The Records: Arkansas State (13-8, 7-5 Sun Belt West Division).  The Red Wolves won their second straight with a 74-62 conference home decision over South Alabama Thursday (1/31) at the ASU Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark.  This season to date, A-State is 10-2 at home, 3-6 on the road, and 0-0 at neutral sites.    

North Texas (8-15, 3-9 Sun Belt West Division).  The Mean Green suffered a 105-74 conference road setback to Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday (1/31) at ULL's Cajundome in Lafayette, La., and are midst a current three-game losing streak.  UNT is 1-8 on the road, 5-6 at home, and 2-1 at neutral sites this season.

The Coaches:  Arkansas State – John Brady (Bellhaven, 1976), 5th season, 74-74 (.500); Career - 355-290 (.550) – (4-5 vs. UNT).  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. 

North Texas – Tony Benford (Texas Tech, 1992), 1st season, 8-15 (.348) – (0-0 vs. ASU).  Benford, a veteran of 20 years  in Division I basketball, is the 17th head coach in North Texas' history.  Prior to UNT, Benford served as an associate head coach at Marquette the last four seasons (2008-12).  While at Marquette, Benford was recognized as one of the nation's top assistant coaches by Basketball Times, Fox Sports, and Hoop Scoop.  He also had assistant coaching stints at New Mexico (1992-98), Arizona State (1998-06), and Nebraska (2006-08).  Benford, who was an associate head coach at Arizona State (2004-06), played collegiately at Texas Tech (1982-86) and was selected in the fourth round (93rd pick overall) of the 1986 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. 
           

About North Texas: The Mean Green suffered a 105-74 league decision at Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday (1/31) and have presently dropped their last three outings.  Sophomore guard Jordan Williams' game-high 31 points led three UNT players in double-figure scoring.    

• Sophomore forward Tony Mitchell, the 2012-13 SBC Preseason Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring (13.8 ppg.), rebounding (8.2 rpg.), and blocked shots (2.8 bpg.).  Sophomore guard Jordan Williams (13.0 ppg.) is also among five Mean Green players averaging double-figure points.

• UNT ranks 42nd among the nation's NCAA-I stats leaders in blocked shots (4.9 bpg.) thru games of Jan. 31.  The Mean Green is 94th in free-throw pct. (71.4%), 200th in scoring offense (66.4 ppg.), and 238th in scoring defense (69.3 ppg).  Tony Mitchell ranks 18th in blocked shots (2.83 bpg.), 67th in double-doubles (six), and 88nd in rebounds (8.2 rpg.). 

• North Texas was 18-14 overall with a fourth-place 9-7 SBC mark for the 2011-12 season. 

All-Time Series: Arkansas State has a 20-18 lead over North Texas in the all-time series which dates back to the 1963-64 season with the Red Wolves posting a 64-63 victory.  ASU is 8-8 at home, 8-10 on the road, and 3-2 at neutral sites.

• A-State went 1-2 against UNT last season, winning 75-72 at home (1/7) before falling 76-64 on the road (1/28) in regular-season action.  North Texas would post a 76-72 victory in the semifinal round of the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament (3/5).  Trey Finn (17.5 ppg.) and Marcus Hooten (16.3 ppg.) were ASU's top points leaders in last season's series while Brandon Peterson (7.3 rpg.) and Finn (6.0 rpg.) paced the Red Wolves in rebounding.  A-State averaged 70.3 ppg. (211 pts.) and 31.7 rpg. (95 rebs.) in last season's three matchups.  

• The Red Wolves are 4-6 in the last 10 meetings, which includes a 2-3 ledger in the past five matchups.

• ASU is averaging 67.6 points per game (338 pts.) in the last five outings while North Texas is scoring at 70.8 points a contest (354 pts.).

• Six of the last 10 games have been decided by 10 points or more, including three of the last five.   

• The Red Wolves are 8-7 in games decided by double digits and 12-11 when the points margin is less.

