LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Trojans host a pivotal week at the Jack Stephens Center as they welcome the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference to town.
Little Rock opens the stretch Thursday night at 7 p.m. against UT Martin. The Skyhawks (20-8, 12-5 OVC) enter the matchup tied for first place in the league standings alongside Southeast Missouri.
The Trojans will then turn around and host the Redhawks on Saturday.
GAME INFO
Who: UT Martin (20-8, 12-5) at Little Rock (10-17, 7-9)
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, February 19
Where: Jack Stephens Center (5,600)
Radio: 106.7 Buz2 (Ray Tucker, pxp; Jason Lanier)
Video: ESPN+ (Josh Neighbors, pxp; Max Coltrane, analyst)
SERIES INFO
• Little Rock leads the all-time series 8-3 and has won three of the past four meetings.
COACH SPEAK
"We are looking forward to playing our final four games at home. We play two very good teams this week, but we played them well on the road, and we expect to have a chance to win both games at home. We will have good fan support, and that will help."
—
Darrell Walker, Little Rock Head Coach
TROJAN TIDBITS
•
Johnathan Lawson earned his second OVC Player of the Week honor last week after recording just the 27th triple-double in conference history and the third in Little Rock program history in a win over Western Illinois.
• Truman Claytor delivered efficient scoring performances, posting 16 points in 20 minutes against Western Illinois and 17 points in 27 minutes at Eastern Illinois.
• Little Rock is a perfect 7-0 at home against UT Martin and has won the past two meetings in Little Rock by a combined 38 points. All but one game in the series has been decided by double digits.
• The Trojans are aiming to "Pack the Rock" Saturday for the doubleheader with Southeast Missouri. Trojan supporters have donated tickets to local schools and community groups to help fill the Jack Stephens Center. Tickets remain available at lrtrojans.com. An attendance record could be set for the highly anticipated showdown.
SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
• UT Martin is coming off a 56-53 overtime loss to Southeast Missouri on Tuesday. Matas Deniusas led the Skyhawks with 17 points, while OVC Freshman of the Week Pedro Santos added 16 as UTM rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit before falling in overtime.
• Andrija Bukumirović has averaged 14.5 points in his last two matchups against Little Rock dating back to last season.
• UT Martin leads the OVC in scoring defense (66.3 points allowed per game) and scoring margin (+8.6).
• The Skyhawks hold opponents to 28 percent shooting from three-point range, the best mark in the OVC.
• UT Martin also leads the conference in three-pointers made per game (8.2).
