Arkansas State has won enough Sun Belt Conference road games to have a shot at the West Division championship, but head coach John Brady sure would like one more.
The Red Wolves own a half-game lead in the West going into their final road game tonight at Louisiana-Lafayette, which has yet to lose a home conference game this season. Tipoff at the Cajundome is scheduled for 7:05.
Monday night?s 69-52 home victory over Louisiana-Monroe kept ASU (15-10, 10-4 Sun Belt) ahead of preseason favorite North Texas (18-8, 10-5) in the West. The Red Wolves swept the season series against the Mean Green, giving them a tiebreaker edge, and they play their final three games at the Convocation Center.
While UL Lafayette (11-14, 8-6) isn?t out of the race, the Ragin? Cajuns? hopes dimmed with narrow losses at Florida Atlantic and South Alabama last week. They still pose a formidable challenge at the Cajundome, where they are 7-0 in Sun Belt play.
?They?ve played well at home, and we?re going to have to play as well as we did the other night to have an opportunity to win the game,? Brady said. ?It would be great to pick up that road win and not put the pressure on us to win all three at home in order to win a championship.?
The Red Wolves have reached this point by defending their home floor (6-0 in Sun Belt play) and splitting eight road conference games. ASU has won at South Alabama, North Texas, Florida International and New Orleans.
Brady said he would take a 5-4 road conference record anytime.
?Anytime you can have a winning season on the road in any league you play in, it?s a real positive and gives your team a chance to play for something special,? Brady said. ?Certainly a win Thursday night would put us in that position again.?
Freshman guard Brandon Reed said the Red Wolves are benefiting from their travels earlier in the season, which included trips to Texas-El Paso and Memphis.
?Early in the season coach always stressed that going on the road we?re going to face adversity not only from the refs but from the crowd,? Reed said after Tuesday?s practice. ?Things might not go your way, but you have to dig in and find a way to win. We?ve been able to do that for the most part, and hopefully we can do that again going down there on Thursday.?
ASU escaped with a 62-60 victory when UL Lafayette visited the Convocation Center three weeks ago. The Red Wolves started quickly, building a 17-2 lead less than five minutes into the game, and held on at the finish when the Cajuns missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer.
Poor free-throw shooting ? the Red Wolves were 10-of-21, missing the front end of three one-and-one opportunities in the final minute ? kept ASU from putting UL Lafayette away earlier in the game. The Red Wolves were also unable to contain UL Lafayette star Tyren Johnson, but that hardly makes them unique.
Johnson, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, is the Sun Belt?s leading scorer at 17.8 points per game and ranks second in rebounding with an 8.4 average. Brady is understandably wary of Johnson and Chris Gradnigo, a junior forward who had 15 points and eight rebounds in the first meeting with ASU.
?I think they have the best player in the league and then one of the top 10 other best players in the league,? Brady said. ?Johnson, I think, is the most talented player in the league. He?s leading them in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.
?I don?t know of another guy in the country who is doing that for his team at any level, and this Gradnigo guy who is a 6-6 swing player is very talented also. We?re going to have our hands full guarding those two guys.?
Gradnigo averages 14.7 points, and senior guard Randell Daigle gives the Cajuns a third double-digit scoring average at 11.4 points per game.
Daigle suffered through a cold game in the first meeting with ASU, finishing 1-of-11 from the field. He shoots 39.3 percent from the 3-point line for the season but was only 1-of-7 against the Red Wolves.
?He went through about a 3-game slump where he didn?t shoot the ball well at all, and now of late the last three games or so, he?s really shot the ball a lot better,? Brady said. ?He?s a guy who can get it going, but he?s kind of a standing jump shooter, and I think we?ll be able to get to him a little bit. Johnson and Gradnigo are the two guys who concern me the most because they can score a variety of ways.?
Johnson routinely fills several columns of the stat sheet. He played all 40 minutes in the first meeting with ASU, finishing with 19 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
?He?s one of the best players in the league if you ask me. He?s very versatile inside and outside. He can shoot it pretty well, too,? ASU freshman forward Brandon Peterson said. ?You try to limit his touches and make sure we contest all his shots and make sure we make it hard for him. Don?t let him get anything easy.?
While the Cajuns are loaded with upperclassmen, the Red Wolves feature three freshmen in their starting lineup. Reed, who scored 19 points in the earlier victory over UL Lafayette, ranks seventh in the Sun Belt with his average of 15 points per game.
Sophomore forward Martavius Adams is averaging 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds, while junior guard Rashad Allison and redshirt freshman guard Trey Finn both average better than eight points per game.
Allison ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in assists, while Finn joins Adams among the league?s top 10 rebounders with his 6.8 average. Peterson already ranks eighth on ASU?s single-season list with 47 blocked shots.
Brady admitted the Red Wolves are ahead of schedule in his second season as head coach, especially considering their inexperience and the injuries they?ve endured.
?The thing is we?ve teased everybody and we want to win at least three of the last four. We?d love to win all four of them,? Brady said. ?We?ll be disappointed if we don?t do something along those lines. Regardless, I think we?ve shown what we?re going to be and can be.
