A-State trailed by 24 in the second half and came back to tie the game, but South Alabama defeated the Red Wolves 81-76.
With the loss, A-State was eliminated from Sun Belt Conference Tournament conention. A win Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette coupled with a Texas State loss at ULM would have A-State and Texas State tied at 7-13 in conference, but the tiebreaker would go to Texas State due to record against Georgia State.
Anthony Livingston scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to continue to average a double-double. Sean Gardner added 21 points and Cameron Golden chipped in with 15 points.
The Red Wolves perimeter shot 15 percent (3-20) at UALR (Feb. 19), but has since responded by going 41 percent (56-99) in the last four games against ULM (16-33/49 percent), UT Arlington (14-38/37 percent), Texas State (10-28/36 percent) and South Alabama (16-37/43 percent).
A-State has amassed a record of 202-203 (.499) since joining the Sun Belt Conference in the 1991-92 season. A-State is now 131-69 (.655) in home SBC games while the road record sits at 71-133 (.349).
The Red Wolves are 11-6 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 3-6 this season in game two of the home-and home conference series. Under head coach John Brady, A-State is 20-28 in game two of a regular season home-and-home conference series.
SERIES HISTORY
• Louisiana-Lafayette holds a 47-23 lead in the series over A-State, taking the last meeting 96-59 at the CajunDome on Jan. 22. The Ragin Cajuns have won four-straight in the series dating back to a A-State 87-70 win at the Convocation Center on Dec. 29, 2012.
• The Red Wolves are 16-16 on the home floor against Louisana-Lafayette, losing the matchup last year 77-76.
• The Ragin Cajuns shot 64 percent (14-22) from beyond the arc and 55 percent (32-58) in the first meeting this season. PJ Hardwick had a career high 17 points to lead A-State. Louisana-Lafayette held
Anthony Livingston to two points and four rebounds, both Sun Belt game season lows.
• Overall, 15 of the last 18 games have been decided by 10 points or less. A-State has averaged 67.0 ppg (1206 pts.) to the Ragin' Cajuns 71.0 ppg (1278 pts.) in the last 18 matchups.
• In the last five games at the Convocation Center, the Red Wolves have scored 75.6 ppg (378 pts.) to ULL's 69.2 ppg (346 pts.).
SCOUTING LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
• Louisiana-Lafayette enters the season finale with an 18-12 record and a 12-7 mark in Sun Belt Conference action. The Ragin' Cajuns defeated UALR 75-69 on Thursday to close the home slate with a 12-3. On the road, ULL is 5-8, 5-4 in SBC play.
• The Ragin' Cajuns, who will be the No. 4 seed at the SBC Tournament, have won five-straight games averaging 74.4 ppg (372 pts.).
• Shawn Long leads Louisiana-Lafayette averaging 17.0 ppg and 10.3 rebounds per game. Long shoots 54.6 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from beyond the arc. Brian Williams also averages double figures (10.1) and the Ragin' Cajuns have Devonta Walker (9.3), Kasey Shepherd (9.3) and Jay Wright (9.2) on the cusp of double figures.
• Louisiana-Lafayette leads the league in scoring offense at 78.0 points per game while their defense ranks seventh allowing 70.3 points per game. The Ragin' Cajuns shoot 46.2 percent from the floor and lead the league shooting 36.0 percent from three-point range. ULL also leads the league in rebounding (39.7), rebounding margin (+7.7) and assists per game (14.5).
• Bob Marlin is in his fifth season at Louisiana-Lafayette sporting a record of 84-75. In a career that spans 22 seasons, Marlin has posted a 432-241 mark, 309-206 at the Division I level.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE LIVINGSTON
• Sophomore forward
Anthony Livingston has posted nine double-doubles in the last 14 games and has 14 on the season, tied for the most in the Sun Belt Conference.
• With 14 double-doubles, Livingston has the most since Dan Henderson had at least 15 in the 1975-76 season. Attempts to find accurate number are unsuccessful thus far, but Henderson led A-State in points and rebounds in 15 games.
• Livingston narrowly missed a third-straight 20-point, 10-rebound game when he had 22 points and nine rebounds against South Alabama on Thursday.
• Averaging 15.9 points and 10.0 rebounds, Livingston is among 17 players nationally to average a double-double. He joins Shawn Long of Louisiana-Lafayette as one of the two from the Sun Belt Conference.
• To finish the season averaging a double-double, Livingston needs nine or more rebounds in Saturday's game.
• Jeff Clifton (1993-94) was the last player to finish a season averaging a double-double for A-State. He averaged 10.0 rebounds and 21.3 points in 27 games with 13 double-doubles.
APPROACHING THE TOP-10
•
Anthony Livingston has pulled down 280 rebounds this season and ranks ninth among A-State single-season records. Livingston needs two rebounds Saturday to tie Dan Henderson (1976-77) for eighth and 19 to reach seventh-ranked John Dickson (1966-67) who had 299 rebounds.
•
Cameron Golden has drained 59 (59-193) of his three-point attempts this season and with seven (7) more treys he would tie
Ed Townsel (2012-13) and Keith Gray (1990-91) for the 11th-most in a single season with 66.
DURE PROVIDES SPARK
• A-State head coach
John Brady informed
Frederic Dure about five minutes before playing ULM (Feb. 21) 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 was 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.
• Despite being held to 11 points, Dure continued to shoot the ball well, going 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range at Texas State.
• In his three starts, Dure is averaging 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. He is shooting 59 percent from the floor (19-32) and three-point range (10-17)
• Dure missed Thursday's game due to a knee injury sustained in practice on Wednesday.
STAT TRENDS
• A-State is 11-6 this season when grabbing 35 or more rebounds. The six losses with came at Toledo (73-65), versus UALR (75-65), at Georgia Southern (65-60), at UALR (70-57), at Texas State (70-60) and versus South Alabama (81-76). 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 9-6 when 25 or more of their points are inside the painted area.
• The Red Wolves are 8-3 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 6-13 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.
• Against ULM (Feb. 21), the perimeter shot 48 percent (16-33) and followed it up with a 37 percent (14-38) night against UT Arlington. Against Texas State (Feb. 28), the wing players shot 36 percent (10-28) and followed it up shooting 43 percent (16-37) to move to 41 percent (56-136) over the last four games.
• A reason for the surge is evident in the play of
Frederic Dure. In his last three games, Dure is shooting 59 percent (19-32) from the field and 59 percent (10-17) from three-point range.
• For the season, the Red Wolves perimeter players have shot 38 percent (350-913), including 37 percent (231-630) in conference play.
CLOSING OUT STRONG
• The Red Wolves know their postseason fate before Saturday's game so will look to close out the season with a win heading into the 2015-16 season. The last time A-State closed a season with a win was the 2010-11 season, a 71-63 victory against UALR.
DID YOU KNOW?
• The Red Wolves have gone 127-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 584 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.
