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| MEDIA INFORMATION |
| Date |
Thursday, January 15 | 6:30 p.m. |
| Location |
Boone, N.C. | Holmes Center |
| Tickets |
Purchase Tickets Online |
| Video |
AppStateSports.com |
| Audio |
AStateRedWolves.com |
| Radio |
EAB Red Wolves Sports Net. 107.9 FM KFIN |
| Live Stats |
AStateRedWolves.com |
| Twitter |
@AStateMB |
| |
@AStateGameDay |
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@AStateRedWolves |
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#AStateMB |
| Game Notes |
A-State | Appalachian State
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| ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES |
| Record |
6-8, 1-4 Sun Belt Conference |
| Last Game |
77-50 Loss at UT Arlington |
| Head Coach |
John Brady |
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Career: 386-315 (23 Seasons) |
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A-State Record: 105-99 (7 Seasons) |
| GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES |
| Record |
4-9, 1-3 Sun Belt Conference |
| Last Game |
64-46 Loss at UALR |
| Head Coach |
Jim Fox |
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Career: 4-9 (1st Year) |
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Record at school: Same |
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QUICK HITS
A-State fell to 6-8 overall on the season and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play with their fourth-straight setback, a 77-50 loss at UT Arlington on Saturday. A-State was 3-of-17 (18 percent) from the field in the first 13 minutes while the Mavericks hit four of their first seven from beyond the arc to lead by as many as 22 in the first half.
During this four-game losing streak, opponents have hit 39 percent (24-63) from three against the A-State defense that had held opponents to 30 percent from beyond the arc prior to the first meeting with Appalachian State.
The Red Wolves had one player score double figures at UT Arlington, just the second time in 14 games that A-State didn't have at least three players reach double figures. Sean Gardner had a game-high 16 points while Anthony Livingston, Cameron Golden and PJ Hardwick had six points each.
The 2014-15 campaign represents the program's 87th season as the Red Wolves have presently amassed a 1,148-1,085 all-time record (.514 win pct.) dating back their inaugural 1926-27 season. A-State has won at least 20 games in a season five times – 1986-87 (21-13), 1987-88 (21-14), 1988-89 (20-10), 1990-91 (23-9) and 1997-98 (20-9) since joining the NCAA-I ranks in 1970-71.
The Red Wolves were 6-3 last season in game two of the home-and-home conference series. Under head coach John Brady, A-State is 18-22 in game two of a regular season home-and-home conference series.
A-STATE/APPALACHIAN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Arkansas State and Appalachian State have met three prior times as Thursday's contest will mark the fourth meeting all-time and second as Sun Belt Conference foes. Prior to the Jan. 3 meeting, the two schools played a home-and-home series in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 season with the home team winning each matchup.
Appalachian State defeated the Red Wolves 74-73 in the first meeting of the season. A-State held a 55-41 lead with 10:18 remaining, but the Mountaineers outscored the Red Wolves 33-18 to take the victory. Frank Eaves led all scorers with 22 points, but it was Milos Kostic that shocked A-State. Kostic entered the game with two points on the year, but scored 11 in the game including three treys in the second half. Anthony Livingston posted a double-double with 21 points and 13 boards while Sean Gardner scored 17 points and Cameron Golden chipped in with 11 points. PJ Hardwick dished out 15 assists against Appalachian State, two shy of the single-game record.
Arkansas State won the first contest on Nov. 24, 1990 in Jonesboro by a score of 91-69 in the team's season opener. The win was the first of 23 that season, the most in school history. Dewayne McCray led A-State with 25 points, while Bobby Gross (18) and Fred Shepherd (12) also scored in double figures. Ricky Nedd led Appalachian State with 20 points, while Steve Spurlock (14), Broderick Parker (12), and Billy Ross (12) all scored in double digits. The Mountaineers shot 45 free throws, a Convocation Center record at the time, and made 27.
Appalachian State returned the favor the following season by defeating Arkansas State 85-74 on Dec. 7, 1991 in Boone, N.C. The Mountaineers shot 63.8 percent from the field as four players scored in double figures for Appalachian State. Steve Spurlock led all scorers with 19 points, while Bill Ross added 17, Rodney Peel scored 14, and Tim Powers chipped in with 12. A-State was led by Fred Shepherd's 15 points and Jay Cook's 14. Tyrone Hall scored 12 and Vernall Cole added 11 off the bench.
LAST TIME OUT
A slow start by the Arkansas State men's basketball team proved costly as UT Arlington cruised to a 77-50 victory over the Red Wolves on Saturday.
