Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans
Sun Belt (29-4, 17-3)
Arkansas-Little Rock did not get much credit for their nonconference schedule, but they picked up wins at San Diego State, Tulsa and DePaul. Their lone loss came at Texas Tech. There were a few other losses along the way, but for the most part the Trojans dominated a very good Sun Belt conference.
Big Wins: 11/21 at San Diego State (49-43), 11/28 at Tulsa (64-60), 1/23 at Texas-Arlington (68-62)
Bad Losses: 1/18 at Arkansas State (73-76), 2/11 at Louisiana-Monroe (82-86), 3/3 at Appalachian State (63-69)
Coach: Chris Beard
Why They Can Surprise:
UALR wins games with their defense. They allow a mere 59.8 points per game and it’s not just because they slow things down. The opposition shoots just 38.5 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from beyond the arc. The defense is a team effort, but the Trojans do not allow easy buckets because Josh Hagins does such a great job taking care of the ball. He dishes out 4.7 assists per game and turns it over just 1.8 times. Hagins is also a great scorer and a tough rebounder for a 6-1 guard. Hagins will knock down some shots, but so will Marcus Johnson. The junior guard has connected on 46.1 percent of his three-point attempts and averages 12.7 points per game.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The potential problems are in the frontcourt where UALR is lacking on multiple levels. This is not a great rebounding team and nobody has emerged as a consistent interior scorer. That puts a lot of pressure on Hagins and Johnson to score. Roger Woods, Mareik Isom, Lis Shoshi, Daniel Green, Maurius Hill and Jermaine Ruttley do provide Coach Chris Beard with plenty of frontcourt options. Shoshi is emerging as a good rebounder and shot blocker and Hill has been getting better on the glass as the season has progressed. While it is nice to have big bodies to throw at more talented big men that Arkansas-Little Rock will face in the postseason, good teams will be able to get easier shots against this frontcourt then the rest of the Sun Belt has throughout the season.
Probable Starters:
Josh Hagins, Senior, Guard, 12.8 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4.1 rpg
Marcus Johnson, Junior, Guard, 12.7 ppg, 1.6 apg
Roger Woods, Senior, Forward, 9.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Mareik Isom, Junior, Forward, 6.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Lis Shoshi, Junior, Forward, 6.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.2 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Daniel Green, Senior, Forward, 1.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg
Maurius Hill, Junior, Forward, 3.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Jalen Jackson, Junior, Guard, 8.9 ppg
Kemy Osse, Junior, Guard, 5.1 ppg
Jermaine Ruttley, Senior, Guard, 3.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 70.9 (231st in nation, 6th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 59.8 (3, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.4 (106, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 38.5 (7, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.6 (113, 4)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.7 (25, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 73.9 (36, 1)
Rebound Margin: 0.1 (194, 5)
Assists Per Game: 13.1 (198, 3)
Turnovers Per Game: 10.6 (24, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2011 NCAA Opening Round loss to NC-Asheville
1996 NIT First Round loss to Vanderbilt
1990 NCAA Round of 64 loss to UNLV
1989 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Louisville
1988 NIT First round loss to Louisiana Tech
*all team stats through 3/6
