LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock returns to the Jack Stephens Center for its final non-conference home game of the year, facing Central Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 20. The game against the Bears will stream live on ESPN+ with Dorian Craft and Patrick Newton on the call while Trey Schaap will handle the radio broadcast on 106.7 FM The Buz2, getting underway at 6:15 p.m.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock and Central Arkansas meet for the second time this year as part of the Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Governor's I-40 Showdown. The Bears hold a 4-3 lead since the rivalry series was introduced before the 2017-18 season.
• Central Arkansas won the first meeting between the two teams this season, an 82-71 win in Conway. Five Trojans finished in double figures, but UCA's Eddy Kayouloud and Collin Cooper combined for 48 points to help the Bears pull away
• Little Rock is 10-1 against Central Arkansas at home since the start of the 1973-74 season as both of the last two games at the Jack Stephens Center were decided by three points.
•
Myron Gardner continues to rank among the national leaders in a handful of categories, tied for 17th with an OVC-best five double-doubles. He is the Trojans leader in points, rebounds, assists, steals and three point percentage
•
Ethan Speaker notched his second OVC Freshman of the Week honor Monday afternoon after averaging 12 points and seven rebounds in a pair of games last week.
• Little Rock is 3-0 at home this season with wins over Arkansas Baptist, Jackson State and Philander Smith. The Trojans are 17-6 at home against non-conference opponents under head coach
Darrell Walker, winning 14 of the last 16.
•
D.J. Smith surpassed 1,000 career minutes played at Jacksonville State and is one of four Trojans on the roster with over 1,000 career minutes (
Isaiah Palermo,
Jovan Stulic,
CJ White).
• This is Little Rock's third game this year against an Atlantic Sun opponent, sitting at 0-2 on the year.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE BEARS
2022-23: 5-6 overall, 0-0 Atlantic Sun Conference
Last Three Games: L at Oklahoma (87-66), L at Oral Roberts (111-78), W vs. Arkansas State (72-67)
Head Coach: Anthony Boone (Ole Miss, 1998). Fourth season at UCA and overall (30-58
Key Players:
• #23 Camren Hunter (So., G): 16.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 41.7 FG%
• #13 Eddy Kayouloud (Sr., G): 15.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 45.2 3FG%
• #14 Collin Cooper (Jr., G): 10.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 38.0 3FG%
• #5 Masai Olowokere (Jr., G): 9.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 52.3 FG%
• #22 Johannes Kirsipuu (Fr., G: 5.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 38.6 FG%
LAST WE MET
Five different Trojans finished in double figures, but Central Arkansas runs proved too much for Little Rock Monday night at the Farris Center as the Trojans drop an 82-71 decision to the Bears in the first of two Governor's I-40 Showdowns this season.
Nigel John led Little Rock in scoring for the second-straight game, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds while
Myron Gardner notched a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds to complement six assists and five steals.
LAST TIME OUT
Little Rock held a first half lead and battled Jacksonville State for the majority of the first half. But extended scoring droughts in both the first and second halves allowed the Gamecocks to take control in a 72-62 loss at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The loss came despite a 20-point performance for
Myron Gardner with
Jordan Jefferson adding 14, but they were the lone two Trojans to finish in double figures as a six-minute scoring drought at the end of the first half put Little Rock in a hole it couldn't recover from.
WIN NUMBER 100 FOR WALKER
Head coach
Darrell Walker is in year number five in Little Rock with an overall record of 54-73 at the helm of the Trojans. He registered his 100th win as a collegiate head coach against Philander Smith Monday, including the 46 victories at Clark Atlanta. 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.
MR. DO IT ALL
Myron Gardner continues to pace Little Rock this season, leading the Ohio Valley Conference with five double-doubles and a pair of 20-point performances. He is the Trojan leader in points (13.2), rebounds (9.2), assists (3.5), steals (1.9) and three point percentage (36.6%). He enters Tuesday's game at Central Arkansas ranked among the top-50 nationally in four statistical categories, including tied for 17th in double-doubles.
OVC HONORS TIMES TWO
Ethan Speaker registered his second Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week honor Monday after averaging 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last week. Speaker flirted with a double-double against Philander Smith, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds, then followed it up with an eight-point, five-rebound effort at Jacksonville State.
COMING ON STRONG
Jordan Jefferson has come on strong in the last few weeks for the Trojans, scoring in double figures in each of the last three games and averaging 13.7 points per game in that span. Jefferson has started each of the last two games and has shot 11-of-18 from the floor in those starts (61.1%). The Marietta, Georgia native has reached double figures four times this year and 10 times for his Little Rock career.
ONE-TWO PUNCH
The redshirt freshman duo of
Ethan Speaker and
Chris Walker has made a name for themselves early this season as the two have combined for four of the six Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week honors. The duo has combined to average 15.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as Speaker leads the team in field goal percentage (56.0%) while Walker is second in three point percentage (36.4%).
DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
Eight different Trojans have reached double figures in a game this season as
Myron Gardner and
Jordan Jefferson each eclipsed the mark at Jacksonville State Saturday. Gardner has reached double figures in nine of 11 games this season, scoring nine points in each of the two he didn't, as he has finished in double figures in 18 of his 27 games as a Trojan (66.7%).
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