Sun Belt leaders headed to Arkansas while injuries mount for UALR

UALR guard Jaizec Lottie (11) has an injured hand and his status for the Trojans’ games against Texas Arlington and Texas State this week is unknown.
UALR guard Jaizec Lottie (11) has an injured hand and his status for the Trojans’ games against Texas Arlington and Texas State this week is unknown.

While the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's men's basketball team's season is looking up, injuries are piling up and the Sun Belt Conference's top two teams are coming to the state this week.

UALR and Arkansas State University will rotate as hosts for Texas-Arlington and Texas State on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Texas schools are tied for first place in the Sun Belt at 8-3.

The Trojans will face Texas-Arlington at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. The Red Wolves and Texas State will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at First National Bank Arena. The matchups will then swap Saturday.

At a time when UALR (9-15, 4-7) and ASU (10-14, 4-7) are all but desperate for wins in order to climb the league's standings, the teams are facing their toughest homestand of the season.

UALR and Arkansas State are in a three-way tie with Troy for ninth place in the Sun Belt at 4-7, a game ahead of last-place Appalachian State.

In their trip to Texas on Jan. 17-19, Arkansas' two Sun Belt schools went a combined 0-4 against Texas State and Texas-Arlington.

Texas State (63.8) and Texas-Arlington (69.8) lead the Sun Belt in scoring defense, the only two teams allowing fewer than 70 points per game.

UALR's two losses in Texas began a season-long five-game losing streak Jan. 17- Feb. 2. The streak included a pair of one-point losses to Coastal Carolina on Jan. 24 and Arkansas State on Feb. 2.

"They've had a lot of tough breaks where they could've won some games and it didn't happen," UALR Coach Darrell Walker said Sunday. "But they stuck together."

UALR went 2-0 against Troy and South Alabama on Thursday and Saturday and secured a Sun Belt road sweep for the first time since Feb. 16-20, 2016, against Georgia State and Georgia Southern.

When asked if the Trojans' first two Sun Belt road wins of the season were inspiring enough to potentially fuel a late climb in the conference standings, Walker, concerned about something else, did not answer.

Instead, he spoke of his team's uncertain health. Starting freshman guard Markquis Nowell (sprained ankle) and sophomore guard Jaizec Lottie (hand) each went down with injuries over the weekend in Alabama. Their status for UALR's important homestand is unknown.

UALR returned from the road trip Sunday. Nowell underwent further tests on his ankle Monday. No timetable has been set for him or Lottie, whose status is unknown until the swelling goes down in his hand.

"We'll move ahead and next man up and get ready for Texas-Arlington on Thursday," Walker said.

Sports on 02/12/2019

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