Injuries give others court time

It’s never ideal to play shorthanded, much less so when you’re going up against the No. 10 team in the nation.

That was the case, however, when the University of Arkansas at Little Rock met the University of Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville. The Trojans had only seven players available, with their most notable absence being standout big man Nikola Maric, who will be out multiple weeks with a hamstring injury suffered Nov. 22 against Northern Illinois.

“We missed him [against Arkansas],” UALR Coach Darrell Walker said of Maric. “We can throw the ball into him and he can score or get fouled down in the post. We didn’t have that option, and that’s just the way it is. We’re just trying to figure out how we’re going to win some basketball games.”

The Trojans (4-5) have one victory since taking three straight at home to open the season — two of which came against non-Division I opponents. All five of UALR’s losses have been on the road, and two of them were against unbeaten teams Colorado State and Arkansas.

But the Trojans have a shot to get back to .500 tonight as they host Missouri State (4-4) at the Jack Stephens Center.

But they’ll have to do it without the services of Maric, C.J. White and DeAntoni Gordon, who are each averaging doubledigit minutes per game this season.

“Hopefully some of that competitive spirit we had in Fayetteville, we can bring down here for two games at home,” Walker said, noting that UALR was within single digits of the Razorbacks in the final 10 minutes.

The biggest beneficiary of the Trojans’ injuries has been guard Isaiah Palermo. The junior from Kissimmee, Fla., made nine combined starts over his first two seasons at UALR but has started four games already this season and is leading the team with 12.9 points per game despite averaging 23.8 minutes.

Palmero posted 17 points and 10 rebounds at Arkansas and has shown his coach more than enough for Walker to keep Palermo a significant part of the Trojans’ rotation when some of their key pieces return over the coming weeks.

“He’s started to show some leadership out there on the court,” Walker said of Palermo. “He’s not afraid, he’s rebounding the ball, he’s fast. He’s just doing a little bit of everything, man, and we need that from him.”