JONESBORO, Ark. (8/23/2012) —The Arkansas State men’s basketball team released its 2012-13 schedule Thursday, featuring 17 home games at the Convocation Center including non-conference contests against St. Bonaventure, Murray State, Austin Peay, Arkansas-Monticello and Lamar.

The Red Wolves open with a pair of exhibition contests against Southern Arkansas Nov. 1 and Henderson State Nov. 6, before traveling to Dayton, Ohio, Nov. 10 to play the Flyers in their regular-season opener. A-State will return to Jonesboro for its regular season home opener against Arkansas-Monticello Nov. 13 at 7:05 p.m., and will then take to the road for games against UTMartin Nov. 16 and in-state opponent Central Arkansas Nov. 21.

“I think it’s the best overall schedule that we’ve had,” ASU head basketball coach John Brady said. “I know Ole Miss came here two or three years ago, but outside of that, this is probably and most consistently for the people who know what good basketball is, the best schedule that we may have put together. Scheduling is something that we work on every day and we’re real excited about this year’s schedule.”

ASU will return to the Convocation Center Nov. 25 for a non-conference matchup with Lamar at 2:05 p.m. before opening up Sun Belt Conference play in Florida. The Red Wolves will take on Florida International Nov. 29 followed by a trip to Boca Raton to take face Florida Atlantic Dec. 1.

The month of December will feature four home contests beginning Dec. 8 against St. Bonaventure, followed by matchups with Austin Peay Dec. 16 and Murray State Dec. 19. A-State will return to the road for a game against Kent State Dec. 22 and will then play its next 18 games against Sun Belt Conference opponents.

A-State will host Louisiana-Lafayette Dec. 27 in its SBC home opener before traveling to Mobile, Ala., Dec. 29 to play South Alabama. The Red Wolves next three games will take place in Jonesboro, starting with Middle Tennessee Jan. 3 and followed by Western Kentucky Jan. 5 and Florida International Jan. 10. The team will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette Jan. 12 and will return home to take on Louisiana-Monroe Jan. 19. The Red Wolves have a road matchup with Troy Jan. 24, before taking on Florida Atlantic Jan. 26 and South Alabama Jan. 31 at home to close out the month.

The month of February begins with a home game against North Texas Feb. 2, followed by road games against Middle Tennessee Jan. 7 and Western Kentucky Jan. 9. In-state opponent Arkansas-Little Rock will be at the Convocation Center Feb. 14, but the Red Wolves will return to the road Feb. 16 for a contest against Louisiana-Monroe.

A-State’s final home game of the year will be Feb. 23 against Troy, followed by back-to-back road game games against North Texas Feb. 28 and UALR March 2 to close out the regular season.

The Sun Belt Conference Tournament is scheduled for March 8-10 at Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Ark., marking the fifth straight year Hot Springs has hosted the tournament.