LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock closes out its 2022-23 home schedule Saturday, hosting Eastern Illinois at the Jack Stephens Center. Opening tip against the Panthers is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. with Dorian Craft and Patrick Newton handling the call on ESPN+. Trojan Hall of Famer Ray Tucker will have the radio broadcast on 106.7 FM The Buz2, beginning at approximately 3:15 p.m.
GAME STORYLINES
• Little Rock and Eastern Illinois meet for the fourth time overall as the Panthers will make their first trip to Arkansas' capital city since an 83-75 Trojan win on January 6, 1977 at the old Trojan Gymnasium, which is now the Donaghey Athletic Center.
• Eastern Illinois took the first meeting between the two teams this season as the Trojans and Panthers rallied for a furious final seven minutes that saw six ties and eight lead changes before EIU used an 11-1 run to secure the victory on January 14.
• Little Rock has secured its 15th winning season at the Jack Stephens Center in 18 seasons in its on-campus home, sitting at 7-5 in home games this season with one to play.
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Myron Gardner is tied for eighth nationally with 14 double-doubles on the year as Little Rock leads the OVC with a combined 19 double-doubles as a team. He just missed notching the second triple-double in program history Thursday, finishing with nine points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
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DeAntoni Gordon scored 20 or more points for the fourth time this season, tied with Gardner for the most on the team. Six different Trojans have combined for 15 games of 20-or-more points this season.
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Isaiah Palermo is on the verge of playing in his 100th career game Saturday, logging 1,932 minutes played with 35 starts and 27 career games in double figures, second-most among the Trojan roster.
• Little Rock enters Saturday's game tied for ninth in the OVC standings at 4-11, one game back of eighth-place Eastern Illinois (5-10). The Trojans need a win over the Panthers to keep their OVC Tournament hopes alive.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
2022-23: 9-19 overall, 5-10 Ohio Valley Conference
Last Three Games: L at Southeast Missouri 78-64), W at SIU Edwardsville (84-73), W vs. UT Martin (77-75)
Head Coach: Marty Simmons (Evansville, 1998). Second season at EIU (14-45), 19th season overall (296-293)
Key Players:
• #10 Kinyon Hodges (Jr., G): 13.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 34.5 3FG%
• #4 Yaakema Rose Jr. (Gr., G): 9.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 39.1 FG%
• #20 Caleb Donaldson (Jr., G): 8.6 ppg, 3.3 apg, 47.3 FG%
• #11 Nick Ellington (Jr., C): 7.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 53.1 FG%
• #3 Cameron Haffner (Fr., G): 7.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 40.0 FG%
LAST WE MET
Trailing by nine early in the second half, Little Rock rallied back as the Trojans and Panthers combined for six ties and eight lead changes in a seven minutes span in the second half. But Eastern Illinois hit the key shots down the stretch to pull away for the 70-63 victory at Lantz Arena on January 14. Little Rock was led by the duo of
Myron Gardner and
Jordan Jefferson, with Jefferson pacing the Trojans with 13 points while Gardner flirted with his second career triple-double, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
LAST TIME OUT
Five Trojans finished in double figures and
Myron Gardner came within a whisker of a triple-double, but Little Rock was unable to get off the potential game winning shot in the final seconds, falling in a heartbreaker to Southern Indiana 82-81 at the Jack Stephens Center.
DeAntoni Gordon led the way with 20 points for the Trojans, adding five rebounds, while
Myron Gardner finished with nine points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, falling just shy of registering the second triple-double in program history.
MR. DO IT ALL
Myron Gardner continues to pace Little Rock this season, leading the Ohio Valley Conference with14th double-doubles this season and finishing just shy of a triple-double Thursday against Southern Indiana. Gardner enters Saturday's game leading Little Rock in scoring (13.1 ppg), rebounding (9.3 rpg), assists (3.8 apg), steals (1.3 spg) and three point percentage (37.2%), ranking second in blocks (0.4 bpg) and minutes (30.5) and third in free throw percentage (74.6%).
CJ COMING UP BIG
CJ White continues to be one of Little Rock's most consistent player in conference play, finishing with 17 points and eight assists in 39 minutes against Southern Indiana. Over the last eight games, White has ranked second on the team in scoring (15.9 ppg), second in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and is first in assists (6.3 apg) and minutes (37.9 mpg) while ranking second in free throw percentage (81.4%). White enters Saturday sitting 15th nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 2.84, tallying 91 assists to just 32 turnovers.
20-POINT CLUB
DeAntoni Gordon led Little Rock with 20 points Thursday against Southern Indiana, marking the fourth time this year Gordon has surpassed 20 points in a game this season. In total, six different Trojans have combined for 15 games scoring 20 or more points, led by Gordon and
Myron Gardner each with four games.
PROVIDING CONSISTENCY
DeAntoni Gordon continues to provide consistency for Little Rock registering 20 double figure game of the year, second most on the team. Gordon has provided consistency inside, ranking second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg), rebounding (5.4 rpg)Â and free throw percentage (75.6%) while leading the team in minutes per game (30.6) and blocks (14) and is second in field goal percentage (51.8%).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB
Myron Gardner notched his OVC-best 14th double-double of the year against Morehead State, finishing, fittingly, with 14 points and 14 rebounds. That is tied for seventh nationally as Little Rock has combined for 19 double-doubles this year, including three from
DeAntoni Gordon and a pair from
CJ White, which leads all OVC teams.
DOUBLE FIGURE TROJANS
10 different Trojans have combined for 102 double figure games this season with five Trojans doing so against Southern Indiana, tied for the most in a game this season.
Myron Gardner leads all Trojans with 22 games in double figures this year and 31 for his career, scoring 10 or more points in 72.1% of his games as a Trojan (31-of-43), followed by
DeAntoni Gordon at 69.4% (25-of-36).
AGAINST THE LAND OF LINCOLN
Saturday's game is the Trojans' fourth this season against a team from the state of Illinois and the 10th time a team from the Land of Lincoln will make the trip to Little Rock. The Trojans are 7-2 all-time at home against teams from Illinois as the Panthers will be the fifth team from Illinois to visit the Jack Stephens Center.
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