Anthony Livingston scored 31 points and hauled in 15 rebounds for his 13th double-double to lead A-State past UT Arlington 81-80 on Thursday.
Frederic Dure scored 20 points, his second-straight game with 20-plus points in as many starts. The Red Wolves perimeter shot 15 percent (3-20) at UALR (Feb. 19), but has since responded by going 42 percent (30-71) in the last two games against ULM (16-33/49 percent) and UT Arlington (14-38/37 percent). In the last two games, Frederic Dure has shot 60 percent (15-25) from the floor and 57 percent (8-14).
After playing 11 games in January, the most in the month since the 1986-87 season, A-State has six games in February, tied for the fewest dating back to the 1959-60 season. The only other time A-State played six games in February was the 2000-01 season.
A-State has amassed a record of 202-201 (.501) since joining the Sun Belt Conference in the 1991-92 season. A-State is now 131-68 (.6662) in home SBC games while the road record sits at 71-132 (.350).
A-State is 5-1 in league play, 7-1 on the season, when pulling down 40 or more rebounds. In four of the Red Wolves six conference wins, the opponent shot below 40 percent from the field. The Red Wolves are 11-4 on the season when pulling down 35-plus rebounds. A-State is 10-5 when attempting fewer three-pointers in the second half compared to the first half and 9-3 when shooting a better field goal percentage than their opposition.
A-State is 3-4 this season in game two of the home-and home conference series. Under head coach John Brady, A-State is 20-26 in game two of a regular season home-and-home conference series.
SERIES HISTORY
• A-State and Texas State meet for just the fourth time on Saturday with A-State winning each of the previous three matchups.
• The Red Wolves took the first game of the home-and-home series with a 78-73 overtime victory in Jonesboro on January 17. A-State erased a nine-point second-half deficit to force overtime and outscored the Bobcats 12-7 in overtime to set the final score.
•
Anthony Livingston had a big game for A-State, scoring 24 points and hauling in 15 rebounds.
Cameron Golden added 22 points, including 13 in the second half alone.
• Last year, A-State swept the season season with a 74-69 victory at Texas State and a 73-68 win on the home floor. In the meeting at Texas State,
Cameron Golden set a then-career high with 20 points.
Ed Townsel added 12 points and
Kirk Van Slyke tallied 11 points. A-State had five in double figures in that game with
Kendrick Washington and
Brandon Reed adding 10 points.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
• Texas State plays host to the Red Wolves coming off a victory on the home floor over Troy, 67-61.
• The Bobcats are 12-14 on the season and tied with A-State at 6-11 in league play.
• Texas State is 3-10 in their last 13 games, including the 78-73 overtime loss at the Convocation Center to the Red Wolves.
• Ewani Gant is the player to watch for Texas State as he leads the team in both scoring (13.2) and rebounding (7.1). Gant shoot 49.8 percent from the floor, but 62.2 percent from the charity stripe. Five other players average six or more points this season.
• Texas State leads the league in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 59.8 points per game, but the Bobcats rank last in scoring offense with 61.8 points scored per game. The Bobcats shoot 40.6 percent from the floor and 31.1 percent from three-point range while holding opponents to 41.6 percent from the field and 29.9 percent from long range.
• Texas State head coach Danny Kaspar is in his second season leading the Bobcats and has a record of 20-37. Kaspar is one of the highest-ranked active Division I coaches by win total, carrying a record of 495-235 in his career. Kaspar hlepd Stephen F. Austin win 20-plus games in five of his last six seasons at the school.
DURE PROVIDES SPARK
• A-State head coach
John Brady informed
Frederic Dure about five minutes before Saturday's game vs. ULM that the junior guard would be making his first career start. Dure (Dur-A) responded with a career-night of 22 points, including the game-winning basket, and eight rebounds.
• Dure was 9-of-10 (90 percent) from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Dure is the first player to shoot 80 percent or better in a game since
Ed Townsel was 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) against UT Arlington on January 2, 2014.
• With 22 points in his first career start, Dure was the second A-State player to reach that mark this season.
Anthony Livingston had 26 points in his first start, the season opener against UT Martin.
• Dure posted 20 points in his second-straight start, against UT Arlington on Thursday to continue to help A-State. With his 20-point performance, Dure is the first A-State player since
Anthony Livingston on Jan. 17 and Jan. 19 to score 20 points in back-to-back games.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE LIVINGSTON
• Sophomore forward
Anthony Livingston has posted eight double-doubles in the last 12 games and earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors for his performances against Appalachian State and Texas State.
• With 13 double-doubles, Livingston has tied Jeff Clifton, who posted 13 double-doubles in 27 games of the 1993-94 season for A-State.
STAT TRENDS
• A-State is 11-4 this season when grabbing 35 or more rebounds. The four losses with came at Toledo (73-65), versus UALR (75-65), at Georgia Southern (65-60) and at UALR (70-57). A-State is 7-1 overall and in five of the six SBC wins the Red Wolves pulled down 40 or more rebounds.
• The Red Wolves are 9-5 when 25 or more of their points are inside the painted area. A-State is 9-6 this season when opponents score 30 or fewer points in the paint.
• The Red Wolves are 8-2 this season when earning a trip to the free throw line more than their opponents.
A COMMON THEME
• A-State enters Saturday's game with a 6-11 mark in league play and a few stats stand out when finding what went right for the four wins.
• The Red Wolves are 5-1 in league play when grabbing 40 or more rebounds. A-State is 6-1 in league play when reaching 50 points before their opponent, 10-2 on the season. The lone loss came to Appalachian State on Jan. 3.
• When opponents shoot 40 percent or below from the floor, A-State sports a 7-1 record on the year and 4-1 in league play. Georgia State (35.8 percent) is the only foe to shoot below 45 percent and defeat the Red Wolves.
PERIMETER SHOOTING
• The A-State perimeter shooting posted a 3-for-20 (15 percent) performance at UALR (Feb. 19) but has since found an edge on the perimeter.
• Last Saturday against ULM, the perimeter shot 48 percent (16-33) and followed it up with a 37 percent (14-38) night against UT Arlington to shoot 42 percent (30-71) in the last two games.
• A reason for the surge is evident in the play of
Frederic Dure. In his last two games, Dure is shooting 60 percent (15-25) from the field and 57 percent (8-14) from three-point range.
• For the season,the Red Wolves perimeter players have shot 38 percent (324-848), including 36 percent (205-565) in conference play.
APPROACHING THE TOP-10
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Anthony Livingston has pulled down 258 rebounds this season and with 19 more he would tie Steve Brooks (1973-74) for 11th on the single-season ledger (277).
•
Anthony Livingston has 27 blocked shots this season and with eight (8) more he would tie Mike Siles (1980-81) and John Tate (1986-87) for the 11th-most in a single-season with 35.
•
Cameron Golden has drained 58 (58-181) of his three-point attempts this season and with eight (8) more treys he would tie
Ed Townsel (2012-13) and Keith Gray (1990-91) for the 11th-most in a single season with 66.
DID YOU KNOW?
• The Red Wolves have gone 125-straight games hitting a three-pointer. The last time A-State didn't hit a shot from behind the arc was Feb. 24, 2011 when North Texas held the Red Wolves 0-8 from three at the Convocation Center. A-State would win the game without needing a three-point make, 63-47.
• A-State has gone 582 games since losing a game in which it scored 90 or more points. The loss came in the 1995-96 campaign, a 101-93 loss at Jacksonville on January 22, 1996.
