The Records: Arkansas State (0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt).  The Red Wolves dropped a 74-61 season-opening decision to Dayton last Saturday (11/10) afternoon at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.   Arkansas-Monticello (1-0, 0-0 Great American).  The Boll Weevils recorded an 87-65 non-league home win over Champion Baptist last Friday (11/9) in their season opener at Steelman Fieldhouse in Monticello, Ark.  UAM posted a 21-9 overall record with a third-place 10-6 ledger in the Great American Conference last season.  The Boll Weevils were 7-5 on the road, 11-2 at home, and 3-2 at neutral sites in 2011-12.  

The Coaches: Arkansas State – John Brady (Bellhaven, 1976), 5th season, 61-67 (.477); Career - 342-283 (.547) – (0-0 vs. UAM).  Brady was named the 2009-10 SBC Coach of the Year and the District VII Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).  He served six seasons (1991-97) as head coach at Samford and then spent 10-plus seasons (1997-08) in a head coaching capacity at LSU.  Brady guided LSU to two SEC Championship titles along with four NCAA Tournament appearances, which included a Final Four appearance in the 2005-06 season.  Arkansas-Monticello  – Allen Sharpe (Lipscomb, 2000), 3rd season, 36-21 (.632) – (0-0 vs. ASU).  Sharpe, who's the 14^th coach in UAM's history, led the Boll Weevils to 14-13 (2010-11) and 21-9 (2011-12) records in his initial two seasons.  He spent the previous five seasons (2005-10) as head coach at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Ala., and registered a 136-30 overall record to go with a top ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Top 25 poll.  Prior to WSCC, Sharpe served three seasons (2002-05) as head coach at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga.  His father (Gary) was one of UAM's most successful coaches and is tied for third-most wins in the school's history.

About Arkansas-Monticello: The Boll Weevils are led by senior guard Kori Forge, who was second among the team's 2011-12 scoring leaders at 17.1 ppg.  Senior forward Deric Corbin is also back after leading UAM with a squad-best 6.4 rebounds per game.  Forge totaled 17 points with seven boards in the win against Champion Baptist as junior guard Michael Maya's 21 points led UAM.  Maya also distributed a game-high five assists in the opener.  Senior forward A.J. Calhoun grabbed a team-high eight boards to go with two blocked shots against Champion Baptist.

All-Time Series: ASU holds an 8-3 advantage over Arkansas-Monticello in a series which originated in the 1927-28 season.  The two teams most recent regular-season meeting occurred in the 1957-58 campaign when ASU prevailed 69-65.  A-State suffered a 71-66 exhibition home loss to the Boll Weevils in the 2004-05 season (11/7/04) in the most recent matchup between the two in-state schools.

Point of Note: This Tuesday's (Nov. 13) non-conference contest will serve as a regular-season game for the Red Wolves, but will count as an exhibition for the Boll Weevils due to the two in-state schools competing at different NCAA Division levels.  Arkansas State is a NCAA Division I member while UAM holds NCAA Division II membership and is allowed to play up to three exhibitions versus Division I opponents.

Home Openers: The Red Wolves are 12-3 (.800 win pct.) in their last 15 home openers and are coming off a 77-46 loss to Missouri State in last season's (11/15) home-opening tilt which ended a three-game win streak in such contests.  ASU claimed an 85-42 triumph over Lyon College in its 2010-11 home opener (12/6).  ASU head coach John Brady is 3-1 in home openers at A-State as the Red Wolves are averaging 78.0 points (312 total) a game to the opposition's 53.0 points (212 total) an outing for a +25 points differential.  A-State has scored at least 70 points in its home openers on nine occasions since 2001 and has averaged 90.8 points per contest in those high-scoring outings.

ASU Picked Second: Arkansas State was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division as a result of the 2012-13 SBC Coaches' Preseason Poll.  The Red Wolves received 40 points in the balloting to placed second behind favorite North Texas, which picked up 55 points and 11 first-place votes.  Middle Tennessee was predicted to capture the East Division crown by claiming 11 first-place votes and 55 points.

All-SBC Preseason: A trio of ASU seniors, guards Trey Finn and Marcus Hooten along with forward Brandon Peterson were named to the 2012-13 Sun Belt Conference Preseason All-Conference Teams as selected by the league's head coaches.  Finn earned first team honors while Peterson garnered second-team laurels.  Hooten attained third-team conference preseason recognition.

Non-Conference Play: A-State has accumulated a 40-46 record (.465 win pct.) to date, which was highlighted by a season-best 8-4 non-league in 2008-09 – 5-0 at home and 3-4 on the road.  The Red Wolves are 27-6 at home, 7-31 on the road, and 6-9 at neutral sites since the 2006-07 campaign.  ASU produced an 8-10 record in non-league encounters a season ago, which included a 5-2 home ledger.

