Men’s basketball falls to in-state rival

The Red Wolves basketball team wasn’t able to pull out on top after a foul-heavy game Saturday night in Little Rock against their rival, the UALR Trojans.

The refs called a season-high 30 fouls as the men’s team lost a 78-71 regular season finale.

The game was intense to say the least, as both teams combined were assessed 59 fouls, which also included seven technicals. The Red Wolves and the Trojans had five players foul out between the two teams.

“All of the fouls called certainly made it difficult to play in, but it was also difficult to coach in,” head coach John Brady said.

Senior Marcus Hooten carried the team with a season-high 25 points, going 9-14 from the floor and hitting all three triples, while making good on four-of-five at the free throw line. Behind Hooten was senior guard Trey Finn with 14 points.

Freshman guard Cameron Golden added eight points, giving the Red Wolves a 42.9 percent field goal stat overall. The UALR Trojans landed a total 44.9 percent.

“I’m glad, because without (Hooten) tonight we wouldn’t have been able to get 70 points on the board,” Brady added.

A-State took its biggest lead in the second half of ten points with 12:37 left on the clock.

While ASU missed nine consecutive shots, UALR added two three-pointers and four good shots from the paint.

The Red Wolves would lose control of the game and trail behind from then on.

“We had a chance to stop them a couple of times, but they made some shots and got the game back, found momentum and we weren’t able to change that,” Brady said.

“We need this week of practice. We need to get our team back focused, watch some tape and see what we need to do better,” Brady said. “Every man and coach takes responsibility.”

The Red Wolves now set their eyes on the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament and will have a first-round bye as a result of winning the SBC West Division and receiving the tourney’s No. 2 seed. The team will face the opening round winner of Troy vs. FAU this Saturday in Hot Springs.

“We’ve got a whole new season; three games to see what we can do,” Brady said.