After being gone for six days, the Little Rock men's basketball team arrives home for two games after winning five of their past six games. The Trojans (13-8, 7-3) entertain Tennessee State (9-12, 5-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday with UT Martin invading the Jack Stephens Center Saturday at 5 p.m. with ESPNU in Little Rock to broadcast the matchup.
Thursday's game can be heard on 106.7 Buz2 with Ray Tucker on the call. The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ with the team of Dorian Craft and Patrick Newton handling the coverage.
LAST TIME OUT
Monday's game was a bit surreal as it was a makeup game vs. Eastern Illinois played at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. The weekday afternoon game featured just a handful of fans and was the Trojans' fifth game in a row away from the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans were fresh off a trouncing of Lindenwood to make it a four-game road sweep, but the Panthers, stunned the Trojans, 56-54, in the final seconds. Toungthach Gatkek's 17-footer at the buzzer was ruled good by officials and tied the game, but after a review, the shot was waved off.
Ante Beljan led the Trojans with 14 points.
Isaiah Lewis added 11 points and Gatkek collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
FOR JOSH
The Eastern Illinois game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 21 in Little Rock. However, early that morning Trojans' student manager Josh Claxton passed away in a car accident. School administrators and the OVC decided to make the game up at Lindenwood.
Thursday night, Little Rock will honor Claxton with a moment of silence before the game. Josh's father, Mark, will take his son's seat on the bench. More than 30 of Claxton's family and friends will be in attendance.
"As soon as Josh passed, I talked to his dad and invited him to sit on our bench," Little Rock head coach
Darrell Walker said. "Josh was a hard worker and very popular with our team and staff. We all miss him very much. This is going to be a great tribute to him and his family and emotional for our players."
Claxton was 27 years old and a graduate student at UA Little Rock. He served as a student manager since June. Claxton attended Little Rock Christian Academy and Little Rock Central High School and was a graduate of the University of Arkansas.
COACHES VS. CANCER SUITS AND SNEAKERS
Little Rock head coach
Darrell Walker and staff will once again be participating in the Suits and Sneakers Coaches vs. Cancer week. The event is a partnership between the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society.
Like many coaching staffs, the Trojans coaches have gone with a more casual look on the bench and wear some sort of sneaker for every game. However, this week Walker and staff have the cause on their minds.
"Cancer affects so many people, and it has affected some of the people in our locker room," Walker said. "We participate in Suits and Sneakers event every year and are proud to do so."
THE SERIES
The teams have split eight games dating back to 1992. The Tigers upset the Trojans, 95-86 earlier this month in Nashville.
FIRST LOOK: TENNESSEE STATE
The Tigers started off 0-3 but are 5-2 in their past seven games beginning with the win over the Trojans. However, the Trojans have a different look with the addition of Tuoungthac Gatkek to the lineup, who was serving the first game of a three-game suspension that day. Also, injured guard
Jordan Jefferson and forward
Creed Williamson didn't play in that game but have returned.
TSU has won three straight games, including an 81-80 overtime at home against UT Martin last Tuesday. They beat Tennessee Tech to complete the sweep last week. The only blemish in the past four games was a hard-fought 87-80 double-overtime loss to SIUE.
Senior guard Brandon Weston, a 6-foot-5, 200-pounder, leads the Tigers with a 16.8 ppg average. Weston also played at Rhode Island and Seton Hall. Travis Harper is averaging 10.3 ppg and Carlous Williams 10.1. Williams is a 6-5, 230-pound Tulsa transfer.
Harper, a 6-6, 190-pound guard, led TSU with 20 points in the first game with Little Rock. Ronald Jessamy, who averages 8.9 ppg, added 16 points and 9 boards in that game. Jessamy is a 6-8, 210-pound sophomore forward from Philadelphia.
