Trojans enjoy an easy one

UALR 96, COASTAL CAROLINA 79

Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill sat at the top of Section 103 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock on Thursday night and got a first-hand look at the team that’s come out of nowhere this season to steal the attention in his league.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock men’s basketball team, in return, delivered a romp in the first half en route to a 96-79 victory over visiting Coastal Carolina.

“He said he wanted to come see what it’s all about,” UALR Coach Darrell Walker said with a smirk. “Now he knows what it’s all about.”

By this point, so does the rest of the league, whose coaches voted UALR 11th of 12 in the preseason poll. The Trojans (16-7, 10-2 Sun Belt) have surprised everyone and are off to the program’s second-best conference start in school history. Only former coach Chris Beard did better in 2015-16 (11-1). UALR has won five games in a row, its second longest winning streak of the season.

After entering this season 0-5 all time against Coastal Carolina (11-11, 4-7), the Trojans have won both meetings this year by a combined 33 points.

This one was all but over by halftime.

UALR outscored Coastal Carolina 58-35 in the opening 20 minutes — the most points the Trojans have scored in a half all season. The Chanticleers, who have lost four in a row, were held to 26% shooting, hit 1-of-15 from three-point range and had 10 turnovers in the first half.

Coastal Carolina opened the game 0 of 10 from the floor with 5 turnovers and 7 fouls, all within the first 6 minutes. UALR, meanwhile, had grabbed a 9-2 lead.

Coastal notched its first two field goals in a span of just seven seconds less than a minute later, and a three-pointer by guard DeVante’ Jones tied it at 11-11 with 13:05 left in the half. Jones finished with a game-high 32 points, and Coastal forward Tim Ceaser added 19 points and eight rebounds.

But after that, the Trojans unleashed a scoring frenzy.

UALR went on a 11-0 run in a span of 58 seconds, then kept the onslaught going. By the 6:50 mark, the Trojans had sprinted to a 43-17 lead thanks to a 32-6 run. Between Jones’ three-pointer and his jumper with 6:38 left before the half, Coastal went without a field goal for nearly six-and-a-half minutes.

But UALR’s 23-point halftime cushion took some blows in the second frame.

Jones hit a three-pointer with 10:22 left to cap a 12-2 Coastal run that trimmed the deficit to 69-54.

But a little over a minute later, just when UALR was beginning to look disinterested, freshman guard Isaiah Palermo rocked the arena with a posterizing dunk over a Coastal Carolina defender. Junior forward Ruot Monyyong then rose for a one-handed fastbreak slam after a steal by sophomore point guard Markquis Nowell, which gave UALR a 75-56 lead with 8:45 to play.

“It was a nice dunk, because usually [Isaiah will] go lay it up … I’ll give it a 6,” said Monyyong, who posted his 13th double-double of the season — a new single-season program record — with 17 points and 13 rebounds. “Mine, I’ll give a 10.”

Coastal had whittled the deficit to 11 points with 3:03 remaining, but by then it was too late, and UALR had no trouble closing things out.

Five Trojans finished in double figures, including a career-high 22 points from freshman guard Marko Lukic in just 19 minutes.