Game 16 Notes - South Alabama

Setting the scene
Date: Jan. 9, 2010
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Tipoff: 3 p.m. (CST)
Arena: The Mitchell Center
Arena Capacity: 10,000
Television: SBC TV (Channel 119 Suddenlink-Jonesboro)

TIPPING IT OFF
The Red Wolves begin a four-game road trip when they travel to South Alabama for a afternoon matchup with the Jaguars Saturday. The game will be broadcast live by CST on the Sun Belt Network. The broadcast will air in the Jonesboro area on channel 119 on Suddenlink Cable System. Tipoff at the Mitchell Center is set for 3 p.m. (CST).

THE OPPONENT
The South Alabama Jaguars are 11-5 on the season with a 3-1 record in Sun Belt action. The Jags have a pair of notable wins this season over Arkansas (74-61) and a win at Florida (67-66). USA also has league wins over UALR (74-71), FIU (71-59) and FAU (96-93) with their only loss in conference action coming against WKU (64-67) in overtime. Tim Williams leads the Jaguars in scoring averaging 14.7 per game, while also leading the team in rebounding averaging 7.4 rebounds per game. Brian Sherrer ranks second in scoring on the USA squad averaging 11.2 ppg while Martino Brock ranks third, scoring 11.1 per contest. Ronnie Arrow is in his 10th season at the helm of the Jags' program with a career record of 605-242.

SERIES VERSUS SOUTH ALABAMA
The Red Wolves trail the all-time series against South Alabama 15-16 in the rivalry which dates back to the 1970-71 season. The Jaguars got the Red Wolves last season 74-67 at the Convocation Center. Donald Boone led ASU in their last contest against USA scoring 17 while JeJuan Brown had 14 and Daniel Bryant had 11.

REED APPROACHES 200 POINTS
ASU freshman Brandon Reed has scored 190 points already this season, a team high Reed ranks second in scoring average with 12.7 ppg, which ranks second on the team. Reed has led the team in scoring four times and broken double-digits in 11 contests.
ALLISON BUZZER BEATER BESTS MTSU
Junior Rashad Allison hit four free-throws in the final 42-seconds of action against Middle Tennessee and hit the game winning shot on a jumper in the paint with 0.7 seconds on the clock to give ASU the 69-67 advantage. Allison led the team in scoring with 15 points on the night.

ALL SCORED
ASU had eight players player against MTSU with all eight of them getting in the scoring column, Allison led the team in scoring with 15 while Reed and Peterson had 13, Adams had nine, Finn had eight, Thomas had six, Sterrenberg had four and Butler sank a free throw.

PETERSON HAS CAREER GAME AT LAMAR
Freshman Brandon Peterson had his best game in an ASU uniform at Lamar scoring 21 points in his second start for the Red Wolves. He also had eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Peterson is averaging 7.1 ppg and 4.9 rebounds per game this season. Peterson ranks second in the league in blocks per game averaging 2.2 per contest.

SHORTHANDED RED WOLVES BEST UNT
Although only having eight players available to play, Arkansas State had some big performances from its starters to best North Texas improving their conference mark to 2-1. Freshman Brandon Reed led the team with 25 points while Martavius Adams and Rashad Alison each scored in double-digits with 16 and 12 points respectively.

LEADING THE LEAGUE
One of the bench marks of ASU head coach John Brady's teams during his career has been their abilities to defend and rebound the ball. These factors show in the conference standings. ASU leads the league in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to shooting just .276 from beyond the arc while also leading the league in defensive rebounds (26.4). In conference only games ASU is also leading the league in blocked shots per game (5.5). 

ADAMS=EFFICIENT
Sophomore forward Martavius Adams has been extremely efficient for ASU this season ranking fourth in the league in field goal percentage and leading ASU with a .580 mark. Adams scored 12 points in just 12 minutes of action against Central Baptist and was perfect from the floor at MVSU going 6-6. Adams is one of the most accurate shooters in the league ranking fourth in the conference in field goal percentage.

STRONG DEFENSE AT DENVER
ASU held the hot-shooting Denver Pioneers to shooting just 21.4-percent from the three point arc in their last contest and held the Pioneers scoreless from three in the second half. Denver was averaging 43.6-percent from three entering the contest.

ADAMS EMERGES
Sophomore forward Martavius Adams has emerged as a big threat down low for ASU scoring in double-digits the last four straight games, including logging a career-high 17 points at Denver. Adams leads the team in field goal percentage (.569) and is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game which ranks second on the squad.

FINN DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Freshman guard Trey Finn was the fourth player to record a double-double when he scored 13 points and led ASU on the boards with 13 rebounds. Finn is one of the most versatile players on ASU's roster, averaging 7.5 ppg and leading the team in rebounding (7.2) and steals (21).

SIX IN DOUBLE-DIGITS PAST CBC
ASU had six players record double-digit scoring performances against Central Baptist College with freshman Brandon Reed leading the way scoring 14. Brandon Peterson, Trey Finn and Jeremy Thomas had 13 each while Martavius Adams and Adam Sterrenberg had 12.

