# 2015–16 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas at Little Rock during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Trojans, led by first-year head coach Chris Beard, played their home games at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Arkansas and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 30–5, 17–3 in Sun Belt play to win the Sun Belt regular season championship. They defeated Louisiana–Lafayette and Louisiana–Monroe to win the Sun Belt tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In the Tournament as a No. 12 seed, they defeated Purdue in the first round before losing in the second round to Iowa State.
This was the first season in which the school used "Little Rock" as its athletic brand; previously, it had alternately used "Arkansas–Little Rock" and "UALR".
Following the season, first-year head coach Chris Beard left the school to accept the head coaching position at Texas Tech. On March 31, 2016, the school hired Wes Flanigan as head coach.

## Previous season

The Trojans finished the 2014–15 season 13–18, 8–12 in Sun Belt play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament to South Alabama.
On March 18, 2015, head coach Steve Shields was fired. He compiled a record of 192–178 in eight seasons. In early April, the school hired Chris Beard as head coach.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/07/2015* 7:00 pm | | UA–Fort Smith | W 70–60 | | Jack Stephens Center Little Rock, AR |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 3:00 pm | | Central Baptist | W 76–57 | 1–0 | Jack Stephens Center (1,936) Little Rock, AR |
| 11/18/2015* 5:15 pm | | Centenary | W 95–49 | 2–0 | Jack Stephens Center (2,275) Little Rock, AR |
| 11/21/2015* 3:00 pm, FSSD | | at San Diego State Las Vegas Invitational | W 49–43 | 3–0 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| 11/26/2015* 1:00 pm | | vs. East Carolina Las Vegas Invitational | W 54–46 | 4–0 | Orleans Arena (3,125) Paradise, NV |
| 11/28/2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Tulsa | W 64–60 | 5–0 | Reynolds Center (3,821) Tulsa, OK |
| 12/01/2015* 7:00 pm | | Central Arkansas | W 79–73 | 6–0 | Jack Stephens Center (3,638) Little Rock, AR |
| 12/05/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Idaho | W 64–54 | 7–0 | Cowan Spectrum (1,154) Moscow, ID |
| 12/12/2015* 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | W 66–44 | 8–0 | McGrath–Phillips Arena (1,740) Chicago, IL |
| 12/16/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Central Arkansas | W 77–54 | 9–0 | Farris Center (3,055) Conway, AR |
| 12/20/2015* 1:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 84–57 | 10–0 | Jack Stephens Center (3,130) Little Rock, AR |
| 12/21/2015* 2:00 pm, FSSW | | at Texas Tech | L 53–65 | 10–1 | United Supermarkets Arena (5,955) Lubbock, TX |
| 12/30/2015 7:00 pm | | at South Alabama | W 69–60 | 11–1 (1–0) | Mitchell Center (2,314) Mobile, AL |
| 01/02/2016 4:15 pm | | at Troy | W 67–61 | 12–1 (2–0) | Trojan Arena (1,223) Troy, AL |
| 01/07/2016 7:15 pm | | Louisiana–Lafayette | W 77–57 | 13–1 (3–0) | Jack Stephens Center (3,218) Little Rock, AR |
| 01/09/2016 6:00 pm | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 58–57 | 14–1 (4–0) | Jack Stephens Center (3,629) Little Rock, AR |
| 01/14/2016 7:15 pm | | Appalachian State | W 81–55 | 15–1 (5–0) | Jack Stephens Center (3,543) Little Rock, AR |
| 01/18/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Arkansas State | L 73–76 | 15–2 (5–1) | Convocation Center (2,136) Jonesboro, AR |
| 01/21/2016 7:30 pm | | at Texas State | W 77–74 $^{OT}$ | 16–2 (6–1) | Strahan Coliseum (3,357) San Marcos, TX |
| 01/23/2016 7:15 pm | | at UT Arlington | W 68–62 | 17–2 (7–1) | College Park Center (5,033) Arlington, TX |
| 01/28/2016 7:15 pm | | Georgia Southern | W 80–67 | 18–2 (8–1) | Jack Stephens Center (3,078) Little Rock, AR |
| 01/30/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Georgia State | W 63–53 | 19–2 (9–1) | Jack Stephens Center (4,682) Little Rock, AR |
| 02/04/2016 7:15 pm | | Troy | W 72–49 | 20–2 (10–1) | Jack Stephens Center (3,385) Little Rock, AR |
| 02/06/2016 6:00 pm | | South Alabama | W 74–43 | 21–2 (11–1) | Jack Stephens Center (3,959) Little Rock, AR |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm | | at Louisiana–Monroe | L 82–86 | 21–3 (11–2) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (3,761) Monroe, LA |
| 02/13/2016 4:15 pm | | at Louisiana–Lafayette | W 68–64 | 22–3 (12–2) | Cajundome (5,347) Lafayette, LA |
| 02/18/2016 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Georgia State | W 57–49 | 23–3 (13–2) | GSU Sports Arena (1,516) Atlanta, GA |
| 02/20/2016 6:00 pm | | at Georgia Southern | W 75–61 | 24–3 (14–2) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,702) Statesboro, GA |
| 02/25/2016 7:15 pm | | UT Arlington | W 72–60 | 25–3 (15–2) | Jack Stephens Center (5,253) Little Rock, AR |
| 02/27/2016 6:00 pm | | Texas State | W 73–68 | 26–3 (16–2) | Jack Stephens Center (5,168) Little Rock, AR |
| 03/01/2016 7:15 pm | | Arkansas State | W 89–80 | 27–3 (17–2) | Jack Stephens Center (5,619) Little Rock, AR |
| 03/03/2016 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Appalachian State | L 63–69 | 27–4 (17–3) | Holmes Center (1,112) Boone, NC |
| Sun Belt tournament ||||||
| 03/12/2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (4) Louisiana–Lafayette Semifinals | W 72–65 | 28–4 | Lakefront Arena New Orleans, LA |
| 03/13/2016 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (2) Louisiana–Monroe Championship | W 70–50 | 29–4 | Lakefront Arena (1,665) New Orleans, LA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2016* 3:20 pm, TBS | (12 MW) | vs. (5 MW) No. 12 Purdue First Round | W 85–83 $^{2OT}$ | 30–4 | Pepsi Center (19,499) Denver, CO |
| 03/19/2016* 5:10 pm, TNT | (12 MW) | vs. (4 MW) No. 22 Iowa State Second Round | L 61–78 | 30–5 | Pepsi Center (19,551) Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||