GAME 19 • UALR • January 14, 2012
SETTING THE SCENE
Date: January 14, 2012
Location: Jonesboro, Ark.
Tipoff: 7:05 p.m.
Arena: Convocation Center
Arena Capacity: 10,038
Webcast: astateredwolves.com
Red Wolves Host Instate Rival UALR Saturday At The Convocation Center
TIPPING IT OFF
It's rivalry week for the Red Wolves as Arkansas State hosts UALR in Sun Belt Conference West Division action Saturday night at the Convocation Center. The instate rivals tip off at 7:05 p.m. UALR is coming off a 72-51 win at ULM, while ASU has been idle since their home loss against FAU on Monday. This game wraps up a season-long four game home stand for the Red Wolves.
THE OPPONENT
UALR is off to a 4-0 start in league play with wins at North Texas (69-66), at Denver (66-59) and at ULM (72-51). They also beat FAU at home 40-38 last weekend. UALR is led by senior guard D'Andre Williams who is averaging 11.7 points per game and leading the Trojans with 74 assists and 29 steals. In conference games, Williams is second averaging 13.5 points per game. Sophomore forward Will Neighbour ranks second on the team averaging 11.6 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game and ranks second on the team with 16 blocked shots. In three conference game appearances, Neighbour leads UALR averaging 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Chuck Guy is the only other UALR player averaging in double-digit scoring averaging 10.7 points per game in all games and 10.3 in conference games. As a team, UALR is averaging 62.4 points per game while giving up 64.2 to opponents (-1.7 scoring margin). The Trojans are averaging 33.6 rebounds while allowing opponents to board 34.6 per game. Steve Shields is in his 9th season as head coach of the Trojans owning a 139-234 record. Shields is 8-7 against Arkansas State.
THE SERIES
ASU leads the series 42-26 against UALR in the two squads all-time series. The Red Wolves won both regular season matches against the Trojans. At home, ASU won 71-63 over UALR and beat the Trojans in Little Rock 75-64. UALR picked up the last win in the series at the Sun Belt Tournament 59-52 over ASU, but ASU starter Trey Finn was out of the game win an injury.
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
The Red Wolves are the only team in the conference that has all five starters ranking in the top 30 in scoring averaged led by Kirkland who is 12th. Hooten ranks 13th, Townsel 25th, Finn 26th and Peterson 28th. Peterson is second in the league in rebounding average while Kirkland is sixth. Kirkland is fourth in field goal percentage in the league averaging 54% from the floor, Peterson is 15th shooting 46%. Townsel is second in steals and eighth in assists, while Finn is ninth in the league in steals and sixth in three-point field goal percentage.
TOWNSEL IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Sophomore point guard Ed Townsel ranks sixth in the nation averaging 2.7 steals per game. The mark ranks second in the league behind FIU's Jeremy Allen, who's average ranks third in the nation. In conference only games, Townsel leads the league averaging 3.5 steals per game.
HOOTEN NAMED MID-MAJOR NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After his stellar performance against North Texas, Arkansas State junior guard Marcus Hooten has been named the National Mid Major Player of the Week by College Basketball Madness and was the Sun Belt Player of the Week selection by College Basketball Madness. Hooten hit the game-winning buzzer-beater to give the Red Wolves a 75-72 win over North Texas Saturday. He also led ASU with 24 points against the Mean Green and averaged 21.0 points in last week's competition also leading ASU with 18 points against Denver.
RECORD WATCH
After blocking three shots against North Texas, junior forward Brandon Peterson moved to 108 overall for his career, taking over sole possession of third on the all-time A-State list. Peterson needs 95 more to move into a tie with Jason Jennings for second, and 96 to move into a tie with Freddy Hicks who is the all-time shot blocker in A-State history.
HOOTEN STRIKES AGAIN
Junior guard Marcus Hooten was again the hero on Saturday when he hit the game-winning three-pointer which broke a 72-72 tie to give ASU a 75-72 win over North Texas. The play began when sophomore point guard Ed Townsel blocked Chris Jones' shot in the lane with just under three seconds to play in regulation. Senior forward Malcoln Kirkland got the rebound and kicked the ball out to Hooten who was on a dead sprint down the floor. Hooten connected on the shot as time expired from 35-feet out. Just a week ago, Hooten hit a jumper in the lane with 4.8 seconds remaining in the game at ULM, to put ASU up 64-63 after trailing most of the game against the Warhawks. Hooten was fouled on the way up and converted the free throw for the three-point play. Hooten then defended the last possession and did not allow ULM's shooters to get a clean look at the basket.
KIRKLAND PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading Arkansas State last week averaging a double-double at 17.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, senior forward Malcoln Kirkland was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week for the competition week of Dec. 13-19, announced the league office Tuesday afternoon. Kirkland led the Red Wolves to a 2-1 record including leading A-State in a pair of career performances setting new career highs of 18 and 30 points against Seattle and Lyon College, respectively. Against Seattle, Kirkland posted the first double-double of his career with then career-highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds. He then followed up that performance with 12 rebounds and five points at Murray State. Kirkland broke out against Lyon College, scoring 30 points on 9-12 shooting and went 12-12 from the free throw line leading ASU against the Scots. He also had seven rebounds in just 24 minutes of action. The 30 points was the highest single-game scoring performance of the season for A-State.
