Arkansas State is making adjustments.
ASU will start with a different look tonight as it tries to shake the effects of a second-half collapse from its last game when the Indians visit Tennessee-Martin this evening.
Arkansas State will turn to senior forward Marcus Ardison for some help and some answers as the 6-foot-6 senior forward makes his first start of the year, replacing senior Theo Little in the starting lineup.
Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game can be heard on KCJF (FM-103.9).
ASU coach Dickey Nutt said he?s not convinced his team has moved past its last game in which the Indians were outscored by Missouri State by 30 points to finish, and lost 97-80.
?I feel really unsure right now,? Nutt said Wednesday of the direction his team is headed. ?We desperately need a win in the worst way. This basketball team certainly needs a shot of good feeling, maybe a shot of some good penicillin of some kind. You can only do that by going out and winning a basketball game, and we?ve got to try and make some business and make something happen good for our basketball team.?
The first step the Indians will take will be with Ardison replacing Little on the interior. Ardison has come off the bench in all three of ASU?s games this season to average 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Ardison?s best effort came in the loss to Missouri State. He reached double figures for the first time, scoring 18 points, and also had five rebounds in 25 minutes. The 18 points were one shy of his career high.
Nutt said Ardison has earned his way into the starting five.
?I want my guys to know that there are no secure spots on this basketball team,? Nutt said. ?I go based on practice and based on productivity. Theo Little is still improving every day. Right now, Marcus gives us a little bit quicker of a lineup and we?re able to defend just a little bit better with him.?
The Indians will continue with the rest of their starters from the first four games, while backup point guard Yual Banks will miss his second straight game. Banks, a junior, has a strained MCL and has not been cleared to play.
ASU senior Lorenzo Hampton might not be at full strength after missing three days of practice with a virus. Hampton practiced for the first time this week Wednesday morning.
UT-Martin (1-1) opened the season with a 78-61 loss at No. 7-ranked Louisville and then beat Webster 94-72. The Skyhawks are led by 6-foot-5 senior guards Jeremy Kelly and Jared Newson.
Nutt said he is very concerned about playing at UTM, which doesn?t start a player smaller than 6-5. The Skyhawks went 6-21 last year and finished 10th in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference.
?They are probably the most improved team in the country and I don?t say that with sarcasm at all,? Nutt said. ?They had some guys sitting out last year. They have a lot of their starters returning, and they have an impact player in Jeremy (Kelly). They don?t start a guy less than 6-foot-5 and they are very athletic. They will throw a lot of different defenses at us along with the fullcourt press, and we will have to be able to handle that.?
Kelly is off to a spectacular start, including 31 points and nine rebounds against Louisville. Kelly averages a team-high 26 points and 4.5 assists along with 6.5 rebounds a game at point guard.
Newson, who plays the shooting guard, is averaging 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. Newson scored 23 against Webster.
Nutt said the Skyhawks? offense runs through Kelly first and then Newson. ASU senior Dereke Tipler, who is just 5-foot-10, will be given the defensive assignment against the 6-5 Kelly.
?He is a scoring machine,? Nutt said of Kelly. ?He is very athletic and can really score the basketball. We?ve got a tremendous challenge with him. Dereke Tipler will get that assignment and he?ll try to post him up. Everybody certainly has to know where he is at, at all times.?
Arkansas State beat UT-Martin last year in Jonesboro 92-65, and leads the all-time series 9-4. The last time the Indians played at UTM was in the 1994-95 season when they picked up a 77-72 victory.
Nutt doesn?t want to see a repeat of what happened to the Indians the last time they were on the floor.
Missouri State trailed ASU by 13 early in the second half last Saturday, but outscored ASU 60-30 to end the game. The Bears burned it up from the perimeter and beat the Indians down the court in transition for easy shots.
?The thing that was troublesome in the last game was that we ducked our heads,? Nutt said. ?Even when we first got behind I saw that we ducked our heads, and that?s not what we?re about. That?s not what we want to be. We want to fight to the bitter end and I just didn?t feel like that we gave everything that we possibly had.?