DEALING THE ROCK
Junior Rashad Allison recorded a career-high 11 assists against Central Baptist. Allison leads the team with 57 assists and owns an assist/turnover ratio of 1.8.

THOMAS SHOWS UP BIG
Over the last two games junior reserve forward Jeremy Thomas has shown up for the Red Wolves. Against MVSU Thomas recorded a season-high 10 points against all of which were dunks. Thomas then scored another season high in points with 13 against Central Baptist.

BRADY WINS 300th GAME
ASU head coach John Brady picked up his 300th career win when the Red Wolves downed Central Baptist, 98-60 Tuesday at the Convocation Center. Brady currently owns a 300-238 (.558) career mark and a 19-22 record over the last two seasons at the helm of the ASU program.

CONFERENCE OPENER
ASU downed UALR in its conference opener Sunday at the Convocation Center. It was the first win for ASU head coach John Brady past the instate rival UALR. ASU had four players score in double-digits led by Bryant (17), Brown (11), Adams (11) and Reed (10). ASU is 10-8 in Sun Belt Conference openers dating back to when the Red Wolves joined the league during the 1991-92 season.  ASU is 4-1 in league openers over the past five years.

FOUR IN DOUBLE-DIGITS OVER MVSU
ASU had four players score in double-figures at Mississippi Valley State. Bryant led the squad with 16 while, Adams added 14 and Finn (13) and Thomas (10) broke double-digits for the first time this season.

HOT SHOOTING
Against MVSU the Red Wolves had three players that shot perfect from the field and two that were perfect from the line. Adams (6-6), Thomas (5-5) and Allison (4-4) were perfect from the floor while Finn (8-8) and Adams (2-2) were perfect form the charity stripe. As a team, ASU had its best shooting game of the season, connecting on 55.1-percent of its shots (27-49).

ADAMS DOUBLE-DOUBLE SHINES VERSUS MEMPHIS
Sophomore forward Martavius Adams recorded his first double-double at Memphis last Saturday scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds. It was the third time an ASU player has recorded a double-double, with Brown notching one at SEMO and Peterson recording one against MacMurray College. On the season, Adams is averaging 9.6 ppg and pulling down 5.3 rebounds per contest.

BROWN POSTS CAREER HIGH
ASU's JeJuan Brown posted a career-high 17 points at Memphis last Saturday leading the squad in scoring in 28 minutes of action. This marked the second time this season Brown has reached double-digits in scoring.

BACK TO BACK CAREER NIGHTS
ASU sophomore Daniel Bryant has provided a spark off the bench for the Red Wolves, leading the team in scoring averaging 16.4 points per appearance. Bryant had a pair of career games last week when he broke the 20 point barrier for the first time against UTM and set a new career high of 23 points against Indiana State during the next game.

BROWN DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Senior forward JeJuan Brown had one of the best performances he has turned in since coming to ASU against SEMO. Brown recorded the first double-double of his career with 11 pts and 13 rebounds, a career-high.

FINN TOUGH IN DEBUT
Arkansas State redshirt freshman Trey Finn had to miss his first collegiate game due to an injury, but that didn't stop him from coming out strong in his first career start at SEMO. Finn nearly recorded a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, while recording four steals and a block.

ALLISON AT THE LINE
Junior point guard Rashad Allison posted a career-high nine points against SEMO, all of which came from the free throw line. Allison went to the line a game-high 12 times, connecting on nine of those shots from the charity stripe.

STEALING THE ROCK
Arkansas State continued its trend from last season for picking the opponents pockets. ASU has already recorded 92 steals through 15 games. Finn leads the team with 23 while Bryant has 16, ranking second.

NEWCOMERS SHINE
In their opening game of the season the Red Wolves got great performances from their newcomers especially freshman forward Brandon Peterson. Peterson came off the bench to notch the first double-double for the Red Wolves this season (13 pts., 12 reb.) while he also blocked five shots. Freshman Brandon Reed also came off the bench to score 12 pts., leading all players with 31 minutes played. Freshman Adam Sterrenberg added 11 points while Martavius Adams had eight points and five rebounds.

ASU AT THE CONVOCATION CENTER
Over the 22 years that ASU has competed in the ASU Convocation Center, the Red Wolves have compiled a 215-87 record (.712). Arkansas State has gone undefeated twice during a single season at the Convocation Center; they were a perfect 14-0 in 1988-89 and went 13-0 in 1990-91.

PRESEASON HONORS/COACHES POLL
Arkansas State senior guard Donald Boone was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference third team. Also released at media day was the preseason coaches' poll where the Red Wolves were tabbed to finish sixth in the west division.
    The poll and preseason teams were released in conjunction with the start of the Sun Belt Conference men's basketball media days which kicked off Tuesday with the west division coaches participating in video conferences throughout the day. The east division coaches are slated to participate in media day on Wednesday.
    The preseason team and poll were nominated and voted on by the 13 league coaches. ASU received 36 points in the voting.
    ASU's top returning scorer from last season, Boone posted 13.6 points per game in 2008-09 and led the team with 54 steals which ranked second in the Sun Belt. Boone appeared in all 30 games a year ago, drawing 24 starts while pacing the squad in minutes played, averaging 30.4 per contest.
    WKU's AJ Slaughter was tabbed the preseason SBC player of the year and was joined on the first team by Denver's Nate Rohnert, MTSU's Desmond Yates, Eric Tramiel from North Texas and Brandon Hazzard of Troy.

