EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The bad news is Little Rock couldn't take advantage of an SIUE loss Thursday night. The good news is they play them Saturday at 3:30 p.m. with second place in the Ohio Valley Conference on the line.
SIUE (19-11, 12-7) was 7-1 at First Community Arena but lost to Southeast Missouri Thursday. On the other side of the state Thursday night, Eastern Illinois upset the Trojans (18-12, 12-7) for the second time this season, keeping both teams tied in second place. With the win, SEMO clinched the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's OVC Tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville.
Saturday's game can be heard on 106.7 Buz2 with Ray Tucker on the call and also can be streamed on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT
Little Rock gave up the lead early in the first half and never led again Thursday night in a 71-60 loss at Eastern Illinois at Groniger Arena.
The Trojans led 2-1 with 18:27 to play in the first half and were playing catch-up the rest of the way. The score was tied 3-3 at the 16:38 mark, and the Panthers (11-19, 7-12) took the lead for good when Kooper Jacobi dunked with 14:38 to play to make it 5-3.
Both teams struggled to score in the first half, but EIU got going and led by as many as 10 before taking a 36-27 halftime lead.
The lead ballooned to 12 in the second half, but Little Rock was able to cut the lead to six, 51-45, with 9:23 to play in the game on a
Jordan Jefferson hoop, but EIU again seized control leading by 12 again moments later.
OVC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
The best case for Little Rock is beat SIUE, and it will be the outright two seed and receive the double bye. If they lose, they could drop as far as fourth place with a win by Tennessee State over Southern Indiana. The Tigers host the last-place screaming Eagles Saturday at the Gentry Center in Nashville, Tenn. If Little Rock loses to SIUE and TSU loses to USI, the Trojans would take third place.
SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE
SIUE has been one of the better home teams in the OVC this season and Little Rock has owned the road. With two rare respective losses last night, SIUE is 7-2 at home in the league and the Trojans 7-2 on the road.
It will be a festive day and possibly hostile atmosphere for the Trojans as SIUE celebrates senior day and the four-year career of star Ray'Sean Taylor who is the favorite to win OVC Player of the Year. SIUE was 12-2 at home last season, and that was the last time they lost back-to-back home league games. The second was to Little Rock on Jan. 4, 2024.
THE LEGEND OF TAYLOR
The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder from Collinsvile, Ill., is one of the better players in SIUE history. He burst on the scene as a true freshman and averaged 17.6 ppg. A serious knee injury cut his season short after 21 games, but he returned the next season. He has played in 116 games and started every one of them.
He enters his final home game averaging 16.4 ppg for his career. This season he is averaging 19.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3.8 apg.
SCOUTING REPORT: SIUE
Little Rock beat the Cougars way back in December in the league opener for both teams. Taylor scored 18 points in the 60-56 loss. However, he was only 3-of-13 from the field but hit all nine of his free throws.
He has led the way for the Cougars, who as 2-3 in their past five games. They are on a two-game losing streak after being upset at USI last week and then dropping an 83-68 decision to SEMO Thursday night.
