San Francisco shot 50% from the floor and knocked down nine of its 16 three point attempts, building a 25-point halftime lead at 49-24.
Speaker and John led the way with seven points for Little Rock in the opening 20 minutes as the Trojans shot 33.3%, making just two of their seven three point attempts. San Francisco held a 22-15 rebounding edge and took advantage of eight Trojan turnovers with a 13-4 edge in points off those giveaways.
Little Rock' shooting was better to start the second half, hitting four of its first seven, but San Francisco matched every Trojan basket in the early going, only allowing Little Rock to get to within 20 in the opening five minutes at 56-36 off a three from White.
The Trojans got it under 20 at 60-41, thanks to five-straight free throws, but that opened up the flood gates for San Francisco, which answered with a 12-2 run of its own to open up a 29-point lead at 72-43. Little Rock answered with a 12-2 run of its own, getting back to within 19 at 74-55 with 6:38 remaining with Gardner picking up his third double-double of the season.
But once again, the deficit was too great as San Francisco kept Little Rock at bay down the stretch, handing the Trojans their third-straight defeat with the 90-68 loss. Little Rock shot better over the final 20 minutes, hitting 50% of its shots in the second half, but was just 2-for-11 from three point range.
The road woes continue for the Trojans who fall to 0-6 on the road this year and have dropped eight straight true road games. The road trip continues as Little Rock will conclude its challenging stretch of six-of-seven away from home on Tuesday, making the short drive to Memphis to take on the Tigers on December 6 at the FedEx Forum.
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