Little Rock’s Jack Stephens Center was put on a national stage for the first time Monday night. But its main tenant didn’t seem ready for such a spotlight.
In front of a national ESPN2 audience and a vocal crowd of 3,739, Louisiana-Lafayette used a lengthy run over four minutes of the first half to take control and cruised to a 69-52 Sun Belt Conference victory.
It was the Trojans’ first home loss to a Sun Belt team in 13 games and came against a Ragin’ Cajuns team that they beat three times on the way to the NCAA Tournament last season.
UALR got to within 63-45 after two Maurius Hill free throws with 5:00 left, but UALR wasn’t able to find consistent offense or defense until well too late.
Kemy Ossee had 15 points for the Trojans, who have equaled their loss total from last season.