?While it?s here right now within our grasp, why not grab it, close your fist and keep going??
The Red Wolves own a half-game lead in the West going into their final road game tonight at Louisiana-Lafayette, which has yet to lose a home conference game this season. Tipoff at the Cajundome is scheduled for 7:05.
Monday night?s 69-52 home victory over Louisiana-Monroe kept ASU (15-10, 10-4 Sun Belt) ahead of preseason favorite North Texas (18-8, 10-5) in the West. The Red Wolves swept the season series against the Mean Green, giving them a tiebreaker edge, and they play their final three games at the Convocation Center.
While UL Lafayette (11-14, 8-6) isn?t out of the race, the Ragin? Cajuns? hopes dimmed with narrow losses at Florida Atlantic and South Alabama last week. They still pose a formidable challenge at the Cajundome, where they are 7-0 in Sun Belt play.
?They?ve played well at home, and we?re going to have to play as well as we did the other night to have an opportunity to win the game,? Brady said. ?It would be great to pick up that road win and not put the pressure on us to win all three at home in order to win a championship.?
The Red Wolves have reached this point by defending their home floor (6-0 in Sun Belt play) and splitting eight road conference games. ASU has won at South Alabama, North Texas, Florida International and New Orleans.
Brady said he would take a 5-4 road conference record anytime.
?Anytime you can have a winning season on the road in any league you play in, it?s a real positive and gives your team a chance to play for something special,? Brady said. ?Certainly a win Thursday night would put us in that position again.?
Freshman guard Brandon Reed said the Red Wolves are benefiting from their travels earlier in the season, which included trips to Texas-El Paso and Memphis.
?Early in the season coach always stressed that going on the road we?re going to face adversity not only from the refs but from the crowd,? Reed said after Tuesday?s practice. ?Things might not go your way, but you have to dig in and find a way to win. We?ve been able to do that for the most part, and hopefully we can do that again going down there on Thursday.?
ASU escaped with a 62-60 victory when UL Lafayette visited the Convocation Center three weeks ago. The Red Wolves started quickly, building a 17-2 lead less than five minutes into the game, and held on at the finish when the Cajuns missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer.
Poor free-throw shooting ? the Red Wolves were 10-of-21, missing the front end of three one-and-one opportunities in the final minute ? kept ASU from putting UL Lafayette away earlier in the game. The Red Wolves were also unable to contain UL Lafayette star Tyren Johnson, but that hardly makes them unique.
Johnson, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, is the Sun Belt?s leading scorer at 17.8 points per game and ranks second in rebounding with an 8.4 average. Brady is understandably wary of Johnson and Chris Gradnigo, a junior forward who had 15 points and eight rebounds in the first meeting with ASU.
?I think they have the best player in the league and then one of the top 10 other best players in the league,? Brady said. ?Johnson, I think, is the most talented player in the league. He?s leading them in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.
?I don?t know of another guy in the country who is doing that for his team at any level, and this Gradnigo guy who is a 6-6 swing player is very talented also. We?re going to have our hands full guarding those two guys.?
Gradnigo averages 14.7 points, and senior guard Randell Daigle gives the Cajuns a third double-digit scoring average at 11.4 points per game.
Daigle suffered through a cold game in the first meeting with ASU, finishing 1-of-11 from the field. He shoots 39.3 percent from the 3-point line for the season but was only 1-of-7 against the Red Wolves.
?He went through about a 3-game slump where he didn?t shoot the ball well at all, and now of late the last three games or so, he?s really shot the ball a lot better,? Brady said. ?He?s a guy who can get it going, but he?s kind of a standing jump shooter, and I think we?ll be able to get to him a little bit. Johnson and Gradnigo are the two guys who concern me the most because they can score a variety of ways.?
Johnson routinely fills several columns of the stat sheet. He played all 40 minutes in the first meeting with ASU, finishing with 19 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
?He?s one of the best players in the league if you ask me. He?s very versatile inside and outside. He can shoot it pretty well, too,? ASU freshman forward Brandon Peterson said. ?You try to limit his touches and make sure we contest all his shots and make sure we make it hard for him. Don?t let him get anything easy.?
While the Cajuns are loaded with upperclassmen, the Red Wolves feature three freshmen in their starting lineup. Reed, who scored 19 points in the earlier victory over UL Lafayette, ranks seventh in the Sun Belt with his average of 15 points per game.
Sophomore forward Martavius Adams is averaging 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds, while junior guard Rashad Allison and redshirt freshman guard Trey Finn both average better than eight points per game.
Allison ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in assists, while Finn joins Adams among the league?s top 10 rebounders with his 6.8 average. Peterson already ranks eighth on ASU?s single-season list with 47 blocked shots.
Brady admitted the Red Wolves are ahead of schedule in his second season as head coach, especially considering their inexperience and the injuries they?ve endured.
?The thing is we?ve teased everybody and we want to win at least three of the last four. We?d love to win all four of them,? Brady said. ?We?ll be disappointed if we don?t do something along those lines. Regardless, I think we?ve shown what we?re going to be and can be.
?While it?s here right now within our grasp, why not grab it, close your fist and keep going??
