Poor shooting sends Trojans to 7th loss in row

Four days after paltry offensive showings saw the University of Arkansas at Little Rock swept at last-place Louisiana-Monroe, the Trojans returned home and delivered their worst shooting performance of the season Friday night.

UALR made 18 of 55 fields goals (32.7%) in a 66-61 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette at the Jack Stephens Center, the team’s seventh defeat in a row.

The Trojans survived a field-goal drought of 7:57 to hold a 23-20 halftime lead, but they missed 14 layups, 13 free throws and turned the ball over 17 times.

“You’ve got to have some pride,” UALR Coach Darrell Walker said. “Coaches can only do so much. You prep them. You get them ready. But not one coach from John Thompson to Eddie Sutton, it doesn’t matter who it is, could go out there and make jump shots, layups and free throws. It’s not going to happen.”

UALR dropped to 10-14 and 6-11 in the Sun Belt as its winless February continued. Louisiana-Lafayette (16-7, 106) led for the final 17:15 after an 11-4 run to open the second half, securing the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt West in the process. The Trojans enter today in fifth place in the West, and in danger of dropping to the bottom spot with a loss in the regular-season finale and a Louisiana-Monroe win.

Ragin Cajuns junior Theo Akwuba scored 10 of his teamhigh 13 points in the second half, when Louisiana-Lafayette shot 51.5% from the field. Freshman Ty Harper had 12 points.

Senior Ben Coupet Jr. paced UALR with 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting, and senior Ruot Monyyong matched a career-high of 19 rebounds, adding 10 points for his 14th double-double of the season. Junior Nikola Maric and sophomore Marko Lukic scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.

The Trojans finished 4 of 12 from three-point range, and the two points scored by senior Admir Besovic was the only scoring UALR received from its bench.

“You think that’s a recipe for winning?” Walker said. “No it’s not.”

Missing for the Trojans was junior Kris Bankston, who the program confirmed has opted out of the remainder of the season. Bankston last appeared in a game Feb. 5, and he is the second player to depart from the team after junior Markquis Nowell opted out earlier this month.

UALR opened 4 of 6 from the field, and the Trojans led 12-7 after a Coupet Jr. three-pointer. His field goal was UALR’s last for a nearly eight-minute span when the Trojans missed 10 consecutive shots and Louisiana-Lafayette used a 9-0 run to take a 16-12 lead with 7:28 remaining.

Lukic ended the spell with a baseline jumper at the 5:06 mark to knot the game at 16-16, and 8 of 12 shooting from the free-throw line carried UALR to the three-point halftime lead.

The Trojans improved slightly on their 28% firsthalf shooting after the break, jumping to 36.7% in the second half. UALR missed nine free throws in the second half and finished 7 of 21 on layups for the game, leaving Walker to lament another night of missed opportunities.

“At the end of the day, we’re not making shots,” he said. “You want to hold me accountable, that’s fine. I’m not playing, but you can hold me accountable for that. We’re not making shots.

“Is it frustrating? Yeah. But there’s nothing I can do. I can’t jump out there and do anything. There’s nothing I can do.”

Akwuba soared over Coupet Jr. for a put-back dunk to give the Ragin Cajuns a 2726 lead.

Louisiana-Lafayette led by as many as 13 points before the Trojans pulled within 53-47 at the 4:54 mark. Maric missed a pair of free throws 45 seconds later with a chance to cut the gap to four.

SUN BELT MEN TEXAS-ARLINGTON 73, ARKANSAS STATE 71

David Azore hit a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to give Texas-Arlington (12-12, 8-8 Sun Belt) a victory over Arkansas State University (10-11, 7-7) at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

The Red Wolves led 71-69 with seven seconds left to play after Marquis Eaton converted a three-point play. But Azore knocked down the game-winning three-pointer and was fouled by Keyon Wesley. Azore made the ensuing free throw and ASU turned the ball over on the following possession.

Eaton led ASU with 20 points. Norchad Omier had 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Azore scored 22 points to lead the Mavericks. Shahada Wells had 20 points, while Sam Griffin chipped in with 11 points.

SUN BELT WOMEN LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 63, UALR 52

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (13-9, 9-6 Sun Belt) lost its second consecutive game Friday, falling at Louisiana-Lafayette (13-5, 12-1) at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La.

UALR trailed 27-19 at halftime and 46-41 at the end of the third quarter. The Trojans cut the lead to 51-45 with 6:16 remaining on Tia Harvey’s jumper, but that was as close as the Trojans would get.

Teal Battle led the Trojans with 15 points. Krystan Vornes finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Trinitee Alexander added 10 points.

Skyler Goodwin had a game-high 18 points for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Ty’Reona Doucet and Brandi Williams each had 10 points.

TEXAS-ARLINGTON 60, ARKANSAS STATE 40

Arkansas State University (9-10, 4-9 Sun Belt) shot 30% (15 of 50) from the floor in a loss to Texas-Arlington (12-6, 10-4) at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.

The Red Wolves led 12-4 in the first quarter, but trailed 18-15 at the end of the first quarter and 37-25 at halftime. They went into the fourth quarter trailing 50-38 and were held to two points in the fourth quarter.

Jada Stinson led ASU with 13 points. Peyton Martin finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Trinitee Jackson had 10 points.

Camryn Hawkins scored a game-high 17 points for Texas-Arlington.