The Records: Arkansas State (4-3, 0-2 Sun Belt).  The Red Wolves opened Sun Belt Conference (SBC) action in Florida this past week and dropped both of their conference contests.  ASU suffered an 80-61 loss to FIU last Thursday (11/29) in Miami, Fla., and then was dealt a 72-65 setback by Florida Atlantic on Saturday (12/1) in Boca, Raton, Fla.  A-State is 2-0 at home, 2-3 on the road, and 0-0 at neutral sites this season.  St. Bonaventure (5-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10).  The Bonnies extended their winning streak to two with a 58-43 home non-league win over Siena on Tuesday (12/4) in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.  SBU, which won three of its initial four games to start the season, is 3-0 at home, 1-2 on the road, and 1-0 at neutral sites this season.

The Coaches: Arkansas State – John Brady (Bellhaven, 1976), 5^th season, 65-69 (.485); Career - 346-285 (.548) – (1-0 vs. SBU).  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.  St. Bonaventure – Mark Schmidt (Boston College, 1985), 6th season, 79-82 (.491); Career: 12^th season, 161-172 (.483) – (0-1 vs. ASU).  Schmidt became the 19th coach in the program's history in April 2007 after serving in the same capacity at Robert Morris for six seasons (2001-07).  He was recognized as the 2012 Sporting News Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year and the 2012 Basketball Coaches Association of New York Men's Division I Coach of the Year.  Prior to SBU, Schmidt was head coach at Robert Morris for six seasons (2001-07) and spent seven (1994-01) as an assistant at Xavier.  He also completed assistant coaching stints at Loyola. Md. (1993-94), Penn State (1991-93), and St. Michael's (1989-91). 

About St. Bonaventure: Senior guard-forward Chris Johnson (15.3 ppg.) is tops among three players averaging double-figure points.  A pair of seniors, forward Demitrius Conger (14.6 ppg.) and guard Eric Mosley (10.4 ppg.) are also averaging double digits in points.  Mosley presently ranks seventh nationally in three-point field goal percentage (54.8%) and is 47th in three-point field goals made per contest (2.83) for the Bonnies, who are listed 36th in the nation for three-point field goal percentage (39.8%).  A season ago, St. Bonaventure posted a 20-12 overall record to go with a third-place tying 10-6 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference.  The Bonnies claimed their first Atlantic 10 Conference Championship title and clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2000 before falling to Florida State in second round NCAA Tourney play (3/11/12) at Nashville, Tenn.             

All-Time Series:  The Red Wolves lead 1-0 in the all-time series after recording a 58-52 victory at St. Bonaventure this past season (12/1/11) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.  Ed Townsel and Trey Finn netted 13 and 12 points, respectively in the A-State win while Brandon Peterson had a game-high tying nine rebounds. 

Non-Conference Games: The Red Wolves have compiled a present 44-46 record (.489) since 2006-07, which includes a season-high 8-4 non-league mark in the 2008-09 season – 6-0 at home and 3-4 on the road.  A-State has assembled a 29-6 ledger at home, 9-31 on the road, and 6-9 at neutral sites since 2006-07.   ASU head coach John Brady is 32-31 (.508) in non-conference encounters dating back to his arrival at A-State in the 2008-09 campaign – 20-5 at home, 8-19 on the road, and 4-7 at neutral sites.

Double-Double: Senior forward Brandon Peterson registered his third double-double of this season with 10 points and rebounds apiece at Florida Atlantic on Saturday (12/1).  Peterson, who totaled 10 points with nine boards at FIU last Thursday (11/29), tallied his first double-double of 2012-13 against Arkansas-Monticello (11/13) with a 12-point, 15-rebound performance.  He netted 12 points and grabbed 13 boards against Lamar (11/25) for his second double-double of this campaign.  The Red Wolves' frontcourt player is also midst a current six game streak for double-digit points and is averaging 11.5 points a game (69 total) during that span.

Streak Ends: Junior guard Ed Townsel had his season-opening six-game double-figure points streak snapped after posting five points at Florida Atlantic (12/1).  Townsel tallied double-digit points in each of his initial six contests this season, highlighted by a career game-high 27 points against Lamar (11/25).  He accumulated 11 double-digit scoring contests a season ago in 34 games, which included a six-game string (11/29-12/17). 

Top Ten: Brandon Peterson's 10 rebounds at Florida Atlantic (12/1) moved him into 10th place on ASU's all-time rebounding leaders list with 656 career boards to date in 103 contests.  Peterson surpassed Jim Ward's (1953-55) 650 career caroms. 

Seeing Double: Freshman guard Raeford “Gator” Worsham has double-digit points in three of his last four outings after tallying 10 points off the bench at Florida Atlantic (12/1).  Worsham, who went scoreless at FIU (11/29), scored a season-most 18 points at Central Arkansas (11/21) and had 13 points versus Lamar (11/25).

