2019-20 LITTLE ROCK TROJANS Assistant AD/Communications: Rand Champion Phone: (501) 351-3385 Email: [email protected] 2019-20 SCHEDULE GAME THIRTY-ONE Overall: 21-9 | Sun Belt: 15-4 LITTLE ROCK TROJANS (21-9, 15-4 SUN BELT) Head Coach: Darrell Walker (Arkansas, 2012) NOVEMBER Record at Little Rock: 31-30 (2nd season) 5 at Missouri State W 67-66 Overall Record: 77-48 (4th season) 10 at Illinois State L 70-75 14 SOUTHWEST BAPTIST W 77-59 17 at Central Arkansas W 76-56 GEORGIA STATE PANTHERS (18-12, 11-8 SUN BELT) 20 at Memphis ^ L 58-68 Head Coach: Rob Lanier (St. Bonaventure, 1990) 23 at NC State ^ L 58-74 Record at Georgia State: 18-12 (1st season) 26 ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN ^ W 67-56 Overall Record: 70-82 (5th season) 27 ALCORN STATE ^ W 67-50 30 EAST TENNESSEE STATE L 63-67 GAME STORYLINES GAME INFORMATION DECEMBER • Little Rock closes out the 2019-20 regular season with a trip to DATE/TIME: Tuesday, March 3 | 6 p.m. CT 7 at North Texas L 53-76 Atlanta, Georgia, for its lone meeting of the year against Geor- LOCATION: GSU Sports Arena | Atlanta, Ga. 10 TENNESSEE STATE W 86-62 gia State. Opening tip against the Panthers is set for 6 p.m. CT WATCH: ESPN+ (online at WatchESPN.com) 19 at ULM * W 73-72 from GSU Sports Arena and will stream on ESPN+. RADIO: The Point 94.1 (online at KKPT.com) 21 at Louisiana * W 69-66 STATS: TrojanStats.com • Little Rock and Georgia State meet for the 28th time as the Tro- SERIES RECORD: Little Rock leads, 19-8 JANUARY jans lead the all-time series 19-8. The Panthers have won seven SERIES NOTE: Panthers won the last four meetings, 7 of last 10 2 TEXAS STATE * W 72-68 of the last 10, however, and has won four-straight games dating 4 UT ARLINGTON * W 92-89 back to 2016. Little Rock is 8-4 all-time in Atlanta. 6 GEORGIA SOUTHERN * W 79-73 LAST GAME STARTERS 9 at Troy * L 71-76 • Little Rock clinched the 2019-20 Sun Belt Conference regular 0 | BEN COUPET JR. | G 11 SOUTH ALABAMA * L 43-52 season title with its win over Louisiana Saturday afternoon. It is Points: 11.3 Reb: 4.6 16 at Coastal Carolina * W 71-55 the Trojans’ third regular season Sun Belt title in program history FG%: 45.6 Assists: 1.4 18 at Appalachian State * W 73-57 and the first since the 2015-16 season. 3FG%: 36.0 Steals: 0.6 22 TROY * W 81-63 FT%: 77.1 Minutes: 30.4 25 at South Alabama * W 73-71 • Little Rock has engineered one of the best turnarounds in the 30 COASTAL CAROLINA * W 96-79 country, posting a +11 margin in wins from last season to this. 1 | MARKQUIS NOWELL | G After winning 10 games in 2018-19, the Trojans are at 21 in 2019- Points: 17.4 Reb: 3.0 FEBRUARY 20, tied for the second-greatest improvement in the nation. FG%: 42.2 Assists: 5.0 1 APPALACHIAN STATE * W 93-86 3FG%: 38.5 Steals: 2.3 8 ARKANSAS STATE * W 90-87 FT%: 87.7 Minutes: 34.5 • Ruot Monyyong continues to lead the Sun Belt Conference in 13 at Texas State * L 66-74 rebounding (10.0), defensive rebounds (7.8), blocks (2.1) and 15 at UT Arlington * L 65-76 20 | KAMANI JOHNSON | F double-doubles (16). He is averaging a double-double at 12.0 Points: 10.5 Reb: 6.6 22 at Arkansas State * W 81-78 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. 27 ULM * W 79-63 FG%: 51.4 Assists: 2.2 29 LOUISIANA * W 91-69 3FG%: 0.0 Steals: 0.7 • Markquis Nowell continues to rank among the top-three in FT%: 74.2 Minutes: 27.8 MARCH the Sun Belt in seven statistical categories, leading the league 3 at Georgia State * 6 p.m. in free throw percentage (87.7%) and three pointers per game 33 | JOVAN STULIC | G 14 Sun Belt Tournament Semifinals # 11:30 a.m. (2.8) while ranking third in scoring (17.4). Points: 5.7 Reb: 1.8 FG%: 40.0 Assists: 0.5 3FG%: 34.1 Steals: 0.7 * Sun Belt Conference game • Little Rock leads the Sun Belt in field goal percentage (47.2%), FT%: 76.9 Minutes: 22.4 ^ Barclay Center Classic ranking 24th nationally. The Trojans are 10th in the nation in # Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, La.) both free throws attempted (698) and made (500) while rank- ing 30th nationally in assists (450), leading the Sun Belt. 44 | RUOT MONYYONG | F Points: 12.0 Reb: 10.0 FG%: 56.6 Assists: 1.5 • The trip to Atlanta marks a homecoming