LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - After snapping a two-game losing streak, the Little Rock men's basketball team is hoping to leave Tulsa, Okla., with a winning streak on Wednesday night.
The Trojans (2-2) face Tulsa (3-1) at 7 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Catch the radio broadcast with the legendary Ray Tucker on 106.7 Buz2 with the pregame starting at 6:45 p.m. The game is also being streamed on ESPN+ with Josh Haley and Pooh Williamson on the call.
After dropping back-to-back games to start a six-game road leg, Little Rock rolled past the University of Texas at San Antonio, 81-64, Saturday.
STEPPING UP
LSU transfer
Mwani Wilkinson has been the Trojans' steadiest performer thus far, but he had plenty of help running past UTSA.
Ante Beljan scored 21 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Sophomore
Isaiah Lewis scored 16 points, dished out 7 assists and snagged 6 rebounds. Fellow newcomer Jonathan Lawson has already scored in double figures this season, but he was big again against the Roadrunners adding 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. With Wilkinson's 19 points, that gave the Trojans four players in double figures. Tuongthac Gatkek just missed that mark with 8 points. He chipped in four boards.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
The old coaching adage is 'Defense travels," and it was definitely with the Trojans in San Antonio. Little Rock held the Roadrunners to 30% shooting from the field for the game and a chilly 19% in the first half. The Roadrunners only made 8 of 29 three-pointers. Little Rock also held prolific UTSA scorer Primo Spears to 15 points. Little Rock will be tested by Tulsa's explosive offense which has already scored more than 100 points twice this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Tulsa leads the series, which didn't begin until 2006, 7-6. The teams have split the past 10 games with Little Rock winning at home last season, 84-82 in overtime.
Jamir Chaplin led Little Rock with 27 points. The Trojans will try to improve on a 1-6 series road record.
TULSA FIRST LOOK
Third-year Golden Hurricanes head coach Erik Konkol is hoping to build off last season's 16-15 season. So far, Tulsa has had success and scored points in bunches with its only loss coming at Missouri Valley Conference member Missouri State (111-106).
Losing graduate transfer Keaston Willis after just two games last season was a huge blow. Willis, who came to TU with more than 1,600 career points, is healthy and adds to an already experienced roster.
Senior forward Jared Garcia and junior Isaiah Barnes are both returning starters. Garcia was third on the team in scoring averaging 9.4 ppg and led TU with 6 rebounds per game.
Guard Tyshawn Archie and forward Matt Reed were both on the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman squad last season. Archie averaged more than seven ppg. Reed averaged 4.5 ppg and 4.2 rpg.
Among four graduate transfers is Dwon Odom, who transferred from Georgia State after beginning his career at Xavier.
Willis leads the team in scoring with 16 ppg. Odom averages 15.5 while Barnes averages 14.3 and Archie 14. Braden Carrington chips in 12 ppg.
The Golden Hurricane is scoring just over 94 ppg while giving up 83.8. They are shooting nearly 46% from the field per game and 31% from behind the arc.
