DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (3/25/24) – Disruptive defense and stellar performance on the offensive glass paved the way for the Arkansas State men's basketball team's 20th victory of the season, as the Red Wolves tamed Montana 74-61 in the quarterfinals of the Ro College Basketball Invitational Monday inside the Ocean Center.
The fourth-seeded Red Wolves (20-16) poked away 15 turnovers in the contest and dominated the fifth-seeded Grizzlies (24-12) in offensive rebounding 22-8. A-State advances to the semifinal round of the tournament and has won 20 games for just the seventh time in the program's 96-year history.
"It all started with our defense," said A-State head coach Bryan Hodgson, who is one of just two first-year head coaches in Division I to win 20 or more games this season. "I thought we were really good on the defensive end, especially in the first half when we held them to 23 points. That's phenomenal. Montana is a really good offensive team, so we knew we'd have to really guard to win this game and our guys did that."
Izaiyah Nelson recorded his seventh double-double of the year with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds, leading six A-State players in double figures. Derrian Ford and Freddy Hicks added 13 and 11, respectively, while Caleb Fields chipped in 11 points and six assists. Taryn Todd and Dyondre Dominguez contributed 10 points each.
A-State shot 39.1 percent (27-69) from the field and hit eight 3-pointers on the day, while out-rebounding Montana 42-31.
The Grizzlies shot 46.0 percent (23-50) on the day, but Ford limited leading scorer Aanen Moody – who averaged over 17 points entering the contest – to just four points on the day and forced four turnovers. Laolu Oke led Montana with 15 points while Josh Vazquez scored 12.
The teams traded leads for the first six-plus minutes before a Dominguez-fueled 12-0 run put the Scarlet and Black ahead 25-13 following a lay-in by the junior wing. Julian Lual scored inside to push the lead out to 30-15 with 6:28 to go, and then Ford and Todd sank back-to-back treys. Hicks scored the last basket of the half to push A-State's lead out to 19 before time expired.
A-State was disruptive on the defensive end, forcing a dozen first-half turnovers, while knocking down eight 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes to lead 42-23 at intermission.
The Red Wolves opened the half by pushing their lead out to 21, but the Grizzlies did not go away, pulling to within single digits on a layup by Chase Henderson with 6:23 left. After Ford knocked down a pair at the line, Nelson scored three straight baskets to move A-State's lead back out to 11 with under 3 minutes to play.
Montana once again made a run to cut it to seven inside 2 minutes, but A-State closed the contest on an 8-2 run to earn the 13-point victory.
NEXT UP
The Red Wolves take on top-seeded High Point in the Ro CBI semifinals on Tuesday in a nationally-televised tilt. Tip-off against the Panthers is slated for 6 p.m. CT inside the Ocean Center, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. The radio broadcast of the contest can be heard on the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network, as well as the A-State Athletics mobile app.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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