The Records: Arkansas State (17-9, 11-6 Sun Belt West Division).  The Red Wolves, who have currently won six of their last seven outings, extended their current winning streak to three straight by registering an 87-54 conference road decision over ULM last Saturday (2/16) at ULM's Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La.  ASU, which has clinched a first-round bye for the upcoming 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament (March 8-11), is presently 12-2 at home, 5-7 on the road, and 0-0 at neutral sites this season.              

Troy (11-17, 6-11 Sun Belt East Division).  The Trojans dropped their second game in a row with a 76-66 conference road loss to Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday (2/21) at ULL's Cajundome in Lafayette, La.  Troy, which sports a 1-4 ledger in its last five outings, is 2-11 on the road, 8-5 at home, and 1-1 at neutral sites this campaign.   

The Coaches:  Arkansas State – John Brady (Bellhaven, 1976), 5th season, 78-75 (.509); Career - 359-291 (.552) – (4-3 vs. Troy).  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. 

Troy – Don Maestri (Southern Mississippi, 1969), 31st season, 499-400 (.555) – (6-3 vs. ASU).  Maestri is the program's all-time winningest coach since his arrival in 1982 and is a seven-time Coach of the Year Award recipient, which includes being named the 2008-09 Sun Belt Conference's Coach of the Year.  He has claimed Coach of the Year accolades from five different conferences to tie for the most among NCAA active coaches.  Maestri has recorded eight 20-win seasons and seven conferencechampionship titles during his tenure.  In 2009-10, he directed the Trojans to their first-ever Sun Belt Conference regular season title.  Prior to Troy, Maestri served as an assistant for two seasons (1980-82) at Alabama and one season (1979-80) at Mississippi State.  He spent 10 seasons (1970-79) as head coach at Holy Cross High School in New Orleans, La.        

About Troy:  Troy is led in scoring this season by senior guard Emil Jones (11.5 ppg.) and junior guard Hunter Williams (10.6 ppg.) while senior forward Ray Chambers (5.7 rpg.) and Emil Jones (5.5 rpg.) lead the Trojans in rebounding.  Sophomore guard Deonata Jethroe's 20 points led three Troy players in double-figure scoring against Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday (2/21) while Ray Chambers had 15 points and Hunter Williams added 14.  Jethroe led Troy with six rebounds and Jones dished out a game-high six assists in the league encounter.

 • Troy ranks 10th among the NCAA Division I statistical leaders through games of Feb. 21 in turnovers (10.7 avg.) while the Trojans are 117th in three-point field goals (6.7 avg.), 165th in free-throw percentage (69.3%), 195th in scoring defense (67.1 ppg.), 259th in field-goal pct. defense (44.5%), 277th in scoring margin (-4.7), 282nd in scoring offense (62.4 ppg), and 306th in field-goal percentage (40.2%).  Emil Jones ranks 87th in assist turnover ratio (2.05) and is 156th in steals (1.64 spg.) while Hunter Williams is 167th in assist turnover ratio (1.68), 215th in three-point field goals (1.96), and 246th in assists (3.4 apg).   

All-Time Series:  Arkansas State trails 6-3 in the all-time series which originated in the 2005-06 season (2/1/06) as the Red Wolves claimed a 91-68 home win.  ASU is 2-2 at home, 2-2 on the road, and 0-1 at neutral sites.      

• ASU had its two-game series winning streak snapped with a 74-67 overtime loss at Troy last month (1/24).  Prior to the setback, the Red Wolves registered a 71-63 road victory in the 2010-11 campaign (2/19/11) and an 83-59 home decision last season (2/16/12).

• A-State sports a 43-18 (.705) record at home and is 17-18 (.486) on the road since the 2006-07 season.

• ASU head coach John Brady has registered a 44-41 record (.518) in Sun Belt Conference contests since his arrival in the 2008-09 season, which consists of a 32-10 home ledger and a 13-29 away mark.

• The Red Wolves are 20-30 (.400) in February conference games dating back to 2006-07 – 13-10 at home and 7-20 on the road.  ASU's best mark was 5-1 in the 2010-11 season as the Red Wolves went 3-0 at home and 2-1 on the road en route to a 5-2 overall record.

• A-State posted a fifth-place 6-10 league mark in the 2011-12 season – 5-3 at home and 1-7 on the road.

• Junior guard Ed Townsel (12.1 ppg.), senior guard Trey Finn (11.6 ppg.), and senior forward Brandon Peterson (10.0 ppg.) lead A-State in conference scoring as the three have combined for 48.7% (574-1,179) of the team's points.  Peterson leads the Red Wolves in rebounding (9.4 rpg.) while sophomore guard Rakeem Dickerson is tops in steals (1.6 spg.).  Dickerson is ASU's assists leader with a 2.4 apg. average.

Successful Season: Arkansas State's 17 victories to date ties for the most single-season wins in the program's last 13 seasons dating back to the 1998-99 team which compiled a 18-12 overall record.  Since then, ASU has registered 17 wins in a season on five occasions – 17-13 in 2000-01, 17-11 in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, 17-14 in 2009-10, and 17-15 in the 2010-11 campaign.  The Red Wolves have compiled double-digit victories in each of their last five seasons to date and 15 times since the 1987-88 season.

Hot Streak: The Red Wolves have won six of their last seven games, including three in a row to date, and are averaging 73.1 points per game (512 pts.) in those seven contests compared to the opposition's 57.7 points a contest (404 pts.) for a +15.4 points margin. Trey Finn leads ASU in scoring at 14.0 points an outing (98 pts.) while Brandon Peterson has produced a squad-best 10.1 rebounds a game average (71 rebs).