A-State drops to 6-8 on the season with their fourth-straight loss and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play. UT Arlington improved to 9-6 and 3-2 in Sun Belt play.
Sean Gardner led the Red Wolves with 16 points on 6-of-14 (43 percent) shooting, while going 4-of-10 (40 percent) from three. Cameron Golden and Anthony Livingston each had six points and six rebounds and PJ Hardwick added six points.
The Red Wolves struggled at the start, hitting just three of their first 17 shots in almost 13 minutes of action. UT Arlington hit four of their first seven beyond the arc and led by as many as 22 in the first half.
Trailing 18-8 with just over 12 minutes left in the half, UT Arlington went on a 12-1 run to lead A-State 30-9, but Gardner hit back-to-back three's to end a drought of 4:55 without a field goal. The Mavericks shot 42 percent (11-26) from the field in the first half and 42 percent (5-12) from three while holding A-State to 21 percent (6-29) from the field and 17 percent (2-12) from the arc.
The Red Wolves attempted 27 three-pointers on the night and hit just six to finish 22 percent from beyond the arc. C.J. Foster nailed his first career three on his only attempt in the game. Daijon Macklien was also 1-of-1 from three, but the starters combined to go 4-of-24 (17 percent) from long range.
A-State shot 31 percent (18-58) from the field and 8-of-12 (67 percent) at the free throw line. The Mavericks were 23-of-29 (79 percent) from the charity stripe and out-rebounded the Red Wolves 41-32. UT Arlington outscored A-State 34-16 in the paint and 11-3 on the fast break.
SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE
Appalachian State is coming off a 64-46 loss at UALR on Saturday, it's seventh loss in the last eight games. The Mountaineers shot 30 percent (16-53) from the field while allowing the Trojans to shoot 51 percent (26-51) for the game.
The Mountaineers last win was the come-from-behind victory at the Convocation Center against A-State on Jan. 3rd and since then, Appalachian State has three-straight by an average of 14.3 points.
Frank Eaves leads Appalachian State with an average of 16.2 PPG while Tommy Spagnolo has chipped in 10.7 PPG. Chris Burgess averages 9.2 PPG and leads the team with an average of 2.5 assists per game. Spagnolo has hauled in 7.2 rebounds per game to lead the club.
The Mountaineers are second in the Sun Belt Conference, shooting 71 percent from the charity stripe. Appalachian State has narrowly out-rebounded their opponents on the season to rank fifth in the league at +0.2 margin.
Appalachian State's head coach Jim Fox is in his first season with the Mountaineers. He earned his first head coaching gig after spending the last 13 seasons at Davidson as an assistant coach, including the last two as the associate head coach. During his time there, the Wildcats compiled a 288-131 (.687) record and advanced to the postseason 10 times.
Sun Belt Conference Games
The Red Wolves are 197-194 (.504) since joining the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in the 1991-92 season, which includes a season-best 14-4 (.778) mark in the 1997-98 campaign. A-State sports a 128-65 (.663) record at home and is 69-128 (.348) on the road in Sun Belt action. A-State head coach John Brady has registered a 56-55 (.505) record in Sun Belt Conference contests since his arrival in the 2008-09 season, which consists of a 39-15 (.722) home ledgers and a 17-40 (.298) away mark.
A-State in January Games
The Red Wolves have started the new calendar year with an 0-4 mark and are in the midst of a tough January slate. Dating back to the 2010-11 season, A-State has is 3-14 in January road games. A-State has a total of 11 games this month, the most in the month of January since the 1986-87 season. The 1982-83 schedule had the most January games, with A-State going 8-5 in 13 games. Dating back to the 2000-01 season, the Red Wolves have a record of 61-59 (.508) in January outings. A-State is 42-20 (.677) at home and 19-39 (.328) on the road in that span of January contests. Under head coach John Brady, A-State is 29-26 (.527) in January games, 22-8 (.733) at home and 7-18 (.280) on the road.
Slow Starts
Over the last three games, opponents are shooting 18-46 (39 percent) from beyond the arc, but 14-32 (44 percent) from three in the first half of those games. Since leading Appalachian State 37-30 at the half on Jan. 3rd, A-State has trailed by an average of 13.7 PPG at the half. Overall, the last three opponents have outscored the Red Wolves 110-69 in the first half. A-State hasn't fared well on the offensive end, shooting 25-80 (31 percent) from the field and 4-24 (17 percent) from three. The Red Wolves have led for 19 seconds since the Appalachian State loss, leading Georgia Southern early, 1-0.
