UALR TROJANS (1-3)

at LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS (3-1)

Wed., Nov. 25, 2009 - 7 PM (Central)

Ruston, La. (Thomas Assembly Center)

MEDIA INFORMATION

TV: n/a

Radio: The game can be heard live on The Buzz 103.7 FM

Online: Live audio/video streaming available at www.latechsports.com

UALR-LOUISIANA TECH SERIES

The Series: Louisiana Tech leads 23-12

Streak: UALR won 2

Last Meeting: @UALR 78, Louisiana Tech 69 (Nov. 22, 2008)

THE COACHES

UALR — Steve Shields, 7th season at UALR (Baylor, 1988)

    Record at school: 106-76 (.582)

    Career record: same

    Record vs. La. Tech: 2-0

Louisiana Tech — Kerry Rupp, 3rd season at LTU (Southern Utah, 1977)

    Record at school: 24-43 (.358)

    Career record: 33-47 (.413)

TIP-OFF

      UALR (1-3) and Louisiana Tech (3-1) will square off for the third-consecutive season when the Trojans visit Ruston, La. on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ... The Trojans, who returned just one starter off last year’s 23-8 squad, have been tasked with opening the 2009-10 season by playing four of their first five games on the road — including contests against two teams currently receiving votes in both top-25 polls ... UALR closes out that stretch on Wednesday night against the Bulldogs, and will then play its next five games in central Arkansas — including a Dec. 12 meeting with Memphis at Verizon Arena ... Junior Solomon Bozeman’s UALR career has gotten off to a fast start, with the 6-0 guard leading the team in scoring, or tying for the team lead, in all four games ... Bozeman is averaging team highs of 15.3 points and 3.8 assists per game, while shooting 50.0 percent from three-point range (10-of-20) ... Junior Matt Mouzy tied Bozeman for high-scoring honors at Creighton with 16 points after going 4-of-8 from three-point range ... Junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza grabbed a season-high nine rebounds against the Bluejays on Sunday and leads the team at 6.3 rebounds per game ... The El Fuerte, Mexico-native is also a perfect 10-of-10 at the foul line this season ... Following Wednesday’s game, the Trojans return to Little Rock to host Cal Poly at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

THE SERIES

      UALR has won two straight over Louisiana Tech, but the Bulldogs hold a 23-12 advantage in the all-time series ... Louisiana Tech has won five-consecutive games over the Trojans in Ruston, though the two teams haven’t played there since Jan. 27, 2001 — a 64-47 victory for the Bulldogs ... Head coach Steve Shields is 2-0 all-time against Louisiana Tech.

LAST TIME OUT

      Creighton hit 11 three pointers and used a 17-2 run at the start of the second half on its way to an 80-65 victory over UALR at Qwest Center Omaha ... Five different players scored in double figures for the Bluejays, led by 13 points from P’Allen Stinnett ... The Trojans battled back from an 18-point deficit in the first half to make it a five-point game at the break, 35-30, but Creighton opened up the second half on a 17-2 run and never looked back ... UALR committed 18 turnovers on the night and was outrebounded 37-to-32 ... Creighton’s Kenny Lawson totaled 11 points off 4-of-8 shooting and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds ... Solomon Bozeman and Matt Mouzy paced the Trojan offense with 16 points apiece, with Mouzy going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc ... Creighton’s press gave UALR fits at the start of the game and allowed the Bluejays to run out to a 14-4 lead at the 14:17 mark ... UALR, which committed 10 turnovers in the first half, saw its deficit reach as high as 18 points, 33-15, with 4:40 to go, but closed out the half on a 15-2 run to make it a 35-30 contest at the break ... Mouzy fueled the 15-2 run by scoring eight points ... Creighton opened up the second half by ripping off a 17-2 run to push its advantage to 20 points, 52-32, with 14:48 to go ... Creighton connected three times from beyond the arc during the 17-2 run, and took advantage of a pair of technical fouls against UALR over the first 2:50.

