It’s early yet – a disclaimer often uttered lately when getting into some early impressions of teams and conferences – but one conference whose standings don’t look much like the preseason poll is the Sun Belt Conference. Most notably, the team picked next-to-last is alone in first place, and by two games, but it doesn’t stop there.
Little Rock was picked 11th in the 12-team conference, just behind in-state rival Arkansas State and ahead of only Troy. But perhaps that was an odd selection in the first place considering the Trojans return four starters from last season’s team under second-year head coach Darrell Walker. While they went 10-21 a year ago, this team wasn’t going to be full of youth with just three freshmen on the roster. Included on this roster is a pair of sophomores that form a solid inside-outside combination in guard Markquis Nowell and big man Nikola Maric, both of who got a chance to play as freshmen last year. Maric has not played this season due to an amateurism-related suspension, but he is eligible to return in their next game on Thursday.
The Sun Belt is a tough, often well-balanced conference, though, so even returning as much as they did only says so much. But after beating Georgia Southern 79-73 on Monday night, they are 5-0 in Sun Belt play and two games up on everyone else. In this one, they got a big game from Ruot Monyyong with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
The Trojans have won six in a row overall and now have knocked off two teams picked in the top four in three nights, having knocked off UT Arlington on Saturday behind Kamani Johnson (30 points, 12 rebounds) and Nowell (29 points). Each Sun Belt game has been close, as their biggest margin of victory came on Monday night; three have been one-possession games. They are holding opponents under 42 percent from the field on the season and out-rebounding them by five a game, which helps them overcome turning the ball over 16.5 times per outing, a stat that can come back to haunt them if they don’t nip that in the bud.
And again, all of this has come without their second-leading returning scorer.
Five teams, including the Trojans’ opponent on Monday night, are 3-2 in early Sun Belt play. UT Arlington, picked second in the preseason poll behind South Alabama, is tied with Texas State (picked fourth in the preseason poll) for last at 1-4 after losing to South Alabama on Monday night thanks to allowing the Jaguars to shoot over 53 percent from the field. Georgia State lost at Arkansas State 90-87 on Monday night and joins the group at 3-2, as does Appalachian State after Louisiana went to Boone and beat them 81-73.
A lot can change in a short time, especially with the Trojans playing three of their next four on the road. They have pulled out close games thus far, something that can either continue or see an abrupt end. But thus far, they are part of the Sun Belt standings looking a little different than many expected, and with one of their best players about to return, they have put themselves in a nice spot in the early going.
Side Dishes
The only power conference game on the night saw West Virginia go to Stillwater and come away with a solid 55-41 win over Oklahoma State, the fifth loss in seven games for the Cowboys. As the score suggests, this was a defensive struggle, with both teams shooting below 39 percent and combining for 39 turnovers. Oklahoma State missed their first 16 three-point attempts en route to going 1-20 from deep on the evening, and in all this was the kind of game West Virginia can win just about any time.
Norfolk State went to Coppin State and blew out the Eagles 82-59 and Morgan State handled visiting South Carolina State 77-63 to go to 2-0 in early MEAC play. Colgate edged Army 70-65 in the lone Patriot League game on the night to go to 2-0 there. In the SWAC, Grambling (68-63 home winners over Alabama State) and Prairie View A&M (64-54 winners over visiting Southern) moved to 2-0 on the night as well in the early going.
Duke will be without Wendell Moore Jr. for a while after he underwent surgery to repair a broken right hand suffered late in Saturday night’s romp over Miami. It’s not known how long the freshman forward might be out of action, but he is expected to return before the season is over.
Syracuse has lost a player, but in their case, Robert Braswell is done for the season due to nagging pain in his shins that has persisted all season. It was decided that the best course of action was to take the rest of the season off to rest and seek a medical redshirt, which he is eligible for since he has played in just seven games. The Orange were looking to the sophomore to be a key complementary player offensively, and this is one more hit to their depth as well.
Tonight’s Menu
The action picks up tonight, with a couple of late games out west included.
- The big game of the night comes early on, a pivotal Big Ten matchup as Ohio State visits Maryland hoping to end their two-game skid (7 p.m.)
- In other Big Ten action, Rutgers hosts Penn State (also at 7 p.m.) and Nebraska welcomes Iowa (9 p.m.)
- In ACC action, Louisville hosts Miami and Boston College hosts Virginia early on (7 p.m.), then Syracuse hosts Virginia Tech later (9 p.m.)
- Houston visits Temple in a good early matchup in the American Athletic Conference (7 p.m.)
- Two games are on tap in the Big 12, with Baylor at Texas Tech being the better of the two while Kansas State hosts TCU, both at 9 p.m.
- Big East play has Providence going to Marquette (7 p.m.) and Creighton hosting Villanova (9 p.m.)
- The best game in the Missouri Valley looks to be Drake hosting Loyola-Chicago (9 p.m.), while Rider visits Quinnipiac in a good early MAAC tilt (7 p.m.)
- SEC play features Florida at South Carolina and Tennessee at Missouri early on (7 p.m.) with Kentucky at Georgia and Ole Miss at Texas A&M later (9 p.m.)
- Closing out the night is a pair of Mountain West games as Air Force hosts Utah State and New Mexico hosts Fresno State, both tipping at 11 p.m.
