Trojans end season with 1st-round loss
PENSACOLA , Fla. - A combination of shooting woes for Little Rock and hot three point shooting from Appalachian State brought the Trojans’ 202021 season to a disappointing end, falling 67-60 to the Mountaineers in the opening round of the Sun Belt tournament at Hartsell Arena on the campus of Pensacola State College.
Little Rock finishes the season at 11-15 overall and 7-11 in Sun Belt play, bringing a disappointing 2020-21 season to a close.
Little Rock’s offensive struggles continued as the Trojans managed just 60 points on the night, marking 15-straight games the Trojans had failed to reach 70 points in a game.
The Trojans shot 43.6 percent for the game, knocking down 24-of-55 from the floor, but were just 4-for-14 from threepoint range (28.6%), opposed to Appalachian State going 12-for-30 (40.0 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Trojans were led in scoring by a pair of seniors that likely were playing in their last games in a Little Rock uniform. Ben Coupet Jr. finished with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, pulling down six rebounds and three assists with three steals.
Ruot Monyyong closed his Trojan career in fitting fashion, pulling down a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds with a pair of blocks. He finishes with 15 doubledoubles on the year and 31 for his Little Rock career, going down as the all-time program leader.
Marko Lukic was the third Trojan to finish in double figures with 13 points, grabbing three rebounds with two assists, three steals and one block.
Appalachian State was able to stifle Nikola Maric all night as Little Rock’s leading scorer finished with just four points and three rebounds with three assists and a block.
Little Rock held a 34-30 rebounding edge and outscored App State 30-20 in the paint, but eight more three pointers and an 11 to eight advantage in free throws helped pace the Mountaineers to the victory.
The loss to the Mountaineers marks the second-straight Sun Belt tournament loss to Appalachian State, falling 93-64 in the opening round of the 2018 tournament in Little Rock’s last postseason appearance.
First Half Notes
It was a fast start for Little Rock, scoring nine of the first 12 points of the game to build a 9-3 lead at the 16:57 mark behind four points from Lukic and three from Monyyong.
The two teams battled back and forth for the next eight minutes, combining for three ties and three lead changes. Trailing 16-13, A 6-0 run for Little Rock put the Trojans on top by three at 19-16 at the 9:18 mark behind a jumper from the corner from
Lukic.
App State reeled off a 14-4 run over the next six minutes, turning the Trojans’ three point lead into a seven point hole at 30-23 with 5:59.
But Little Rock kept the Mountaineers off the board for the rest of the first half, scoring the final six points of the first half to cut the haltime lead to 30-29.
Little Rock shot 44.4 percent in the opening half, but were just 1-for-6 from three (16.7 percent) and 4-of-7 (57.1 percent). 19 of Appalachian State’s 30 field goals came from beyond the arc as the Mountaineers were 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) and 10-of30 (33.3 percent) overall. Lukic’s 10 points led the Trojans in the opening 20 minutes with eight from Coupet and seven from Monyyong.
Second Half Notes
It was a back-and-forth affair through the first 10 minutes of the second half as Little Rock never took the lead, but never trailed by more than six during that time. That changed at the midway point of the second half as Appalachian State hit three straight threes, building a nine point advantage at 52-43 with 8:25 remaining in the game.
Trailing by 10 at 55-45 with 5:36 remaining, Little Rock mounted a final rally attempt, pulling to within five at 56-51 behind baskets from Coupet, Lukic and Maric, but App State was able to beat Little Rock’s press, resulting in easy baskets at the other end, breaking out to a 10 point lead and holding off the Trojans down the stretch.
Little Rock shot 42.9 percent in the second half (12of-28), but struggle again from three point range, making just 3-of-8 (37.5 percent). Coupet came on strong with 11, aided by 10 from Monyyong, as those two combined for 21 of Little Rock’s 31 second half points.