Trojans Begin OVC Era Facing Skyhawks Thursday at Simmons Bank Arena

GAME 14 - UT MARTIN
Date/Time	Thursday, December 29 - 7:30 p.m.
Location	North Little Rock, Ark.
Arena	Simmons Bank Arena
Records	Little Rock (4-9, 0-0 OVC) UT Martin (8-5, 0-0 OVC)
Watch	None
Listen	106.7 FM The Buz2
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Notes	Little Rock | UT Martin

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock makes its Ohio Valley Conference debut Thursday, hosting UT Martin at 7:30 p.m. at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. Due to the game having to be moved from the Jack Stephens Center due to the court issues, there will be no ESPN+ broadcast. But Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker will have the radio call on 106.7 FM The Buz2.

GAME STORYLINES

• Little Rock will be playing its first game at Simmons Bank Arena (previously Alltell Arena) since 2009 as the facility served as the Trojans' home court from 1999-05. Little Rock is 61-21 (.743) all-time in the building.

• Little Rock is 4-0 all-time against UT Martin with each of the previous four games being played in Little Rock. The last meeting was on November 9, 2012, an 84-68 Trojan win at the Jack Stephens Center.

• Thursday's game will feature the new experimental second half media timeout format being utilized for OVC men's games this season. Media timeouts will be the first dead ball under the 17, 14, 11, 8 and 4-minute marks with the floating first coach called timeout in the second half being done away with.

• Myron Gardner enters Thursday's game among the top-30 nationally in four statistical categories, ranking fifth in the nation with an OVC-best seven double-doubles. He leads the Trojans in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and minutes played.

• Jordan Jefferson scored a career-high 30 points at Arkansas State on December 22, becoming the first Trojan to reach 30 points in a game since Isaiah Palermo against Arkansas Baptist in 2021. He has scored in double figures in five-straight games and is shooting 65.8% from the floor since entering the starting lineup four games ago.

• North Little Rock native D.J. Smith will play in his hometown Thursday, just 1.7 miles from North Little Rock High School. Smith ranks second on the team in scoring, assists, steals and minutes played while shooting a team-high 84.1% from the free throw line, making 14 of his last 15 from the charity stripe.

NEWS AND NOTES

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
2022-23: 8-5 overall, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference
Preseason OVC Poll: 3rd (Coaches), 1st (Blue Ribbon)
Last Three Games: W vs. Crowley's Ridge (120-59), W at Bowling Green (75-67), W vs. Bethel (103-75)
Head Coach: Ryan Ridder (Embry-Riddle, 2008). Second season at UTM (16-27); 10th season overall (159-100)
Key Players:
• #45 Parker Stewart (Gr., G): 17.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 43.6 3FG%
• #2 KJ Simon (Sr., G): 15.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 48.8 FG%
• #3 Jordan Sears (So., G): 10.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 46.7 FG%
• #10 Desmond Williams (Jr., G): 9.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 33.1 FG%
• #0 KK Curry (Jr., F): 9.0 ppg,  5.6 rpg, 61.8 FG%

SERIES HISTORY
Little Rock and UT Martin have met four times before with the Trojans winning each of the previous meetings, all of which have taken place in Little Rock. The last came on November 9, 2012, when the Trojans bested the Skyhawks 84-68 at the Jack Stephens Center, led by 22 points from freshman guard John Gillon.

FAMILIAR FACES
Three members of the Skyhawk roster are familiar to the Little Rock coaching staff, playing at former Sun Belt rivals. Both Desmond Williams and Rifen Miguel played at Troy while KK Curry played two years at South Alabama. Williams saw the most success against the Trojans, averaging 5.2 points in four games, including 15 points on January 9, 2020.

LAST TIME OUT
Little Rock led by as many as 13 in the second half, but a furious Arkansas State rally over the final 15 minutes gave the Red Wolves a one point lead with 10 seconds to go, and the Trojans' potential game-winning shot as time expired was no good as the Trojans fell to the rival Red Wolves 77-75 on December 22 in Jonesboro. The loss overshadowed a career-high 30 points for Jordan Jefferson while Myron Gardner notched his Ohio Valley Conference-best seventh double-double.

MR. DO IT ALL
Myron Gardner continues to pace Little Rock this season, leading the Ohio Valley Conference with his seventh double-double against Arkansas State last Thursday. Gardner enters Thursday night's game leading Little Rock in scoring (13.3 ppg), rebounding (9.5 rpg), assists (3.7 apg), steals (1.8 spg) and minutes (31.7 mpg), ranking third in both three point (36.2%) and free throw percentage (78.6%).

MYRON AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
Myron Gardner enters Thursday night's game ranked among the top-30 nationally in four statistical categories.
 

Category	Stat	OVC	NCAA
Double-Doubles	7	1st	5th
Total Rebounds	124	1st	17th
Rebounds/Game	9.5	1st	21st
Defensive Rebounds/Game	6.69	1st	26th

HEATING UP
Jordan Jefferson is finding his scoring touch as the sophomore registered a career-high 30 points at Arkansas State on December 22nd, going 10-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-5 from three point range. Jefferson has scored in double figures in five-straight games and has been efficient from the floor since entering the staring lineup four games ago, shooting 65.8% from the floor during that span (25-of-38).

ADDING CONSISTENCY
Senior DeAntoni Gordon has been a constant presence inside for the Trojans this year, ranking third on the team in scoring (10.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.1 rpg) with a pair of double-doubles. Gordon ranks second on the team in both field goal percentage (50.0%) and free throw percentage (78.8%) with nine games in double figures.

SOLID FROM THE LINE
D.J. Smith remains consistent at the free throw line, leading the team shooting 84.1% from the charity stripe this year. Smith enters Thursday's game having made eight-straight and 14 of his last 15 dating back to the Memphis game on December 6. Smith shot 75.7% as a freshman and is a career 78.8% shooter at the line, currently ranking 14th in program history.

DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
Nine different Trojans have scored in double figures this season as Jordan Jefferson (30), DeAntoni Gordon (16) and Myron Gardner (10) each did so at Arkansas State. Gardner's 20 career games of reaching double figures is tied for the most on the active roster as he has now reached double figures in 20 of his 29 games in a Trojan uniform (69.0%), the highest on the roster.

STARTING FIVE
After utilizing 17 different starting lineups in 2021-22, tied for second-most in the nation, Little Rock has seen some consistency this year with just three different starting combinations. D.J. Smith, Myron Gardner, DeAntoni Gordon and Nigel John have started all 13 games thus far for the Trojans.

HOME SWEET...HOME?
Thursday's game will mark a blast from the past for Little Rock, which played its home games at-then Alltell Arena from 1999-05. The Trojans were tough to beat in North Little Rock, comprising an all-time record of 61-21 (.743) in the building, which opened in the fall of 1999. Little Rock made the move to the Jack Stephens Center in the fall of 2005 with the last game in Simmons Bank Arena an 83-71 loss to Memphis on Dec. 12, 2009.

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