Tribe hoping to send mascot out with a bang

While it's been a disappointing season for the Arkansas State basketball team, the squad will still have plenty of motivation left when they take on Louisiana-Monroe Thursday night at the Convocation Center.

The game is the latter part of a doubleheader and will follow the Lady Indians and ULM game that gets underway at 5:35 p.m.

Besides attempting to end a nine-game losing streak, ASU (9-19, 4-13 Sun Belt West) will be saying goodbye to the Indian mascot as it will be the final time they dress out as Indians for a home game.

During halftime of the men's game, the university will conduct a special ceremony to honor the mascot, which has been an ASU tradition since 1931.

Freshman point guard Logan Nutt said it'll be a bittersweet moment for him as he grew up watching his dad, former ASU head coach Dickey Nutt, coach the team.

"I've grown up here in Jonesboro watching my dad coach for so long. I've always wanted to be an Indian," said Nutt, who turned down a scholarship offer at UALR to be an Indian. "The Indians are what we are and the people that know about it are probably what we're going to think about at Arkansas State until longer down the road when they'll think about the Red Wolves or whatever we are."

Besides Nutt, the Indian roster includes injured freshman forward Jeremy Thomas and third year assistant coach Jay Cook, who have closely experienced the Indian tradition in their lives.

Thomas, a freshman forward who is out for the season with an ankle injury, grew up in Jonesboro, while Cook lettered as a member of the Indians from 1992-94.

Nutt added that his favorite Indian memory was the team's 1999 run to the NCAA Tournament.

"It was just a good team. It's just I was young at the time and it's just fun to see," Nutt said. "Now, being in college I wish we could do it and I guess I got four more years to try, three more years to try."

Incidentally enough, it will be the ULM Warhawks in town for ASU's final game as Indians. Until two seasons ago, ULM's mascot was the Indians, but they gave into mounting pressure from the NCAA and changed.

While the mascot ceremony will hold particular importance to fans and alumni, all the Indians and the Warhawks are concerned about is winning.

ASU, which has lost 10 of their last 11 games, has gone more than a month without winning, a streak that cost head coach Dickey Nutt his job last week when he resigned as head coach of the Indians. If the Tribe loses to Louisiana-Monroe, it will tie a school record for consecutive losses.

Meanwhile, ULM has lost six of their past eight games, including a 72-40 home loss to North Texas last Thursday.

"You don't want to lose this game. You don't want to lose any game. You don't want to tie the record, let alone break the record," ASU co-interim head coach Shawn Forrest said. "These guys' focus should be better on Thursday. Right now, I just think it's tough for these guys to come out and practice with going through what they've been through, but I think they'll be ready to play on Thursday."

It's hard to believe that this game once was once thought of as a potential swing game for the SBC West Division race. Last season, the Indians and Warhawks split the division title, while ULM was the preseason pick to win the SBC West this year.

Instead, this game is a battle for the SBC West Division cellar as ULM currently stands at 4-12, with the Indians a half-game behind at 4-13 in conference.

ULM is led by junior guard Tony Hooper, who averages 15.8 points per game. Hooper scored 18 points, one of four Warhawks in double-digits, in an 89-82 loss to ASU earlier this season.

Forrest said the team will have to try and block out the losing streak and consider this game a chance to build momentum.

"Those guys know in the back of their mind, that it's there. But we haven't talked about it. We just talked about trying to get a little momentum going into the conference tournament," Forrest said. "That first round game is going to be on the road so hopefully if we can win this game Thursday, we can come out and have some momentum going on the road."