100 POINT BARRIER
A-State broke the 100-point barrier scoring 108 against Lyon College. ASU had five players score in double-digits led by Kirkland's 30. Peterson had 13, Hooten, Griswold and Zuppardo had 12 each. The 12 by Griswold and Zuppardo were career-highs.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Peterson recorded the second double-double of the year and sixth of his career with 13 points and 12 rebounds against Lyon College. Peterson had a double-double against Seattle earlier last week of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
BRADY'S 600TH
The Seattle game marked the 600th career game for Arkansas State head coach John Brady. Brady owns a 333-267 (.554) career record with head coaching stops at Samford and LSU prior to becoming the head coach of the Red Wolves. Brady led ASU to an undefeated 13-0 home record last season and the Sun Belt Conference West Division Title.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Against Seattle, senior forward Malcoln Kirkland and junior forward Brandon Peterson each posted a double-double with Kirkland recording career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (13). Peterson recorded 17 pts and 12 rebounds to record the fifth double-double of his career, it was the first double-double for Kirkland.
FIVE SCORE IN DOUBLE FIGURES OVER SEATTLE
Against Seattle, ASU had five players score in double-figures led by a career-high from Ed Townsel with 20, followed by Kirkland with 18, Peterson with 17 and Marcus Hooten with 11. Sterrenberg came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points on 3-3 shooting from the floor and 3-3 from the charity stripe.
FOUR IN DOUBLE-DIGITS OVER UCA
Against Central Arkansas, the Red Wolves had four of their starters score in double-digits with junior forward Brandon Peterson leading the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. Ed Townsel scored in double-digits for the fourth straight game pouring in 15, followed by Kirkland and Finn who had nine each. It was the fourth time this season that at least three A-State players scored in double-digits.
GRISWOLD IMPRESSIVE IN DEBUT
Arkansas State freshman Darion Griswold looked impressive in his debut for the Red Wolves basketball team, scoring five points and pulling down seven rebounds in only 14 minutes of action. The Dumas, Ark. native joined the team after practicing all fall with the football team. Griswold played AAU basketball with teammate Rakeem Dickerson and led the Wings to an AAU national championship.
HOOTEN CAREER HIGH
Junior guard Marcus Hooten scored a career-high 27 points at Austin Peay. The junior-college transfer shot 9-16 and was 4-6 from FT range and 5-9 from the charity stripe. Hooten also had a career-high five assists. 27-points was the most scored by an ASU player this year.
FIRST TIME FOES
This year, ASU is facing a number of opponents for the first time in school history. Ohio, St. Bonaventure and Seattle appear on the Red Wolves schedule for the first time in the schools' histories. ASU is also facing Kent State for only the second time. The first contest was held during the 1950-51 season.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Red Wolves are traveling quite a distance this year and will be racking up the road miles traveling a total of 8,872 miles to their away contests this season. The three longest trips of the year will be to Seattle (2,256), Denver (984) and St. Bonaventure (925).
ALL STARTERS IN DOUBLE-DIGITS VERSUS SEMO
All five ASU starters scored in double-digits against SEMO on Tuesday night. Townsel led all players with a career-high 20 pts. Hooten had a career-high 16 followed by Kirkland who tied his career-best with 14, Peterson had 13 and Finn had 10. Peterson led ASU with nine rebounds and Finn had eight.
FINN DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Junior guard Trey Finn picked up his first double-double of the season and the fifth of his career scoring 21 points with 10 rebounds against UT Martin on Tuesday. Finn was also the first Red Wolves player to break the 20-point barrier this season. Finn is also leading ASU in shooting percentage connecting on 54.2% of his shots (13-24) from the floor. Finn is also shooting 8-% (8-10) from the charity stripe.
ON THE BENCH
For the second straight year, the Red Wolves will hold the distinction of being the only team currently playing in the NCAA with two former final four head coaches on the bench as assistant coach Richard Williams returns for his second season with ASU and Brady. The Red Wolves also hired Melvin Haralson as associate head coach in the offseason. Haralson was at Texas Southern last season after spending 10 years as an assistant and associate head coach at Houston. Jeff Clapacs also returns for his fourth season at Arkansas State as an assistant coach. Clapacs has been with Brady since his arrival at Arkansas State.
HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY
Now in his fourth year with the program John Brady was announced as Arkansas State's 15th head men's basketball coach by Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee at a press conference held in ASU's Convocation Center on March 19, 2008.
In only three years at the helm of the program, Brady has turned the Red Wolves into a winner including capturing a share of the western division Sun Belt Conference Championship in 2010-11, posting double-digit Sun Belt Conference wins back-to-back for the first time in nearly 20 years and going undefeated at home with a 13-0 record.
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 greatly improved its defending and rebounding, finishing near the top of the conference in several statistical categories.
Brady took a step further in his second season with The Red Wolves, improving their record to 17-14 and the team advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament finishing second in the west. Brady was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year and the District VII Coach of the Year by the USBWA. ASU led the league in three-point FG defense, rebounding offense and defensive rebounding.
ASU also posted an 11-7 SBC record this season which was its best league mark since the 2006-07 season when ASU achieved the same record. Its 11-wins was the seventh-time since ASU joined the Sun Belt that they have posted double-digit league wins.
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 has a well-documented record of success and a long list of accomplishments.
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.