for Kamani Johnson 3FG%: 21.9 Blocks: 2.1 (who played at Holy Spirit Prep) and coaches Darrell Walker and FT%: 60.4 Minutes: 32.7 Alfred Jordan, who came to Little Rock from Clark Atlanta. TALE OF THE TAPE 21-9 73.3 68.8 47.2% 34.7% 71.6% 35.6 15.0 15.4 7.0 RECORD POINTS ALLOWED FG% 3FG% FT% REBOUNDS ASSISTS TURNOVERS STEALS 18-12 78.3 72.0 43.8% 36.7% 73.7% 37.3 14.5 14.3 8.0 LRTrojans.com NEWS AND NOTES SCOUTING THE PANTHERS RACING PAST 700 2019-20: 18-12 overall, 11-8 Sun Belt (5th) Markquis Nowell finished with 19 points in the win over Louisi- Last Three Games: L vs. Georgia Southern (79-70), L at Texas ana, one shy of his 13th 20-point performance of the season. He SERIES HISTORY State (86-76), L at UT Arlington (70-62) upped his career point total to 749, the most among the Trojan All-Time Series Little Rock leads, 19-8 Head Coach: Rob Lanier (St. Bonaventure, 1990) roster, as he leads the league in three pointers per game (2.8). Streak Georgia State won 4 1st season at GAST (18-12), 5th season overall (70-82) In Little Rock 10-3 Key Players: TROJAN CAREER 400-POINT SCORERS In Atlanta 8-4 • #12 Kane Williams (Jr., G): 14.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.3 apg Player Games Minutes Points Markquis Nowell 52 1,693 749 Neutral 1-1 • #11 Cory Allen (Jr., G): 13.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 41.2 FG% Jaizec Lottie 84 2,220 576 • #2 Justin Roberts (So., G): 13.6 ppg, 3.7 apg, 41.0 3FG% Kamani Johnson 57 1,351 455 • #1 Damon Wilson (Sr., G): 10.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 40.2 FG% LAST 10 MEETINGS Nikola Maric 45 1,050 451 • #10 Nelson Phillips (So., G): 8.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 48.0 FG% Kris Bankston 64 1,161 403 Jan. 18, 2014 * Atlanta, Ga. L 73-99 Feb. 6, 2014 * Little Rock L 57-68 LAST WE MET NATIONAL PRAISE Jan. 3, 2015 * Atlanta, Ga. L 69-82 It will be 367 days since Little Rock and Georgia State last A number of Trojans find themselves among the national lead- Feb. 26, 2015 * Little Rock W 92-83 squared off, an 83-70 Panther victory at the GSU Sports Arena in ers heading into Saturday’s game against Louisiana. Jan. 30, 2016 * Little Rock W 63-53 Feb. 18, 2016 * Atlanta, Ga. W 57-49 Atlanta on March 2, 2019. Georgia State raced out to a 20-point TROJANS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS Feb. 25, 2017 * Little Rock L 54-71 lead at the half and cruised to the win as the Trojans shot just 28.6% in the opening 20 minutes to fall behind big early. Category Player Rank No. Jan. 4, 2018 * Atlanta, Ga. L 64-73 BLOCKS/GAME Ruot Monyyong 37th 2.07 Feb. 3, 2018 * Little Rock L 51-81 DEFENSIVE REB. Ruot Monyyong 7th 7.83 Mar. 2, 2019 * Atlanta, Ga. L 70-83 WHAT’S AT STAKE DOUBLE-DOUBLES Ruot Monyyong 9th 16 # Sun Belt Conference game Little Rock has already clinched the regular season Sun Belt title FREE THROW PCT. Markquis Nowell 24th 87.7% and the number one seed in the upcoming Sun Belt tournament REB./GAME Ruot Monyyong 28th 10.0 in New Orleans. The Trojans are seeking their 22nd victory of the STEALS/GAME Markquis Nowell 15th 2.30 TROJANS WITH... year, which would be the ninth-most in program history. Little BLOCKS Ruot Monyyong 29th 62 Rock is going for its 16th Sun Belt win as well, which would be REBOUNDS Ruot Monyyong 17th 300 ... A 25+ POINT GAME the second-most in program history. STEALS Markquis Nowell 19th 62 33 Markquis Nowell vs. ULM (12/19/19) 32 Kamani Johnson at Arkansas State (2/22/20) HONORS FOR KAMANI ATOP THE SUN BELT 32 Markquis Nowell vs. ULM (2/27/20) A number of Trojans rank among the Sun Belt leaders in a num- 30 Kamani Johnson vs. UT Arlington (1/4/20) Kamani earned his second Sun Belt Player of the Week honor of ber of statistical categories as the stretch run begins. 29 Markquis Nowell vs. UT Arlington (1/4/20) the season after his 32-point, 16-rebound performance at Ar- kansas State Saturday, setting career-highs in both. The honor 28 Markquis Nowell at Illinois State (11/10/19) TROJANS AMONG SUN BELT LEADERS 28 Markquis Nowell vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (11/26/19) for Johnson gives the Trojans five Sun Belt Player of the Week Category Player Rank No.