Peterson Garners SBC Honor: Brandon Peterson has been tabbed as this week's (2/18) Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Player of the Week as a result of his efforts in the Red Wolves' two victories this past week.  Peterson joins Trey Finn (2/4) as ASU players to garner SBC Player of the Week kudos this season.  Peterson was also chosen as College Sports Madness' SBC Player of the Week Award recipient for this week (2/18).    

Double-Doubles: Brandon Peterson is presently midst a two-game double-double string after scoring 11 points and hauling down 10 rebounds in ASU's conference win at ULM last Saturday (2/16) for his squad-best 10th such performance of this season.  Peterson tallied 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, both game highs, in the Red Wolves' league home decision over instate rival UALR last Thursday (2/14). 

For Pete's Sake: Brandon Peterson presently ranks 15th among the Sun Belt Conference's all-time leaders with 838 career boards and is two shy of moving into a 14th-place tie with Western Kentucky's Kannard Johnson (1983-87; 840 career rebs.).  Peterson is 22nd in blocked shots with 154 rejections and is one shy of tying Willie Redden (1978-82; 155 career blks.) for 21st-place honors.    

Senior Night 2013: The Red Wolves will pay tribute to their three senior student-athletes prior to this Saturday's (Feb. 23) regular-season home finale against Troy.  Trey Finn and Marcus Hooten along with forward Brandon Peterson will be recognized in a special pre-game ceremony.  The three-member class has combined to generate 2,753 points and 1,614 rebounds in 298 games.  ASU has produced a 65-58 overall record (.528 win pct.) during their respective Red Wolf careers.   

Regular-Season Home Finale: ASU has compiled a 14-8 (.636) ledger in their final regular-season home appearance and have won nine of their last 11 outings.  The Red Wolves have averaged 75.9 points per   game (835 pts.) to the opposition's 68.7 points a contest (756 pts.) in those last 11 encounters.  A season ago (2/18), ASU claimed a 77-67 victory over FIU.  The Red Wolves dropped a 64-57 decision to Troy in their 2009-10 season home finale (2/27/10).  A-State won seven consecutive regular-season home finales from 2002-08.

Four More: Trey Finn is four rebounds shy of moving into a 12th-place tie with Reggie Gordon (1983-87; 645 career rebs.) for 12th place among ASU's career leaders.  Finn has amassed 641 career boards in 116 games, which includes 119 caroms in 25 outings this season.  Finn has accumulated at least 100 rebounds in each of his four A-State seasons (2009-13), highlighted by a career season-high 195 in the 2009-10 campaign. 

At Home: ASU is 12-2 in home contests this season as the Red Wolves are averaging 72.7 ppg. (1.018 pts.) while their opponent is scoring at a 58.0 ppg. (812 pts.) clip.  Ed Townsel (15.9 ppg.), Brandon Peterson (11.3 ppg.), and Trey Finn (10.8 ppg.) lead A-State in scoring as the three have combined to account for 51.3% (522-1,018) of the Red Wolves' points production.  ASU is one win shy of equaling its most single-season home victories since the 2009-10 season.  The 2010-11 squad went 13-0 at home en route to finishing 17-15 overall in head coach John Brady's second season at ASU.        

1,000 Points: Trey Finn and Brandon Peterson became the most members of A-State's 1,000-points club.  Finn reached the scoring milestone against ULM (1/19) with a game-high 17 points while Peterson became the 25th individual to accomplish the feat after tallying a game-best 15 points versus Florida Atlantic (1/26).

February Matchups: ASU is presently 20-32 mark (.385) in February contests dating back to the 2006-07 season.  Since 2006-07, A-State is 13-10 at home, 7-22 on the road, and 0-0 at neutral sites.  ASU's best record was in 2010-11 when the Red Wolves went 5-2 – 3-0 at home and 2-2 on the road.  Trey Finn (13.8    ppg.), Cameron Golden (12.2 ppg.), and Ed Townsel (10.2 ppg.) are ASU's top scorers this month to date.

Down-Townsel: Ed Townsel has drained a team-high and career single-season best 58 three-point field goals in 26 games this season.  Townsel is averaging 2.2 triples made per contest while connecting on a squad-best 34.9% (58-166) from beyond the three-point arc.  He has made at least three triples in a game on 12 occasions this season.  Townsel, who canned a career game-high six treys vs. Lamar (11/25), has tallied 33.7% (58-172) of the squad's three-pointers.  Townsel is eight triples shy of moving into a 10th-place tie with Keith Gray (1990-91; 66 total) among ASU's all-time single-season bests.

Red Wolf Howlings: Brandon Peterson is 14 rebounds shy of matching his career single-season most 267 boards set last season in 34 games ... Freshman guard Cameron Golden has posted double-digit points in four of his last five outings and is averaging 12.2 points per contest (61 pts.) in the five-game span ... Brandon Peterson, who has netted 278 points in 26 games this campaign to date, is 36 points away from equalling his career season high of 314 points a season ago ... Marcus Hooten is four steals away from tying his career season-high 19 steals in 34 contests last season ... Junior forward Kendrick Washington is averaging 9.4 points (47 pts.) and 4.4 rebounds (22 rebs.) an outing in his last five appearances after recording averages of 5.6 points (28 pts.) and 4.0 boards (20 rebs.) in his five prior contests.