• ASU is 3-2 versus North Texas in the Red Wolves' last five home appearances with four of those games being decided by nine points or greater.          

• Marcus Hooten (16.3 ppg.), Trey Finn (9.8 ppg.), and Brandon Peterson (7.9 ppg.) are ASU's top active career scorers versus North Texas while Peterson (5.3 rpg.) and Finn (4.3 rpg.) lead the Red Wolves in rebounding.    

Career Best: Sophomore guard Rakeem Dickerson's 18 points in the Red Wolves' win over South Alabama Thursday (1/31) is a career game high, eclipsing his 15 points at South Alabama (12/29).

Home Success: The Red Wolves claimed their 10th home victory of this season with Thursday's (1/31) win against South Alabama and are 10-2 at the ASU Convocation Center.  ASU has now compiled double-figure home win totals in 15 seasons to date since the 1987-88 campaign, which includes the last four (2009-13).  A-State has won 78.2% (43-12 record) of its home games the last four seasons, including this 2012-13 campaign.

Exclusive Club: Two seniors, guard Trey Finn and forward Brandon Peterson both became the latest 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).

Among The Best: Trey Finn currently occupies 21st place among ASU's all-time scoring leaders with 1,042 career points after surpassing Isaac Wells' (2005-07) 1,034 career points total with a game-high tying 18 points versus South Alabama Thursday (1/31).  Finn is 31 points away from tying Dewarick Spencer (2003-05; 1,073 career points) for 20th-place honors.

Board Watch: Brandon Peterson is 17 rebounds shy of notching his 800th career rebound and would become the eighth player in ASU history to attain the lofty mark.  Peterson, who has a team-leading 198 rebounds in 21 games this season, has accumulated a 783 career total in 117 contests.

Finn-tastic: Trey Finn is five rebounds away from equalling Gaylon Ward's (1960-62) 627 career rebounds        total for 13th place on ASU's all-time rebounding leaders list.  Finn has currently amassed 622 career boards in 111 contests, which includes 100 caroms in 20 outings this campaign to date.

February Matchups: ASU has registered a 16-31 mark (.340) in February contests since the 2006-07 season.  Since the 2006-07 campaign, A-State is 11-10 at home, 5-21 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 (15.0 ppg.) and Marcus Hooten (12.5 ppg.) were ASU's top points leaders last February.

Warming Trend: Trey Finn has presently recorded double-figure scoring in six of his last seven contests, which includes back-to-back double-digit point outings in home conference victories over Florida Atlantic (1/26) and South Alabama (1/31).  Finn scored 11 points versus Florida Atlantic (1/26) and poured in a season-high 18 points against South Alabama.  In his last seven contests, Finn is averaging 13.3 points per game (93 pts.) after registering a 5.6 points a contest average (39 pts.) in his prior seven encounters. 

At The Line: Arkansas State's 30 free throws made in Thursday's (1/31) win against South Alabama represented a team season high, bettering the Red Wolves' 29 successful free throws versus Louisiana-Lafayette (12/27).  ASU also established a squad season high in free throws attempted with 43 vs. South Alabama after putting up 37 shots from the charity stripe against Louisiana-Lafayette (12/27).

Red Wolf Howlings: Ed Townsel's 307 points in 21 outings this campaign is a personal season high, surpassing his 305 points in 34 games last season ... Brandon Peterson needs two more rebounds to reach the 200 mark this season ... Rakeem Dickerson's 45 rebounds is a personal season best, eclipsing his 43 caroms in 32 contests a season ago ... Rakeem Dickerson, who tallied his 100th point of this season in the South Alabama contest (1/31), is four points shy of matching his career single-season best 104 points set last season in 32 games ... The Red Wolves' 13 victories this season are one shy of equalling last season's win total (14-20 record) ...  ASU posted a 3-5 record last February, which included a 3-4 league mark ... Trey Finn averaged a team-best 12.3 ppg. (98 pts.) in eight January 2013 contests after compiling a 5.9 ppg. average (41 pts.) in seven December 2012 matchups.        

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.