A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS

      Louisiana Tech (3-1) welcomes UALR to Thomas Assembly Center on Wednesday for the team’s 2009-10 home opener ... The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-1 showing at the Basketball Travelers Tournament, including a 74-62 win over a Miami of Ohio squad that took No. 5 Kentucky to the wire in a 72-70 loss ... LTU has three players scoring in double figures, led by preseason Second Team All-WAC selection Kyle Gibson at 18.0 ppg ... Gibson, who scored 21 points when UALR and LTU met last season, earned Second Team All-WAC honors in 2008-09 and entered his senior year with 1,106 career points ... A 6-7 sophomore, Olu Ashaolu enters Wednesday’s contest averaging 13.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 58.8 pct. from the field ... Senior Jamel Guyton is averaging 13.5 points per game and is 14-for-28 from beyond the arc ... Opposing teams are shooting just 42.0 percent from the field against the Bulldogs through four games.

LAST MEETING

      Shane Edwards was one of four Trojans in double figures, finishing with a team-high 17 points off 8-of-10 shooting to lead UALR to a 78-69 victory over Louisiana Tech at the Jack Stephens Center (11/22/08) ... UALR shot just 28.1 percent as a team in the first half, but went 15-of-23 from the field in the second half (65.2 pct.) to overpower the Bulldogs ... Down 31-30 near the start of the second half, the Trojans ripped off a 20-5 run and never trailed again ... Edwards scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, and added five boards, two blocks and a career-high five steals ... Matt Mouzy added 16 points for the Trojans, while Steven Moore chipped in 14 points in reserve off a 10-of-11 showing at the foul line ... The Trojans were able to preserve their lead down the stretch by shooting 81.3 percent from the foul line (26-of-32) ... LTU’s considerable size advantage in the front court allowed the Bulldogs to outrebound UALR 40-to-32 with 16 offensive boards, but the Bulldogs committed 22 turnovers on the night – 13 in the second half ... Kyle Gibson led the Bulldogs with 21 points ... LTU’s Magnum Rolle fouled out in 18 minutes of action and played just six minutes in the second half.

GO-TO GUY

      Junior Solomon Bozeman has quickly established himself as UALR’s top scoring threat, leading the Trojans in all four games this year — as well as the exhibition game against Harding ... Bozeman is averaging team highs of 15.3 points and 3.8 assists per game and is 10-of-20 from three-point range on the year (50.0 percent) ... A transfer from the University of South Florida, Bozeman averaged 7.3 points and 2.5 assists per game over his two seasons with the Bulls.

EARLY-SEASON PERFECTION

      Junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza is a perfect 10-of-10 at the foul line through four games ... The 6-3 guard, who is currently tied for first in the Sun Belt Conference for free-throw shooting, is one of five Trojans with a perfect 1.000 free-throw percentage, though junior Matt Mouzy (4-for-4) is the only other player with more than two attempts ... UALR is shooting just 63.7 percent from the foul line as a team, however, as its starting post players are a combined 10-of-27 (37.0 percent).

INSTANT OFFENSE

      Junior Ricky Davison played just two minutes at Creighton on Sunday, but made the most of his limited playing time by going a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range in the closing minutes ... A 6-2 guard, Davison is 4-fo-7 from three-point range on the year (57.1 pct.) and is averaging 4.0 points in 5.5 minutes per game ... A native of Fort Deposit, Ala., Davison earned First Team All-Region XXII honors as a sophomore at Southern Union State after averaging a team-high 16.8 ppg.

ATTACKING THE GLASS

      UALR sports a +2.0 rebounding margin on the season despite facing bigger frontlines at Ole Miss and Tulsa ... Junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza grabbed a season-high nine boards at Creighton and leads the team at 6.3 rebounds per game ... Senior Mike Smith collected seven boards against the Bluejays and is averaging a career-high 5.5 rebounds per game through four contests.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION

      UALR was picked to finish fourth in the West Division by the Sun Belt coaches in the league’s annual preseason poll ... WKU was tabbed the preseason favorite in the East with 12 first-place votes, while North Texas was named the frontrunner in the West with nine first-place votes ... Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook picked the Trojans to finish second in the West behind UNT.

NEXT UP

    UALR will play its next five games in central Arkansas, beginning with a bout against Cal Poly at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday at 2 p.m.