Bench Production
Saturday, the Red Wolves bench scored 12 points, just the eighth time in 14 games that the bench reached double figures. The top bench performance of the season came against Belhaven with the reserves scoring 20 points. On the season, A-State's bench has been outscored 313-136, an average of 13 points per game. A-State is 3-1 on the season when the bench is even or outscores the opponent.
Livingston Named Midseason All-Conference
College Hoops Daily announced Wednesday it has named Arkansas State sophomore forward Anthony Livingston to its 2014 Sun Belt all-conference team. The publication announces a midseason all-conference team from each league and bases its selection on performance from the non-conference portion of the schedule. Livingston started in all nine non-conference games and averaged 16.4 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. Along the way, Livingston posted three double-doubles, including a 20-point, 20-rebound performance against Marshall on December 20. With his performance, Livingston became the sixth Division I player in last 10 seasons to reach those marks in a game.
Double-double Livingston
Sophomore forward Anthony Livingston registered four straight double-doubles from December 20th (vs. Marshall) through January 3rd (vs. Appalachian State) before being held to a combined 17 rebounds in the last three outings. Livingston has five double-doubles on the season and leads the team in points per game (15.1), rebounds per game (8.5) and field-goal percentage (48.2). The PPG mark ranks as eighth in the conference and 183rd in the nation, while the field-goal percentage is 13th in the SBC and 114th in the country. His RPG mark is second in the conference and 48th in the nation, while his defensive rebounds per game average of 6.3 is second in the conference and 31st in the nation. The five double-doubles lead the SBC and rank him 39th in the country.
Passing with PJ
A-State redshirt sophomore point guard PJ Hardwick dished out 15 assists and scored 10 points against Appalachian State on Jan. 3rd for his first double-double of the year. The 15 assists were just two assists shy of Chico Fletcher's program record of 17 and are the second most in the nation in a single game this season, trailing Ohio State's Shannon Scott, who had 16 in a game. He leads the team with 75 assists for a 6.3 APG average despite missing the first two games of the year. The APG mark ranks first in the conference and 10th in the nation, while he has a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio leads conference and is 35th in the country. The 75 total assists rank first in the conference and 56th in the nation.
PJ Becoming A Scorer
PJ Hardwick has found his touch shooting the ball recently as he has scored double figures in three of the last four games. Hardwick followed a career high of 15 points at ULM with 12 points against Georgia Southern. Hardwick reached double figures for the first time with 10 points against Appalachian State Jan. 3rd.Hardwick is 16-of-37 (43 percent) from the field in the last four games after starting the season 11-of-34 (32 percent).
The Golden Rule
Junior guard Cameron Golden poured in a career high 25 points at ULM for his third career outing with 20-plus points. Golden has scored in double figures in 12 of the 14 games this season. With an average of 15.1 PPG, Golden ranks ninth in the conference and 187th nationally. He is team's leader in steals with a 1.9 SPG mark, a total that ranks sixth in the SBC and 87th in the nation.
Doubling Up:
A-State has had at least three players score in double figures in 12 of its 14 games this season, with the only exceptions being the Purdue and UT Arlington games. A-State has had two games in which four players scored double figures. The Red Wolves are 0-2 in those games with four players scoring double figures against Toledo and Appalachian State. Cameron Golden (18), Nohoum Bocoum (13), Sean Gardner (12) and Anthony Livingston had double figures against Toledo Dec. 13th. Livingston (21), Gardner (17), Golden (11) and Hardwick (10) each reached double figures against Appalahican State Jan. 3rd.
Taking A Team's Best Punch
The Red Wolves have five games against SBC opponents after they come off a bye date in conference play, the most in the conference. Appalachian State had a bye on the first conference date before their game with A-State (Jan. 3) and ULM (Jan. 5/Feb. 21) has byes before both of its matchups with the Red Wolves. Georgia Southern (Jan. 8) was the third-straight opponent coming off a bye to take on A-State. The Red Wolves also take on South Alabama in Jonesboro on March 5th after the Jaguars have February 28th off. Louisiana-Lafayette also has five opponents on their league schedule after the foe has a bye week. The Ragin' Cajuns play all five of their opponents coming off a bye in consecutive games.
No Rest For the Weary
Cameron Golden, Anthony Livingston, and Sean Gardner are all in the top-five in minutes played in the Sun Belt Conference and top-50 in the nation. Golden is second in the SBC and 27th in the nation with 36.2 per game. Livingston ranks fourth (35.0) and Gardner fifth (34.9) in league play with each ranked 62nd and 70th in the national ranks, respectively. P.J. Hardwick comes in eighth in the league averaging 33.8 minutes to rank 136th in NCAA.
