Now The Hunted: Little Rock Hosts Southern Indiana While Atop OVC Standings

Game 26 | Southern Indiana
Tip-Off	Thursday, Feb. 16 | 5 p.m. CT
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Venue	Jack Stephens Center
Watch	ESPN+
Radio	LRSN (920 AM)
Live Stats	Stat Broadcast
Tickets	Click to Purchase
Twitter	@LittleRockWBB
Series History	LR leads, 1-0
Game Notes	Little Rock | Southern Indiana | OVC

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Riding an eight-game winning streak and now tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, Little Rock returns home for its last two home games of the year beginning with Thursday night's contest against Southern Indiana.
 
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. on Joe Foley Court at the Jack Stephens Center with the game airing live on ESPN+ as Kyle Deckelbaum and Dorian Craft have the call. Trey Schaap will broadcast the action over the airwaves on the Little Rock Sports Network (920 AM The Sports Animal).
 
The Trojans (16-9, 13-1 OVC) enter the final stretch tied with Eastern Illinois at the top of the league standings. The Panthers will visit the Capital City on Saturday but first Southern Indiana (11-14, 5-9 OVC) looks to play spoiler Thursday.
 
Opening Tip

• Little Rock looks to stay on top of the (Ohio) Valley as the Trojans enter their final week at home.
• The Trojans are holding opponents to just 52.7 ppg (and 46.7 ppg in OVC play). Both marks are the lowest of any OVC team in league history.
• Only three players to face the Trojans this season have recorded five or more assists in a game against Little Rock.
• Little Rock has only allowed more than 60 points once in OVC play this year.
• LR is averaging 1.52 charges drawn per game. Angelique Francis leads the way with 12 drawn charges while Jayla Brooks has 10.
• The Trojans rank 4th nationally in opposing team assists per game (8.2) and 18th in the country in opposing team steals per game (5.8).
• Little Rock continues its mantra of playing the toughest competition available in the non-conference slate. The Trojans faced five SEC teams (beating an SEC team for the 3rd straight year) along with Missouri State before opening OVC play.

 
Series History

• This will be just the second meeting between Little Rock and Southern Indiana with the Trojans taking the first contest back in January.
• Little Rock out-scored Southern Indiana 12-4 in the fourth quarter to rally for a 47-44 win in Evansville on Jan. 12.
• This marks Southern Indiana's first-ever visit to the Capital City.
• Little Rock is 2-2 all-time against opponents from the state of Indiana.

 
Five Things to Know

1. Semifinals Secured, Make it 15 of 16
   Despite there still being four games left in the regular season, Little Rock has already secured a top-two seed in the 2023 OVC Tournament and a double-round bye. That sends the Trojans automatically to the semifinal round on Friday, Mar. 3 in Evansville. With Foley's team not playing until Friday, that means Little Rock is in the semifinal round of its conference tournament for an incredible 15th time in 16 years. The only aberration in that run happened to be during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak (2020). Little Rock has an all-time semifinal record of 9-5, most recently appearing in the last two Sun Belt Semifinals. The only other programs with streaks as long as that are UConn (34 of past 34 years), Stanford (21 of past 22 years) and Louisville (9 of past 10 years).
2. Home, Sweet, Home
   Little Rock is fond of the Jack Stephens Center and it isn't a place at which teams prefer to play. That's because the Trojans are currently 10-3 in home games this season, 7-0 in OVC play. Little Rock finished the 2021-22 season with an 8-4 home record. That's a remarkable stretch considering talented teams like Auburn, Texas A&M, Coastal Carolina and Memphis have all left The Jack disappointed.
3. Notable Win on the Horizon
   Little Rock enters this game with a chance to record another (in a long line) of notable wins for legendary head coach Joe Foley. One more victory will give Foley 850 wins in his illustrious career.
4. Lend a Hand
   Get ready to see some exquisite ball movement. Little Rock ranks 32nd in the nation with a 63.2% assisted shot rate. That number was nearly perfect at UT Martin on Feb. 11 when the Trojans had a season-best 21 assists on 22 made baskets for a 95.5% assisted shot rate.
5. History in the Making
   As Little Rock heads into this game, the Trojans have history in their cross hairs. With a 13-1 mark in OVC play, the Trojans have a chance to become the first team to win (or share) the Ohio Valley Conference Championship in their first year in the league. Belmont's tied for third place finish (T-2nd in East Division, record placed them third overall) in their inaugural OVC season in 2012-13 (11-5) matches Jacksonville State (11-5 in 2003-04) and SIUE (12-4 in 2011-12)'s respective finishes as the best finish in the league in their first season, all of which finished third overall.

 
A Win Would...

• Keep Little Rock in first place in the OVC Standings.
• Give the Trojans an 8-0 mark all-time on transplanted aircraft carrier floors.
• Secure a ninth-straight win, the program's longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season.
• Record the sixth season sweep of an OVC opponent this year.
• Move Little Rock above .500 all-time against the Hoosier State.
• Register Joe Foley's 850th win as a head coach (but who's counting?).
• Give Joe Foley his 394th win as head coach of the Trojans.
• Be better than a loss.

 
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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