November Games: A-State has assembled a 12-17 record in November games dating back to the 2007-08 season.  ASU is 8-3 at home, 4-10 on the road, and 0-4 at neutral sites during that span.  Last November, Trey Finn and Brandon Peterson led the squad in scoring at 12.0 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. The pair also averaged 6.7 rebounds a game apiece in those six outings for the month.

Notable Debut: Junior forward Kendrick Washington narrowly missed a double-double in his A-State debut last Saturday (11/10) at Dayton with a team-high 15 points and a game-best nine rebounds in 37 minutes of action.  Washington, who sat out last season due to the NCAA Division I Transfer Rule after transferring prior to the 2011-12 season from the University of Houston, connected on 7-of-13 shots from the floor while grabbing five offensive rebounds with two assists.   He was tabbed as the 2012-13 Blue Ribbon Yearbook's Newcomer of the Year.

Climbing The Charts: Senior forward Brandon Peterson moved into 14th place on A-State's all-time rebounding list with eight boards in the 74-61 season-opening loss at Dayton  (11/10).  Peterson, who presently has amassed 593 career rebounds in 97 games, surpassed Marvin Jarrett's (1976-80) 588 career rebounds total and is now four boards away from tying Jaban Myles (1997-98; 597 total) for 13th place on the school's career rebounding leaders chart.

Moving Up: Trey Finn moved into a 20th-place among ASU's career rebounding leaders with four boards at Dayton last Saturday (11/10).  Finn has racked up 526 boards to date and is presently tied with Isaac Wells (2005-07; 526 career).  Finn is now nine rebounds away from matching Shawn Morgan's (2006-09) 19th-place 535 career caroms. 

Down-Townsel: Junior guard Ed Townsel netted 14 points off the bench at Dayton (11/10), which included hitting three of six treys in the game.  A season ago, Townsel didn't register double-figure points in a contest until his sixth game with a 20-points effort against Southeast Missouri State (11/29).  He garnered 11 double-digit scoring outings last season, which featured a six-game stretch (11/29-12/17).   

No Place Like Home: A-State has produced a 246-94 regular-season home mark (.724%) since the 1987-88 season and has posted double-digit home victories 14 times in a single season, including a 10-5 home ledger in 2011-12.

November Games: A-State is currently 12-17 in November games dating back to the 2007-08 season.  ASU is 8-3 at home,  4-10 on the road, and 0-4 at neutral sites during that span.  Last November, Trey Finn and Brandon Peterson led A-State in scoring with 12.0 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. The pair also averaged 6.7 rebounds a game apiece in those six outings for the month.

Primed For Success: Five of the 2011-12 squad's top six scorers are back for the 2012-13 season, including the Red Wolves' top points leader in Marcus Hooten (12.5 ppg.).  The five, which includes four starters, accounted for 68.7% (1,510-2,198) of A-State's scoring last season.

Last Time Out: The Red Wolves dropped a 74-61 season-opening decision to Dayton last Saturday (11/10) at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.  The Red Wolves, who trailed 34-27 at the half, were able to get within nine points (58-49) on a 10-2 ASU scoring spurt with 6:33 remaining in the game. But, the Flyers came back by outscoring ASU 7-2 to take a 65-51 lead just under five minutes to go.  A-State was able to narrow the gap below double digits at nine (67-58) on a pair of Golden free throws with 1:50 remaining before the Flyers closed out the contest scoring seven of last 11 points.

Junior forward Kendrick Washington paced A-State with 15 points in his Red Wolves' debut and junior guard Ed Townsel chipped in 14 points off the bench as the pair were the only Red Wolves' players to attain double-figure scoring.  Senior forward Brandon Peterson and freshman guard Cameron Golden tossed in eight points apiece.  Peterson also contributed a game-high three blocked shots.



Dayton held a 33-30 edge in rebounding over A-State, which was led by Kendrick Washington's game-high nine boards (five offensive).  Peterson also was productive on the glass with eight caroms. 

The Red Wolves finished with 14 offensive rebounds for the contest.  ASU struggled from the floor in shooting at 39.3% (22-56) while Dayton registered a 52.8% (28-53) efficiency mark, which featured 50.0% (8-16)from beyond the three-point arc.  A-State was 11-of-16 (68.8%) at the free throw stripe and the Flyers hit 10-of-14 (71.4%) of their free throws. 

A Season Ago: A-State concluded the 2011-12 campaign at 14-20 overall and posted a fifth-place 6-10 mark in the Sun Belt Conference's (SBC) West Division.  The Red Wolves were 10-5 at home, 2-14 on the road, and 2-1 at neutral sites a season ago.

Up Next: ASU will be on the road for its next two non-conference contests, starting this Friday (Nov. 16) against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks at 7 p.m. (CT) in Martin, Tenn.  The Red Wolves then venture to Conway, Ark., on Wednesday, Nov. 21, to take on the Central Arkansas Bears in a 7 p.m. (CT)  matchup.