Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Arkansas State clinched at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference West title with a 71-63 victory against UALR on Saturday.

ASU (17-14) finished 13-0 at the Convocation Center and was undefeated at home for the first time since 1990-91.

Why Arkansas State Won
The Red Wolves were 33 of 44 on free throws (75 percent). Coach John Brady spoke to the media after the game about UALR being a team that commits a lot of fouls, and how his game plan was to capitalize on that. The plan worked out as the Red Wolves would press the boards and open up shooting lanes for 3-pointers. A combination of the two, along with solid defense, led the Red Wolves (17-14, 11-5 SBC) to victory despite trailing by as many as nine points with 17:35 left to play.

Turning Point
With 2:30 to play in the game and ASU leading 61-55, UALR’s Solomon Bozeman tripped Arkansas State’s Rashad Allison. Both players got into a brief exchange of words and were assessed technical fouls. UALR head coach Steve Shields was also assessed a technical after leaving the coaches box and running out onto the floor during the confrontation. Following the technical on Shields, Allison would hit two of four free throws and Trey Finn hit a wide-open 3-pointer to seal the victory for the Red Wolves.

Player of the Game
Trey Finn scored 19 points to lead the Red Wolves. He was 4 of 7 inside the paint and 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point line, plus 5 for 5 from the free-throw line. Finn accounted for 13 rebounds on his way to a double-double for the Red Wolves.

Largest Crowd of the Year
Arkansas State experienced its largest crowd of the season in Saturday afternoon’s game with UALR as 5,836 fans packed into the Convocation Center to witness the Red Wolves defeat UALR for the Sun Belt Western Division Championship.

Video of Brady addressing the crowd after the game:

Key Stats
The UALR Trojans shot 57.7 percent in the first half while only shooting 30.3 percent in the second half. Combine that with Arkansas State hitting 20 of 24 free throws in the second half, and you see two reasons the Trojans were not able to hang on for the win.

Speaking Out
“This is our third year here and we have a really nice team. We are going to have a good team next year because of the players we have, the players coming in, and the players we are recruiting. Our players ended a journey today. We won out at home, got a number one seed going into the Sun Belt Tournament, and this part of the journey ended today.”
—Arkansas State Coach John Brady

Speaking Out II
“We are about to begin a new journey this week. I told our players if we win there, they are about to experience something they have never experienced, something they have only seen on TV. I told them to do everything they need to do this week and do it right, and produce all of the positive karma for ASU that you can. Whatever you give this week, on this next journey you are on, if you complete it, will take you somewhere you have never been. It is within this teams grasp to go [to the NCAA tournament], I’m not saying we are going to go, but it is within our grasp.”
—Brady

Up Next
Arkansas State has a first round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament. Other games being played this weekend will determine teams who the Red Wolves could potentially play.