UALR TROJANS (2-4)

vs. ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (3-3)

Mon., Nov. 30, 2009 - 7 PM (Central)

Little Rock, Ark. (Jack Stephens Center)

MEDIA INFORMATION

TV: n/a

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

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

UALR-ORU SERIES

The Series: UALR leads 1-0

Streak: UALR won 1

Last Meeting: UALR 69, @Oral Roberts 66 (Dec. 8, 2008)

THE COACHES

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

    Record at school: 107-77 (.582)

    Career record: same

    Record vs. ORU: 1-0

ORU — Scott Sutton, 11th season at ORU (Oklahoma State, 1995)

    Record at school: 187-129 (.592)

    Career record: same

TIP-OFF

      UALR (2-4) welcomes Oral Roberts (3-3) to the Jack Stephens Center on Monday night at 7 p.m. ... Monday’s contest marks the second meeting of a four-year series that began in Tulsa, Okla. during the 2008-09 season ... Fresh off a 71-62 win over Cal Poly on Saturday afternoon, the Trojans are in search of their first back-to-back wins of the season ... UALR is 2-0 at home this season and 34-2 all-time in November home games since joining the Division I ranks — including a 13-1 mark in November games played at the Jack Stephens Center ... Junior Solomon Bozeman scored a season-high 22 points against Cal Poly on Saturday and went 3-of-5 from three-point range to help the Trojans shoot 52.6 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-19) ... Following Saturday’s effort, the Trojans are now shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range on the year (2nd in the Sun Belt Conference), and are averaging 10.5 made three-point field goals at home ... Senior Mike Smith grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds in Saturday’s win to raise his team-leading average to 6.2 rebounds per game ... Smith, who entered the 2009-10 season weighing 50 pounds less than he did at the start of the 2008-09 campaign, is second on the team in minutes at 31.8 per game ... UALR closes out its stretch of three home games in five days when it hosts Missouri State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ... The Trojans will then take on Lyon College at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

THE SERIES

      UALR holds a 1-0 lead in the all-time series following a 69-66 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two schools last season in Tulsa (12/8/08) ... Wayne Burton scored the go-ahead basket in that game when John Fowler found him under the goal with 59 seconds remaining.

LAST TIME OUT

      Solomon Bozeman scored a season-high 22 points to lead UALR to a 71-62 win over Cal Poly at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday ... The Trojans shot 52.6 percent from three-point range (10-of-19) and made 17-of-20 at the foul line in the win ... Bozeman and Matt Mouzy combined to score 40 points and shoot 7-of-13 from beyond the arc ... Bozeman scored 22 points by making 3-of-5 from long range and 9-of-10 at the foul line, to go along with four assists and three steals ... Mouzy scored 18 points in 26 minutes off the bench by connecting on 4-of-8 from three-point range ... Mike Smith added nine points and a team-high 11 boards to help UALR to a +7 margin on the glass (34-to-27) ... The Trojans racked up 18 assists on 22 made field goals, led by a game-high six assists from Lionel Foster ... UALR led by six at the break, 33-27, and shot 50.0 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to secure the win ... Cal Poly tied the game at 43-all with 13:24 left to play but the Trojans got stops when they needed them down the stretch and went 11-of-12 at the free-throw line over the final 1:57 ... Cal Poly trailed by seven points, 55-48, after a bucket by Lorenzo Keeler with 8:13 to go, but it would mark the team’s last field goal for a stretch of 7:31 ... Cal Poly would not make another basket until Keeler knocked down a three pointer with 32 seconds left ... Despite its drought, Cal Poly trailed by just three points, 60-57, with 2:55 remaining, but the Mustangs missed a chance to draw closer when David Hanson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:30 left in the game ... Keeler led the Mustangs with 20 points in the losing effort, while Will Donahue added a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.

A LOOK AT THE GOLDEN EAGLES

      Oral Roberts (3-3) has spent most of the season on the road this year, playing five of its first six games away from home ... The Golden Eagles picked up a big non-conference victory on Nov. 18 when they defeated Stanford, 83-81, on a buzzer beater by Roderick Pearson ... The Golden Eagles were picked to finish second in the Summit League’s preseason poll, with forwards Kevin Ford and Dominique Morrison both earning preseason Second Team All-Conference honors ... Morrison leads the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game, while Ford is averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 8.7 boards per game ... The Golden Eagles sport a +3.7 rebounding margin on the year, but are +9.6 over the last five contests ... Ford recorded an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double in ORU’s last outing, helping the Golden Eagles to a +13 rebounding margin against Florida A&M.

LAST MEETING

      UALR squandered a 13-point second half lead but pulled things together in the closing minutes to knock off Oral Roberts, 69-66, on Dec. 8, 2008 ... The Trojans trailed 66-62 with 4:05 left to play, but closed out the game with seven unanswered points and held ORU scoreless the rest of the way ... Steven Moore led the way with 19 points off the bench, while Shane Edwards and Matt Mouzy added 13 points a piece ... Moore and Mouzy combined to go 7-of-9 from three-point range, helping UALR shoot 75.0 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-12) ... UALR took its biggest lead of the night, 49-36, off a three-pointer from John Fowler with 15:23 to go, but ORU cut its deficit to four points, 49-45, with a quick 9-0 spurt ... The Trojans extended their lead back to 11 points, 58-47, thanks to two three pointers from Mouzy and a trey from Moore, but ORU answered with a 19-4 run as the Trojans made just one field goal over the next 9:17 ... Trailing 66-65, the Trojans reclaimed the lead for good when Fowler found Wayne Burton under the basket with 59 seconds to go ... Fowler then came up with a key steal with 36 seconds remaining on ORU’s ensuing possession, and UALR went 2-for-4 at the foul line down the stretch ... Marcus Lewis went 11-for-16 from the field and led all players with 23 points, while Andre Hardy added a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench.

UALR AT THE JACK STEPHENS CENTER

      Now in its fifth year of existence, the Trojans are 42-19 all-time (.689 winning pct.) at the Jack Stephens Center, including a 21-5 mark in non-conference games (.808 pct.) ... The Trojans are 34-2 in November home games since joining the Division I ranks, and sport a 13-1 record in November home games played at the Jack Stephens Center.

THREE-POINT BARRAGE

      Through six games the Trojans are averaging 7.7 made three pointers per game, which is by far the highest average by a UALR squad under head coach Steve Shields ... The 2005-06 team holds the current standard for a Shields-led squad, having averaged 5.5 made three pointers per game ... The 2001-02 Trojans, coached by Porter Moser, set a school record for three pointers in a season with 207 (7.1 per game) ... UALR currently ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference with a .407 three-point field goal percentage and is averaging 10.5 made three pointers at home.

LEADING THE WAY

      Junior Solomon Bozeman has scored in double figures in all six games this year and is coming off a season-high 22-point performance against Cal Poly on Saturday ... A transfer from South Florida, Bozeman is averaging team highs of 15.7 points and 4.2 assists per game, while shooting 48.4 percent from three-point range (15-of-31) ... Over the previous seven seasons, UALR has had just one player average over 15.0 points per game, as Brandon Freeman averaged 16.3 ppg during the 2004-05 campaign.

SMALL BALL

      UALR rolled out its third different starting lineup of the season on Saturday and despite having just one player over 6-4, the Trojans were able to play to a +7 rebounding margin against Cal Poly ... Senior Mike Smith led the way on the glass with a season-high 11 rebounds while junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza added seven boards ... Smith leads the team in rebounding this season at 6.2 rebounds per game, followed by Garcia-Mendoza at 5.8 rpg.

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 welcomes Missouri State to the Jack Stephens Center on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.