McRoy Named Top-25 Mid-Major Assistant
Arkansas State assistant coach Elwyn McRoy garnered the no. 23 spot on the recent collegeinsider.com listing of the top-25 mid-major assistant coaches in the country.
    McRoy was described by collegeinsider as “arguably the best junior college recruiter in all of college basketball, much less the Mid-Major level, there is no coincidence that on-court success has followed McRoy throughout his entire career. During a span of five seasons in junior college, McRoy coached 28 players who went on to play Division I basketball.”
    This marks the second year in-a-row that one of Arkansas State's assistant coaches have been recognized as tops in the nation. Associate head coach Chad Dollar was ranked one of the top-10 assistant coaches by Fox Sports in 2008.
    McRoy was the only assistant coach in the Sun Belt Conference named to the list.

Head Coach John Brady
With a Final Four appearance and 281 career victories already to his credit, John Brady was announced as Arkansas State's 15th head men's basketball coach by Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee at a Wednesday morning press conference held in ASU's Convocation Center on March 19, 2008.
    During his first season with the Red Wolves, Brady helped lead ASU to one of the best starts in program history and achieved the No. 22 ranking on Collegeinsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll. As a team ASU improved greatly its defending and rebounding finishing near the top of the conference in several statistical categories.
    Brady spent the last 10-plus seasons serving as LSU's head coach, leading the Tigers to six postseason berths, two SEC championships and three SEC Western Division titles. Twice named the SEC Coach of the Year,  Brady is a proven winner who brings a well-documented record of success and a long list of accomplishments with him to Arkansas State.
    Chancellor Robert Potts said that he is very pleased with the selection of Coach Brady as Arkansas State's new head basketball coach.
    Brady's 16-year tenure as a head coach at both LSU and Samford in Birmingham, Alabama, has been decorated with achievements.  He has coached a combined 25 All-TAAC and SEC selections, 48 academic all-conference choices, posted 11 winning seasons and collected five division championships.  Brady piled up the third most wins in LSU history with 192 and left Samford after the 1996-97 season as the Bulldog's all-time leader in coaching victories (89) as well.
    He quickly turned around an LSU's men's basketball program that had suffered four consecutive losing seasons prior to his arrival, leading the Tigers to a 28-6 record, an SEC championship and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in just his third season (1999-00) at the helm.  Under Brady's direction, the Tigers recorded six consecutive winning seasons from 2001-02 to 2006-07 while making three trips to the NCAA Tournament and two more to the NIT. The 2005-06 campaign saw LSU post a 27-9 record and advance to the Final Four for the first time in 20 years.
    Not only did Brady coach the Tigers to 23 wins versus ranked opponents, he also led them to victories over two teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll (Arizona in 2002-03 and Duke in 2005-06).  Additionally, he orchestrated a 19-game home winning streak over SEC opponents, the third longest stretch in LSU history.
    While at LSU, Brady coached two NBA Lottery picks and six current NBA players.  The Tigers signed nine Parade All-Americans and four McDonald All-Americans under Brady, who also coached three SEC Players of the Year, four players named SEC Freshman of the Year, one SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and 17 All-SEC selections.
    Prior to taking over the reigns at LSU, Brady served as Samford's head coach from 1991-92 through 1996-97.  It didn't take long for him to turn around a Samford program coming off six straight losing seasons, either, guiding the Bulldogs to a 17-10 record in his second season.  He led Samford to three straight winning seasons (1995-97) for the first time since 1982-84, all leading up to a 19-9 record and division title in 1997.  Samford won the TAAC West Division each of Brady's final two seasons at the school for the first time in school history.
    His four winning campaigns at Samford were the first for any coach at the school, and he led the Bulldogs to an 89-77 record after they went 27-83 the four seasons prior to his initial year.  He coached eight All-TAAC and 14 Academic All-TAAC players over six seasons.
    The McComb, Miss., native earned his bachelor's degree in 1976 from Belhaven College, where he was three-year starter and scored over 1,000 points during his college playing career.  Brady was a two-time All-Southern States Conference selection and was later inducted into his alma mater's Hall of Fame.
    He got his coaching start as a graduate assistant with the Mississippi State men's basketball program while earning his master's degree from 1976-77.  Brady took his first head coaching position in Louisiana at Crowley High School in 1977 and led the basketball squad to a 129-49 (.725) record in five seasons.  He was named the 1981 Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 3-A Coach of the Year.
    Brady returned to the college coaching ranks in 1982 as an assistant coach at Mississippi State.  He spent the next eight years with the Bulldogs, the first four seasons under coach Bob Hoyt and the next four as a chief recruiter for coach Richard Williams.  Following his tenure in Starkville, Brady returned to Louisiana for the second time, this time to serve as an assistant coach at the University of New Orleans.  Brady helped lead UNO to the NCAA Tournament during his only season with the Privateers.