December Matchups: A-State is presently 25-20 (.556) in December encounters since the 2007-08 season as the Red Wolves are 20-4 at home, 4-16 on the road, and 1-0 at neutral sites.  ASU's best record during that span was a 5-3 mark both in the 2008-09 (4-0 at home) and 2010-11 (5-0 at home) seasons.

Class Cleaners: ASU's top two rebounders this season, Brandon Peterson (10.1 rpg.) and junior forward Kendrick Washington (6.0 rpg.) have presently combined to account for 47.9 percent (113-236) of the Red Wolves' production this season.

Home Cookin': A-State has a current 248-94 (.725) regular-season home mark since 1987-88 and has posted double-digit home victories 14 times in a single season, including a 10-5 home ledger in 2011-12.  The Red Wolves are 2-0 in home encounters to date this campaign.

NCAA Stats Leaders: The Red Wolves are presently ranked 43rd nationally in steals per game (9.1 avg.) and 47th in three-point field goals per game (7.9 avg.) thru Dec. 2 games.  ASU is listed 88th in three-point field goal percentage (36.4%) and 99th in blocked shots per contest (4.3).  Individually, Ed Townsel is 21st in three-point field goals made (3.1 avg.), 36th in three-point field goal percentage (44.9%), 162nd in steals (1.8), and 208th in points average (15.3 ppg).  Brandon Peterson ranks 22nd in double doubles (3.0), 24th in rebounding average (10.1 rpg.), and 60th in blocked shots per game (2.0 avg.).

Last Time Out: The Arkansas State University men's basketball team turned in a better performance than in its previous game, but not good enough to come out on top as the Red Wolves suffered a 72-65 conference loss to Florida Atlantic last Saturday (12/1) at Boca Raton, Fla.

The Owls snapped a 58-all tie with just under five minutes to go in the game and never relinquished their lead.  FAU would tally six of the next seven points in the next minute to claim a five-point advantage at 64-59 at the 2:58 mark.  The Red Wolves were able to cut the Owls' lead back to three points on as many occasions, including 66-63 with 38 seconds remaining as freshman guard Cameron Golden sank both free throws.  However, ASU was forced to foul in order to preserve time but the Owls seized the opportunity by making good on all of their final six charity stripe shots to secure the win.

The combination of Greg Gantt and Stefan Moody sparked the Owls with game-best totals of 29 and 22 points, respectively as the duo accounted for 71 percent (51-72) of the team's scoring production.  Gantt scored 23 points in the opening half and Moody tallied 12 in the second frame as the pair were the only two Owls to register double figures.

Arkansas State, which had four players register double digits in the scoring department, was led by Marcus Hooten and Kendrick Washington, who also grabbed eight rebounds. Both produced a squad-leading 12 points as the Red Wolves struggled shooting from the floor at 37.5% (21-56).  Brandon Peterson had a pair of 10's as in points and rebounds to post his third double-double of this season.  Raeford Worsham came off the A-State bench to tally 10 points and had seven boards in 23 minutes.  

The first half, which featured five lead changes and three ties, concluded with ASU having a 33-30 lead at the half as the Red Wolves hit for 44% (11-25) in the opening 20 minutes.  Unfortunately, the Owls came out in the second half by scoring eight consecutive points in the first four-plus minutes to erase a six-point deficit and claim a 38-36 advantage at 16:36.  The second half proved to be A-State's undoing as the Red Wolves allowed FAU to shoot 54.5% (12-22) from the floor and 87.5% (14-16) at the line.  The Owls would finish the contest making good on 46.9% (23-49) in field goals.  On the flip side, ASU managed to connect for only 32.3% (10-31) in the second frame and was 23.1% (3-13) from above the arc en route to a 36.8% (7-19) clip in three-point attempts.

2012-13 Reference Guide Now Online: The 2012-13 A-State men's basketball reference guide is now available to view online in a PDF format and contains information for all devoted Red Wolves fans.  The 110-page publication features such information as 2012-13 student-athlete rosters, season preview, student-athlete biographies, coaching staff bios, 2011-12 season statistics, and all-time series records along with career, season, and game statistical records.  The annual publication is a production of the ASU Sports Information Office under the direction of director Jerry Scott along with assistant directorsChris Graddy and Joe Gorby.  To view the 2012-13 ASU men's basketball publication online, please visit the respective link - 2012-13 Arkansas State Men's Basketball Reference Guide.

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:  Arkansas State continues play on its home floor as the Red Wolves entertain the Austin Peay State Governors on Sunday, Dec. 16, in a 2:05 p.m. (CT) non-conference tilt at the ASU Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark.   ASU wraps up the three-game homestand on Wednesday, Dec. 19, taking on the Murray State Racers at 7:35 p.m. (CT).