Trojan Men hope to protect home court the next two games

LITTLE ROCK — The weather outside may be a little frightful Thursday, but the Little Rock men’s basketball team hopes the final score against Morehead State is delightful. The forecast of heavy snow has moved game time to 25 minutes following the women’s contest that tips at 11 a.m. The Trojans (8-6, 2-1) try to avenge their first Ohio Valley Conference loss, a 95-86 setback at Tennessee State Saturday. 

Photo by Mark Wagner.

The game can be heard on 1067 Buz2 with longtime play-by-play voice Ray Tucker on the call beginning with the pregame 15 minutes before tip time. ESPN+ will also stream the game with Dorian Craft and Patrick Newton on the call.

LAST TIME OUT 

The Trojans played from behind from the onset in a 95-86 loss to Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at the Gentry Center.

Little Rock trailed by 12 at halftime and after showing some signs of life early in the second half fell behind by 20 with just over 13 minutes left. However, the Trojans didn’t quit and cut the lead to single digits late but ran out of time.

Ante Beljan led all scorers with a career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds. Johnathan Lawson scored 16 points and dished out 6 assists with 4 rebounds. Mwani Wilkinson chipped in 12 points. 

INJURY UPDATE

The injured list continues to grow for Little Rock. Redshirt freshman forward Travonne Jackson injured his knee in the loss Saturday. He had to leave the game in the second half and didn’t return. He has been ruled out of the two Little Rock games this week and is sidelined indefinitely. Sophomore forward Creed Williamson and senior guard Jordan Jefferson are rehabbing injuries and hope to return. Senior K.K. Robinson was lost for the season with a knee injury during preseason practice. 

ANTE’S INFERNO

Junior forward Ante Beljan torched Tennessee State for a career-high 33 points Saturday. The 6-foot-9 Trogir, Croatia native is averaging 10.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game this season.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Kristiyan Popov hasn’t seen a lot of action in his Trojan career. He averaged 6.7 minutes playing in nine games last season and logged 4.6 minutes in 12 games in 2022-23. The trend has continued this season but with the Trojans short-handed due to three injuries and a suspension to forward Tuongthach Gatkek, Little Rock head coach Darrell Walker turned to the 6-7 sophomore for depth at TSU.

Popov responded by recording a career-high 6 points with 2 rebounds and a block, a steal and an assist in 21 minutes, also a career high.

“He is going to play more Thursday and Saturday, too,” Walker said during the Little Rock Coaches Radio Show Monday night. “We need him, and he helped us [Saturday].”

THE SERIES

The teams have split four all-time meetings. Those games have come in the past two seasons upon Little Rock joining the Ohio Valley Conference. The Trojans won the lone regular-season meeting between the two teams last year, 69-68, at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. Morehead returned the favor with a 69-55 victory in the OVC Tournament semifinals a few weeks later.

FIRST LOOK: MOREHEAD STATE

After winning its first three OVC games in close battles, the Eagles suffered lopsided loss at Tennessee Tech, 74-55, last Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles, who earned an NCAA Tournament berth last season, are under the direction of first-year head coach Jonathan Mattox, who served as a MSU assistant for nine seasons. Mattox, who was eventually an assistant head coach when he left Morehead, served the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Murray State.  

Kenny White, Jr. leads the Eagles with 14.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. White, a 6-7, 225-pound senior transferred from rival OVC school UT Martin and also played two seasons at OVC foe Tennessee Tech and one season at former OVC member Murray State.

Jerone Morton, a 6-2, 200-pound sophomore, averages 11.9 ppg and 3.6 rpg. Senior guard Tyler Brelsford averages 9.5 ppg and 3.4 rpg.