NCAA Basketball: Unlikeliest Conference Tournament runs of the Decade

By Joey Loose | Mar 2, 2019

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 12: The Connecticut Huskies celebrate with their trophy after defeating the Louisville Cardinals during the championship of the 2011 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament presented by American Eagle Outfitters at Madison Square Garden on March 12, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) /

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DAYTON, OH – MARCH 15: Alex Garcia-Mendoza #21 of the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans reacts with teammates after a play against the North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs during the first round of the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at UD Arena on March 15, 2011 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

9. Arkansas-Little Rock (2011 Sun Belt, W5-seed) (15-16, 7-9)

A few years before Chris Beard led this team to a Tourney upset of Purdue, the Little Rock Trojans were just a middling Sun Belt team. Back in 2011, the Sun Belt used two 6-team divisions for seeding purposes and the Trojans were the 5th team in the west. The Trojans traveled less than 50 miles to get to the Sun Belt Tournament in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but this was not a team expected to do much damage when they got there. They had lost their last three games and momentum was not in their favor.

Their debut was against a weak South Alabama squad that had the E4-seed. A 28-point outing from Sun Belt Player of the Year Solomon Bozeman was enough to pace the Trojans, who led by 11 at the half and shot impressively, knocking down 49% of their field goals and 83% of their free throws. The following day’s game was against Arkansas State, the W1-seed, and a team that had already knocked off the Trojans twice in this season. Fortunately, round three went in the Trojans’ favor despite a poor shooting outing from Bozeman.

In the semifinal, they drew a Middle Tennessee team that they had beaten a few weeks earlier. This time, their defense did the dirty work, limiting the Blue Raiders to just 19 points in the first half. Bozeman was a machine drawing fouls, making 19 of his 22 free throws and his 25 points were more than enough in a 9-point win. The Trojans were heading to the Sun Belt title game.

North Texas was waiting for them, and they were ready to fight. The teams played evenly throughout, tied at the half, but the Trojans fell behind late. They clawed back in the final two minutes, having been down by seven. Bozeman (20 points) once again led the way, hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to send the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament. They forced 16 North Texas turnovers and made just enough shots to finish their unexpected run.

For the first time in 21 years, the Trojans were part of the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, their run would end in an overtime loss to UNC Asheville in the First Four. Nobody expected this team to win four games in four days, especially as their season ended with a string of losses. Bozeman played like the star that he was for this team and game-winning shot will forever be a part of Trojans basketball lore.

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