On TV: This Saturday's (Jan. 26) conference home tilt against Florida Atlantic
will be televised on the Sun Belt Network as Tom Dore calls the action with Bob
Donewald serving as color analyst. The
Sun Belt Network is a joint partnership with
Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST).
Coaches vs. Cancer and Suits and Sneakers Weekend: ASU men's basketball head coach John Brady and members of his coaching staff will be participating in the National Basketball Coaches Association's (NABC) Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneaker Awareness Weekend program this weekend (Jan. 25-27) on a national scale. The A-State men's basketball staff and other participating staffs throughout the nation will wear sneakers instead of dress shoes with their usual game attire during each school's respective game this weekend (Jan. 25-27) to show support for the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the fight against cancer.
A-State fans are encouraged to become a part of the fight against cancer by partnering with Coaches vs. Cancer. Red Wolves' fans can join in the fight against cancer with a donation of $5 by texting “COACH” to 20222. For every text message received from January 24 through April 9, fans will be entered for an opportunity to win exclusive basketball experiences like watching top teams courtside at the 2013 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic or receiving autographed gear.
A basketball autographed by A-State head coach John Brady will be raffled off at this Saturday's game to an individual who has made a $5 donation to the ACS.
The Records: Arkansas State (11-8, 5-5 Sun Belt West Division). The Red Wolves suffering a 74-67 overtime road loss to Troy Thursday
(1/24) in Sun Belt Conference action at TU's Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.
A-State is currently 8-2 at home, 3-6 on the road, and 0-0 at neutral sites this
season. Florida Atlantic (10-11, 5-5 Sun Belt East Division). The
Owls dropped a 65-62 conference road decision to UALR Thursday (1/24) at UALR's
Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.
FAU is 3-8 on the road, 6-3 at home, and 1-0 at neutral sites to date
this campaign.
The Coaches: Arkansas State – John Brady (Bellhaven, 1976), 5th season, 72-74 (.493); Career - 353-290 (.549) – (4-4 vs. FAU). 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.
Florida Atlantic – Mike Jarvis (Northeastern, 1968), 5th
season, 62-83 (.428); Career: 24th season, 381-285 (.572) – (4-2
vs. ASU). Jarvis is seven victories shy of becoming the all-time
winningest coach in FAU men's basketball history after taking over the reins in
March 2008. He was tabbed as the 2010-11
Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year and also received the NABC District 24
Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Owls to a school Division I record 21
victories and a SBC regular-season championship title. Jarvis has taken three programs – Boston
University (1985-90), George Washington (1990-98), and St. John's (1998-04) to
the NCAA Tournament.
About Florida Atlantic: The Owls have lost their last two contests, which included a 65-62
conference road loss to UALR Thursday (1/24) in Little Rock, Ark. Freshman guard Stefan Moody led FAU in the
setback at UALR with a game-high tying 24 points while senior guard Greg Gantt
tallied 13 points. The Owls were paced
in rebounding by senior forward Jordan McCoy's seven boards.
• Greg Gantt (22.0 ppg.) and Stefan Moody (14.8 ppg.) are currently the
only FAU players averaging double-figure points. In rebounding, Jordan McCoy (5.9 rpg.) and
Greg Gantt (4.8 rpg.) lead the way while sophomore forward Kelvin Penn (2.5
bpg.) is tops in blocked shots.
• Among the national statistical
leaders, FAU ranks 22nd in three-point field goal percentage (38.7%) and is
34th in blocked shots (5.1 bpg.). The
Owls are 59th in three-point field goal defense (30.6 avg.), 94th in free-throw
percentage (71.4%), 111th in three-point field goals (6.8 avg.), 189th in
scoring defense (66.6%), 233rd in scoring margin (-1.9), and 245th in scoring
offense (64.7 ppg.) Individually, Greg
Gantt ranks fifth in points (22.0 ppg.), 27th in three-point field goals (2.86
avg.), 36th in three-point field goal percentage (42.0%), and tied for 122nd in
free-throw percentage (81.8%). Kelvin
Penn is listed 26th in blocked shots (2.52 bpg.) while Stefan Moody ranks tied
for 122nd in free-throw percentage (81.8%), 222nd in points (14.8 ppg.), and
227th in three-point field goals (1.94 avg.).
All-Time Series: Arkansas State
trails 5-4 in the all-time series which started in the 2006-07 season
(1/31/07) as the Red Wolves claimed an 84-77 home win. ASU is 3-1 at home 0-4 on the road, and 1-0
at neutral sites.
• The Red Wolves are averaging 67.9 ppg. (611 pts.) in the series while
the Owls have averaged 69.4 ppg. (625 pts.) in the nine matchups between the
two schools.
• FAU is 4-1 in the last five meetings, which includes a 72-65 home
decision over ASU earlier this season (12/1).
A-State snapped a three-game series skid last season (3/3/12) with a
70-55 victory in the opening round of the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament
in Hot Springs, Ark. The Red Wolves
dropped a 58-50 contest to the Owls a season ago (1/9) in their most recent
home appearance of the series.
• Seven of the nine meetings have been decided by eight points or less
which includes three of the last four.
• The Red Wolves are 3-4 in games decided by eight points or less and
1-1 when the margin is greater.