ASU will start with a different look tonight as it tries to shake the effects of a second-half collapse from its last game when the Indians visit Tennessee-Martin this evening.
Arkansas State will turn to senior forward Marcus Ardison for some help and some answers as the 6-foot-6 senior forward makes his first start of the year, replacing senior Theo Little in the starting lineup.
Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game can be heard on KCJF (FM-103.9).
ASU coach Dickey Nutt said he?s not convinced his team has moved past its last game in which the Indians were outscored by Missouri State by 30 points to finish, and lost 97-80.
?I feel really unsure right now,? Nutt said Wednesday of the direction his team is headed. ?We desperately need a win in the worst way. This basketball team certainly needs a shot of good feeling, maybe a shot of some good penicillin of some kind. You can only do that by going out and winning a basketball game, and we?ve got to try and make some business and make something happen good for our basketball team.?
The first step the Indians will take will be with Ardison replacing Little on the interior. Ardison has come off the bench in all three of ASU?s games this season to average 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Ardison?s best effort came in the loss to Missouri State. He reached double figures for the first time, scoring 18 points, and also had five rebounds in 25 minutes. The 18 points were one shy of his career high.
Nutt said Ardison has earned his way into the starting five.
?I want my guys to know that there are no secure spots on this basketball team,? Nutt said. ?I go based on practice and based on productivity. Theo Little is still improving every day. Right now, Marcus gives us a little bit quicker of a lineup and we?re able to defend just a little bit better with him.?
The Indians will continue with the rest of their starters from the first four games, while backup point guard Yual Banks will miss his second straight game. Banks, a junior, has a strained MCL and has not been cleared to play.
ASU senior Lorenzo Hampton might not be at full strength after missing three days of practice with a virus. Hampton practiced for the first time this week Wednesday morning.
UT-Martin (1-1) opened the season with a 78-61 loss at No. 7-ranked Louisville and then beat Webster 94-72. The Skyhawks are led by 6-foot-5 senior guards Jeremy Kelly and Jared Newson.
Nutt said he is very concerned about playing at UTM, which doesn?t start a player smaller than 6-5. The Skyhawks went 6-21 last year and finished 10th in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference.
?They are probably the most improved team in the country and I don?t say that with sarcasm at all,? Nutt said. ?They had some guys sitting out last year. They have a lot of their starters returning, and they have an impact player in Jeremy (Kelly). They don?t start a guy less than 6-foot-5 and they are very athletic. They will throw a lot of different defenses at us along with the fullcourt press, and we will have to be able to handle that.?
Kelly is off to a spectacular start, including 31 points and nine rebounds against Louisville. Kelly averages a team-high 26 points and 4.5 assists along with 6.5 rebounds a game at point guard.
Newson, who plays the shooting guard, is averaging 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. Newson scored 23 against Webster.
Nutt said the Skyhawks? offense runs through Kelly first and then Newson. ASU senior Dereke Tipler, who is just 5-foot-10, will be given the defensive assignment against the 6-5 Kelly.
?He is a scoring machine,? Nutt said of Kelly. ?He is very athletic and can really score the basketball. We?ve got a tremendous challenge with him. Dereke Tipler will get that assignment and he?ll try to post him up. Everybody certainly has to know where he is at, at all times.?
Arkansas State beat UT-Martin last year in Jonesboro 92-65, and leads the all-time series 9-4. The last time the Indians played at UTM was in the 1994-95 season when they picked up a 77-72 victory.
Nutt doesn?t want to see a repeat of what happened to the Indians the last time they were on the floor.
Missouri State trailed ASU by 13 early in the second half last Saturday, but outscored ASU 60-30 to end the game. The Bears burned it up from the perimeter and beat the Indians down the court in transition for easy shots.
?The thing that was troublesome in the last game was that we ducked our heads,? Nutt said. ?Even when we first got behind I saw that we ducked our heads, and that?s not what we?re about. That?s not what we want to be. We want to fight to the bitter end and I just didn?t feel like that we gave everything that we possibly had.?
