JONESBORO, Ark. (2/24/24) – Arkansas State men’s basketball never trailed on Saturday and sent fifth-year senior guard Caleb Fields out a winner in his final game inside First National Bank Arena, routing South Alabama 95-78.

The Red Wolves (15-14, 10-6 SBC) did not turn the ball over for the final 25 minutes in the contest, amassing 23 assists to just six turnovers in earning their fifth straight win. Fields, who exited with under a minute remaining to a standing ovation, accounted for 11 of those dimes – his sixth game this season with 10 or more helpers – while scoring 10 points.

Fields was one of five Red Wolves in double figures, led by Derrian Ford’s career-high 23 points on six made 3-pointers. The Hard Hat-earning Ford – who played in 39 minutes after missing Thursday’s contest to illness – also led the Scarlet and Black in rebounding with six boards, helping A-State out-rebound the Jaguars (14-15, 6-10) 34-28.

Freddy Hicks joined Fields and Ford in double-digit scoring with 14, while Julian Lual chipped in 13 off the bench and Taryn Todd added 11. All 11 players who saw game action for the Red Wolves recorded at least one field goal make. As a team, A-State shot 52.3 percent (34-65) from the field and hit 12 3-pointers to shatter the single-season school record for treys made. The Red Wolves converted 15 of 19 (78.9 percent) from the foul line, including Hicks’ 7-for-8 line.

USA had two players – Marcus Millender and Samuel Tabe – score 27 points, but no other Jaguars scored more than seven in the affair.

After Izaiyah Nelson scored the game’s opening basket, USA’s Tyrell Jones tied it at 2, but a 5-0 run handed A-State the lead for good with a quick 5-0 spurt. The Jaguars worked a nine-point deficit down to one midway through the half, but the Red Wolves answered with an 11-2 run capped by a Lual jumper with 6:20 to go.

A-State’s largest lead of the half came with 1:38 to play when Ford drained a 3-ball to make it 46-32. The Red Wolves would then go into the half with a 47-36 lead.

The Red Wolves surged out of the blocks to start the second half with a 10-2 run, capped by a timeout-inducing layup by Hicks just over three minutes into the stanza. South Alabama worked the deficit down to as little as 13, but the visitors were unable to surmount a deficit that ballooned to as much as 22 on treys by Ford and Lual. A-State played turnover-free in the second half, dishing out 14 assists to 19 field goals in the final 20 minutes to notch its seventh win in the last eight outings.

NEXT UP

Arkansas State hits the road for its final two regular-season tilts, beginning Wednesday at Coastal Carolina. Tip-off against the Chanticleers from the HTC Center in Conway, S.C., is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN Plus while the radio broadcast can be heard across the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network as well as the A-State Athletics mobile app.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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