Game #29
Lindenwood (8-20, 2-13 OVC)
vs. Little Rock (17-11, 11-4 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024
Location: St. Charles, Mo.
Venue: Hyland Arena
Tip-Off: 3:30 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: 2-1
Last Meeting: L, 66-80
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: Watch
Radio: Listen

Matchup
The Lindenwood men's basketball team will play their final game inside of Hyland Arena on Saturday when they face the Trojans of Little Rock at 3:30 p.m. CT. The Lions will honor four of their seniors on Saturday for Senior Day prior to the start of the game.

The Lions are coming off a 106-82 loss on Thursday at home against the second place UT Martin Skyhawks. Lindenwood had one of their best offensive performances in the loss scoring 82 points, their most against a Division I team this season. They also had five double-figure scorers including 17 from Keenon Cole.

Little Rock is currently tied for second place with UT Martin with an 11-4 conference record. The Trojans currently have the longest win streak in the OVC winning their past six games including a 83-62 win on Thursday against SEMO. LR defeated Lindenwood earlier this season in Little Rock by a score of 80-66.

During OVC competition, the Lions are averaging 63.5 ppg which ranks 11th among all OVC teams. They are shooting 39.3% during those games which also ranks 11th. Throughout the entire season, LU is averaging 645.4 points a game behind the Lion's two leading scorers Keenon Cole (18.3 ppg) and Darius Beane (12.3 ppg). The duo combines for 46.8% of Lindenwood's scoring.

To begin the season, the Lions were picked to finish 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference as they begin their second Division I season in program history under head coach Kyle Gerdeman.

Player to Watch
Keenon Cole has been the leading scorer for the Lions all season averaging 18.3 points in his senior season. The two-year forward has started all 28 games scoring in double-digits in all but one game this season which happened last Saturday as Eastern Illinois (9 points, 1-11 FG).

Cole has scored over 20 points 10 times this season including six times in conference play. He scored a career-high 42 points earlier this season in at win at SEMO and was named OVC Player of the Week and USBWA National Player of the Week. Cole is coming of a 17-point performance against UT Martin and one was of five players to score in double digits.

In the OVC, Cole ranks fourth in scoring only behind UT Martin's Jordan Sears (19.9 ppg)/Jacob Crews (18.6) and MSU's Riley Minix (20.3). He also ranks 8th in rebounding (6.3 rpg), 9th in FG% (40.9%), 9th in FT% (80.6%) and third in minutes played (34.2 mpg).

OVC Preseason Rankings
In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2023-24 season. It marks the second-straight year the Eagles have been tabbed the favorites.
 
The Eagles picked up 20 of 22 first-place votes (teams could not vote for themselves); Tennessee State picked up the other votes.  MSU tallied 200 points and was followed by SIUE (162), who was picked second. Tennessee State (153) was picked third and followed by UT Martin (149), Southeast Missouri (124), Tennessee Tech (120), Little Rock (85), Western Illinois (80), Southern Indiana (63), Lindenwood (40) and Eastern Illinois (34).

Scouting Little Rock
The Trojans are led by six-year head coach Darrell Walker. Walker has a career record of 78-97 while at Little Rock. His team averages the second most points in the OVC averaging 77.4 ppg. They also let up the second most points allowing 74.3 ppg.

Jamir Champlin and KK Robinson both average 15.9 points per game this season for Little Rock. Robinson also leads the team with 101 assists.

Head Coach: Kyle Gerdeman
Kyle Gerdeman enters his fifth year at the helm of the Lindenwood men's basketball program in the 2023-24 season. The Lions concluded their inaugural Division I season in 2022-23 where Gerdeman led the Lions to an appearances in the OVC Tournament after a wild finish to the season.

The Lions took down in-state rival Southeast Missouri State in double-overtime to keep their postseason hopes alive.  In the final game of the regular season, Lindenwood needed a win to move on, and Kevin Caldwell Jr. answered the call with a game-winning bucket in overtime.

Lindenwood led the OVC in free-throw percentage (75.6), and was second in the OVC in three-point percentage (39.1).  Chris Childs held the top spot in the league with a free-throw percentage of 92.7, while Keenon Cole was atop the OVC with a three-point percentage of 51.0 percent.  The Lions clawed their way to three overtime wins on the season.  Lindenwood also posted two comeback victories from 20 points down, and another 17-point comeback during OVC play.

Up Next
The Lions hit the road for the final time next week as they travel to Southern Indiana and Morehead State starting on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.