LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball was stopped by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 80-62, Saturday afternoon at Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Screaming Eagles fall to 7-20 overall and 4-10 in OVC play, while the Trojans are 16-11 overall, 10-4 OVC.
Â
Despite the loss, USI remains eighth in the league and in the race to secure a spot in the OVC Tournament in March. The Eagles are tied for eighth at 4-10 with Tennessee Tech University, while Southeast Missouri State University is a game behind USI with four games to play in the 2023-24 season. USI, which currently owns the tiebreaker with TTU, and SEMO are scheduled to face off at Screaming Eagles Arena on the last day of the regular season.
Â
The top eight teams at the end of OVC play advance to the league tournament March 6-9 at the Ford Center in Evansville. USI has three games on the road remaining before hosting a pair on the final weekend of conference play. Â
Â
USI fell behind quickly in the opening half as Little Rock scored the first seven points of the game and had an early 12-2 lead. The Eagles rallied to cut the deficit to single-digits three times by the midway point of the first half, but the Trojans took a 38-26 lead into the intermission. Sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) kept the Eagles in the contest through the first 20 minutes, scoring 13 of the team’s 26 points.
Â
The Eagles kept pace with the Trojans in the second half but could not gain ground. USI was never able to cut the deficit to single-digits, slipping to within 10 points, 38-28, with the opening bucket of the final 20 minutes. Little Rock led USI in the second half by as many as 19 points before closing out the 80-62 decision.
Â
Smith was the only Eagle to reach double-digits in scoring, adding 10 second half points for a game-high 25 in the loss.
Â
Next Up For USI:
USI starts the second half of the four-game road swing Tuesday when it visits OVC front running Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. Tipoff is set of 6:30 p.m.