• A-State has averaged 61.0 points a game (305 pts.) in the last five
meetings while FAU is scoring an average of
64.8 points an outing (324 pts.) during that span.
Sun Belt
Conference Games: The Red Wolves are 176-178 (.497) since joining the Sun Belt Conference
(SBC) in the 1991-92 season, which includes a season-best 14-4 (.778) mark in
the 1997-98 campaign.
• A-State sports a 39-18 (.684) record at home and is 15-17 (.469) on
the road since the 2006-07 season.
• ASU head coach John Brady
has registered a 38-40 record (.487) in Sun Belt Conference contests since his arrival
in the 2008-09 season, which consists of a 27-10 home ledger and a 10-29 away
mark.
• The Red Wolves are presently 29-24 (.547) in January conference games
dating back to 2006-07 – 22-7 at home and 7-17 on the road. ASU's best mark was 7-1 in the 2009-10 season
as the Red Wolves went 4-0 at home and 3-1 on the road en route to a 17-14
overall mark.
Seven Times: Senior forward Brandon Peterson generated his seventh
double-double of this season as a result of scoring 15 points and hauling in a
game-high 12 rebounds in Thursday's (1/24) overtime loss at Troy. To date,
Peterson has amassed 16 double-double games in 115 contests. He compiled five in the 2011-12 campaign
after notching two apiece in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
Nearing A Grand
Milestone: Brandon Peterson is only 14
points shy of scoring his 1,000th career point and would become the 25th
individual in A-State history to reach the significant milestone. The ASU frontcourt player has presently totaled
986 career points in 115 appearances resulting in an 8.5 points per game
scoring average.
Prolific Scorer: Senior guard Trey Finn moved into a 23rd-place tie
with Jabari Myles (1994-98; 1,013 career pts.) among ASU's all-time scoring
leaders with six points at Troy (1/24) and is now 12 points away from equaling
Jay Hansen's (1980-84) 1,025 career points total for 22nd place.
Board Crasher: Brandon Peterson presently ranks 10th
on A-State's career rebounding leaders chart with 767 boards and is 33 caroms
shy of the 800-career plateau. Peterson,
who has grabbed a squad-high 182 rebounds in 19 games to date this season, is
eight caroms shy of tying Mike Burk (1964-68; 775 career rebs.) for ninth
place. Peterson would become the eight ASU player
to register 800 career rebounds.
Finn-tastic: Trey Finn, who has presently totaled
608 career rebounds in 109 games, is 19 boards shy of occupying a share of 13th
place with Gaylon Ward (1960-62; 627 career rebs.) on ASU's all-time rebounding
leaders list. Finn, who has a team
second-most 86 boards in 18 outings this campaign, currently ranks 14th among
the program's career leaders.
Good As Golden: Freshman guard Cameron Golden's game-high 18 points at
Troy (1/24) also represented a personal season high, eclisping his 15 points at
Kent State earlier this season (12/22).
Golden, who has compiled four double-figure scoring game performances
this campaign to date, connected on 6-of-11 from the field and a season
game-best 6-of-9 in three-point field goals in the overtime loss at Troy.
Red Wolf Howlings: Brandon Peterson is shooting
60% (15-25) from the floor in ASU's last four games while averaging 9.8 points
a contest during that period ... Ed
Townsel is one shy of tallying his 100th field goal of this season ... Ed Townsel (292 pts.) and Brandon Peterson (213 pts.), who
presently lead ASU in scoring this campaign, have accounted for
38.5% (505-1,312) of its points production ... Rakeem Dickerson's squad-best 46 assists in 19 games this season is
one shy of equaling his career season-best 47 helpers set last season in 32
contests ... Brandon Peterson is
three steals away from matching his career season-high 23 steals set in 34
games a season ago ... Brandon Peterson
is one free throw made shy of garnering number
300 in his career ... The Red Wolves have fired up at least 20 three-point
shots in a contest on 11 occasions this season, including a season game-high 33
against FIU (1/10) ... Raeford Worsham
has attained double-digit points in two of his last three outings and is
averaging 10.3 points a game (31 pts.) during that span. He averaged 2.3 points per contest (nine
points) in his previous four appearances.
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 directors Chris 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.
2012-13 ASU Basketball Promotions: The ASU Athletics Marketing Department will feature special promotions for each remaining 2012-13 Red Wolves' home basketball game. Click on this link to view promotion schedule.
2013 SBC Basketball Tourney Tickets On Sale: Tickets for the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament to be held March 8-11 at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Ark., are now on sale. Tickets are on sale for $93 per booklet. Each booklet includes a ticket to each session for both the men's and women's games covering all four days. If you are interested in reserving your seats to the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, please call the ASU Box Office at (870) 972-2781, or you may order your tickets online at www.tickets.astate.edu. Hotel packages can be reserved by calling (501) 624-5521.
Up Next: The Red Wolves continue
Sun Belt Conference action on their home court as the South Alabama Jaguars
visit ASU on Thursday, Jan. 31, in Jonesboro, Ark. A 7:05 p.m. (CT) start time is scheduled for the game at
the ASU Convocation Center in what represents the second and final 2012-13 regular-season matchup between the two teams.
